Latest March onWashington and bridging skills gap
The March continues with or without President Trump’s acknowledgement — Jared Grandy of Dayton
Fifty-seven years after
Rev. Martin Luther King
Jr. gave his famous “I Have DreamSpeech” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., Americans from across the country returned to demand equality and justice.
The 2020March onWashington came five days after police officers shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back in Kenosha, Wis., three months after Officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in Minneapolis, Minn. and five months after officers shot Breonna Taylor in her sleep during a botched raid in Louisville.
After leavingmy job with the City of Dayton as the community-police coordinator in the midst of the uprising caused by Mr. Floyd’s death, I committed to working with grassroots organizations. Black Lives Matter Dayton welcomed me with open arms and invited me to travel with them to our nation’s capital to protest state violence and demand equal justice.
As we traveled, we were reminded of America’s commitment to America as it stands. Motorists flew Trump 2020 flags right alongside American flags from the beds of their trucks, cars bore “thin blue line” emblems and front porches adorned Confederate flags. While in D.C., counter protesters mocked our very existence. Roughly 250,000 people risked their lives to gather in our nation’s capital in the middle of a pandemic to plead for justice.
Yet, President Trump barely acknowledged our presence. I fear that he merely represents the American hostility that created the ghettos from which I come and the hostility of the roads on which we traveled. Black Americans will march to the polls on Nov. 3 in an attempt to assert ourselves in an America that has never fully included us, but we are under no illusion that even if the election goes our way, we will cease to be in hostile territory. Yet we will persevere. We will continue to march, protest, rise up, and run for elections for as long as it takes to achieve Dr. King’s dream and when we return to the Lincoln Memorial, it will be to declare victory.
“Achievement gap” between white students and non-whites can’t be overlooked - Rev. Jeanette Robinson, Abundant Seasons Anointed Ministries International, Dayton
As senior pastor specializing in the dimensions of wellnessworking with local youth in at risk communities dealing with food insecurities, I enjoyed reading the recent coverage of the Ohio Attainment Coalition’s report, Bridging the Skills Gap. The report notes a persistent “skills gap” with the most in-demand jobs requiring more skills than ever before. However, missing from coverage is the “achievement gap” between white students and persons of color.
The report, authored by more than 40 business, education, community and workforce organizations, has as its first guiding principle “Equity-Centered: Close opportunity gaps by removing barriers for underserved and underrepresented Ohioans.”
Strategies in the report addressing equity include greater use of the Ohio Department of Education’s “Equity Labs” on a regional basis. Programs such as 22+ Adult High School Diploma provide free opportunities for adults previously unable to complete schooling obtain a high school diploma or GED, the first step to attain a degree or credential.
Data shows a persistent and troubling gap — roughly 13 percentage points — between the attainment levels of non-white, underrepresented minorities and their white peers. Embracing the first principle contained in the report will go a long way towards addressing both the skills gap and the achievement gap.