Spectrum

Katie Quinn, sometimes known as qkatie to her millions of follows, has written a new book that was over 3.5 years in the making: “Cheese, Wine and Bread: Discovering the Magic of Fermentation in England, Italy and France.” She studied the role of fermentation in the trio of staples of life: cheese, wine and bread as she worked in and studied all three industries in three different countries. The b...

Dr. George Wood is an educator, a former school administrator, a writer, and a podcaster. He also is a resident of small town Amesville, Ohio. Just before the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, he retired from a lifetime in education, and he found himself restless and looking for something meaningful to do. After conversations with his wife, he took off on a two-month 7,500 trip through the Midwe...

As the trial of Derek Chauvin for George Floyd’s death comes to its conclusion this week, against a backdrop of additional police violence, many African Americans still feel the trauma of police violence. While the trial of police officer Chauvin has moved forward, at least, two other people of color have been gunned down by police. Duante Wright in Minnesota and a 13 year-old Latino Adam Toledo i...

Conspiracy theories have grown and continue to multiply as newsrooms downsize and more people rely on social media to fill the void. This is the belief of Dr. Michael Bugeja, distinguished professor of liberal arts and sciences at the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University. “Journalism is not dead but on life support. Social media dominates civic, political and fa...

The Biden Administration has targeted climate change as a priority in its first 100 days. It is unraveling four years of President Donald Trump’s deregulation and laisse-faire attitude toward the environment. Rarely have we seen so much change so quickly, says Dr. Geoffrey Dabelko, professor and associate dean at the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Policy at Ohio University and senior ad...

Eunice Hunton Carter and her family were “unsung heroes” in social justice movements in the early 20th Century and now her life is brought into focus by a new biography, “Eunice Hunton Carter: A Lifelong Fight for Social Justice,” published by the Fordham University Press. Co-Author and noted biographer Marilyn Greenwald highlights the many accomplishments of Carter. She was the first black woman...

The Dave Thomas Foundation recently celebrated its 10,000th adoption of a child from foster care and the milestone was reached during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Foundation was created by Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas as an independent non-profit foundation separate from the restaurant chain, says Rita Soronen, CEO of the Foundation. The Foundation focuses on the adoption of children who have been in...

After President Joseph Biden’s inauguration and the attack on the Capitol on January 6, the Republican Party has undergone a struggle to chart the future of the party. Will it still be the party of Trump and his zealous base or will more traditionally mainstream Republicans take the party’s helm? Will Trump’s appeal fade? Daily news unfolds showing a chess game for control between groups led by GO...

As of Jan. 13, the Athens County Ohio Health Department has vaccinated only 438 of its approximately 65,000 population for a frustratingly low .67 percent. Meanwhile, the county remains one of the counties in Ohio that is in greatest danger of COVID-19 spread. Athens County is a rural Appalachian County in Southeast Ohio that also houses a major state university – Ohio University. Athens County is...

Too often African American women and girls are targets of violence and abuse in America. The abuse is caused by interactions with law enforcement as well as domestic abuse, says Dr. Aretina Hamilton, a human geographer, scholar, and author. She says Black women live in a patriarchal environment where they are, unfortunately, valued less than even Black men. As a result, Dr. Hamilton says that too...

In our everyday conversations, many of us use words or phrases that have racist meanings or derivations, even if we don’t intend our speech to be racist. Many of these words or phrases have worked their way into our common vernacular in a covert way and by their use promote inequality. Just a few examples are “master bedroom or master bathroom,” “blacklisting” someone, “uppity,” “black mark,” “sol...

We are in the last seven days of the 2020 Presidential election, but it is a campaign and a race like no other. Traditional campaigning has been turned on its head. With seven days to go, 66 million people have already voted, eclipsing the total early vote count from 2016. Some experts say that by election day 85 million out of a total of 240 million eligible voters will have already submitted the...

In World War I, President Woodrow Wilson started an agency for governmental propaganda. It became the precursor and template of today’s governmental manipulation of information which often creates fictions and promotes those in power. Author, scholar, and journalist Dr. John Maxwell Hamilton delves into the birth of American government propaganda in his new book “Manipulating the Masses: Woodrow W...

Despite protestations from some politicians, most medical experts and scientists are concerned with the rise of COVID-19 cases across the country, even before colder weather and flu season arrives. Numbers are rising in 33 states plus Puerto Rico with approximately 40,000 new cases daily. This is a major concern, says Dr. Kenneth Johnson, Executive Dean of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medic...

With the COVID-19 pandemic plus racial turmoil across the nation, we are facing a Presidential Campaign and election like no other, says Philip Elliott, veteran Washington reporter and TIME’S Washington correspondent. As Public Health issues, the economy and racial inequities take center stage in this Presidential election year, an onslaught of books and media revelations have further complicated...

Although it was found that foreign governments meddled with our 2016 Presidential Elections, the 2020 elections are still being plagued by foreign interference. However, more governmental units are working together to combat a repeat of the 2016 insurgence, according to Philip Ewing, veteran Washington reporter and Elections Security Editor for National Public Radio. The FBI as well as numerous in...

There are too few African Americans in the country’s newsrooms and especially in news management positions. In 2020 racism still exists in America’s media companies from the smallest to the largest. Sometimes it is evident in hiring practices, promotions, or just in daily professional life. Traversing this media landscape is often difficult for Black journalists, says Allison Hunter, journalist, e...

Historically, racism has permeated the American entertainment and music industries including movies, radio, television, and the recording industries. Blacks and black life have not been portrayed accurately and African Americans have been kept out of prime roles. However, there is some hope that the industries are taking seriously the recent claims of systemic racism and are trying, to some degree...

There are major concerns about attempts being made around the country to suppress the black vote along with other non-white populations. This is especially true in urban areas and in the South. Polling places have been closed in some areas and voting machines have been limited thereby creating long lines of potential voters. These suppression attempts are teamed with President Donald Trump’s attac...

Courts must speak out “clearly” against systemic racism in our criminal justice system and make much needed corrections, says Judge Benes Aldana, president of the National Judicial College. The National Judicial College has been in existence since 1963 and has educated thousands of judges from all 50 states and 150 different foreign countries. It is the premier national institution for continuing...

It’s not easy for policy makers to determine how to open K-12 schools in the fall. Each school district must weigh multiple variables in determining whether face-to-face instruction is worth the risks or whether some form of remote learning is better. Each school must assess its situation and develop a comprehensive plan if re-opening face-to-face, says Dr. Kenneth Johnson, executive dean of the H...

Code-switching is the ability of a person to switch between languages or dialects to meet communication needs. It also is the alteration of clothes, hairstyles and music from one environment to another to be accepted. Code-switching is something that white culture demands of blacks. In short, to be acceptable and not “other”, the white establishment demands that African Americans shed some of thei...

Are African American female public office holders treated differently than their white counterparts by local media? Two black female judges answer that questions with a resounding: YES. In our continuing in-depth conversations about race and racism, WOUB’s Spectrum Podcast talks with two first-time African American female judges from Northeastern Ohio, who bring to the bench a wealth of legal expe...

Dr. Greg Hall is a primary care physician in Cleveland, Ohio who tailors his practice to specifically helping African Americans who have been short-changed by the traditional medical establishment. He says that racism is a public health crisis that manifests itself in many disparities between treatment of black patients and white patients. He cites the current COVID-19 pandemic as one example. But...

African American children are often told by the white establishment that “education” is the way to obtain equality yet, at the same time, black children are not given equal educational opportunities. They are told to get a quality education at the same time their schools are underfunded, have old textbooks, and have overly stretched teachers, says Ray Freeman, vice-president of the Warrensville He...