The State of Black Ohio is subject of statewide convening by new group

Staff Report

Jody David Armour

More than 100 participants from across the state logged in on October 17 for the inaugural State of Black Ohio event sponsored by The State of Ohio Collective. The virtual event started at nine o’clock and went on well past noon.

Akron native Jody David Armour, since 1995 a professor of law at the University of Southern California, delivered the keynote address. A widely published scholar and  popular lecturer, his expertise ranges from personal injury claims to claims about the relationship between racial justice, criminal justice, and the rule of law. Armour studies the intersection of race and legal decision making as well as torts and tort reform movements.

In his remarks, Armour challenged participants to rethink how we view each as African Americans, how we measure success and what we consider effective reform of the criminal justice system. 

The State of Black Ohio hosted four solution-focused panel discussions around health, civic engagement and government, economic development, education with experts from around the state covering each topic. Cleveland-area panelists included Dr. Janice Taylor Heard, Dean of Academic Affairs at Cuyahoga Community College, Kevin “Chill” Heard, president of the Greater Cleveland Association of Black Journalists, Rhonda Crowder, Rhonda Crowder and Associates, and Gloria Ware, director of the KeyBank Center for Technology, Innovation and Inclusive Growth at JumpStart. 

The State of Ohio Collective proclaims itself the leading statewide organization focused on racial equity and inclusion for African Americans. Its focus, according to a person familiar with the organization, is on the creation of a comprehensive long-term strategy and implementation plan that will address the four pillars of education, economic development, health and housing, and include financial strategies for project sustainability.

A representative for the group named its founders as Tiffany Edwards, Jasper Person and Kevin Lloyd. She said The Collective, founded in the wake of the George Floyd lynching, is focused on not duplicating efforts of what already exists but opening up a lane to provide resources for the top three areas where racial disparities already exist and not “reinventing the wheel” in economic development, education, and health and housing.

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