Shannon Hardin: Columbus City Council President on a Mission

Shannon Hardin

Columbus City Council President Shannon G. Hardin grew up on the South Side of Columbus. He was raised by folks answering the phones for local government. Recently elected by Council members as President of the City of Columbus, Shannon Hardin, who also schooled abroad in Kenya, Africa told the New Americans in an interview that, “God has blessed me with the opportunity to serve my community and I have every intention of carrying out that mission.”

Columbus City Council

I’m humbled by the opportunity to serve the residents of Columbus as City Council President. All of my Council colleagues embody public service, and I am honored that they have put their faith in me. As Council President, I will support each of them as we work together to realize a safer, healthier and more equitable Columbus.

Expectations

While Columbus is headed in the right direction, we all know we have work to do. Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin once told me that, “Leadership is too difficult not to do the hard things.” Now is a time for our city to do the hard things. We can all list the challenges: violent crime, affordable housing, the opioid epidemic, and police and community relations. I’m energized by my Morehouse Brother’s quote, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I have faith that the moral universe will bend towards justice, but it doesn’t bend without us. It doesn’t bend without action, without us doing the hard things. 

 “Every block, every cul-de-sac should provide our residents a feeling of security”

Neighborhood

On January 22nd, President Pro Tem Stinziano became the Chair of the Department of Neighborhoods. I'm excited for his vision and energy to make sure we are connecting with every resident in our city.

Every block, every cul-de-sac should provide our residents a feeling of security. Columbus' homicide rate in 2017 was unacceptable. Recently this Council joined Mayor Ginther to announce an additional two million dollar commitment to community safety. One million will go towards adding 100 officers to the force. The other $1 million will go towards community-based safety strategies such as violence prevention and intervention programming. This two-tiered approach represents a balanced approach to public safety. 

Transportation

In 2016 Columbus won the Smart Cities Grant to integrate smart technology with our transportation system in order to better connect Columbus residents to jobs, education, and healthcare. Much of the grant's first year was spent collecting data and creating the foundation for long-term success. The City of Columbus is currently in year two of a four-year grant period and continues to work diligently to align regional smart transportation investments. The recent launch of the CMAX bus along Cleveland Avenue signals that we are marching towards a world-class transportation system.

 

Opportunities

We boast the fastest population growth in the Midwest: From 2010 to 2015 our region grew by 115,000 and, looking forward, our region could grow by between 500,000 and 1 million people in the next 30 years. So the question arises, where in Columbus do they all go? How do we ensure we have the right kind of growth to create mixed-income neighborhoods where folks can access everything they need? Now is the time for us to set our collective priorities and plan for the future. I believe we can build a city with affordable, environmentally-conscious transit, inclusive housing and economic development, mixed-income neighborhoods where everyone has a shot at the American dream. 

Pledge

Elected officials are here to serve you. Please don't hesitate to reach out or stop me when you see me around town.

“Human Heart” Art Show with pens from two banks

Talle Bamazi, a visual artist and onetime owner of KIACA Gallery on High Street, Columbus, Ohio walked into a bank few months ago for normal transactions. He picked up a pen from the stack to fill out the deposit form. Just as he was filling it out, a thought of using the pen for drawings came to him. 

He picked more and left for the Studio on Mt Vernon Avenue, which was where according to him, “I got some ideas, vision and energy, that kept showing a mask. And the question that kept coming was like ‘why do you put a mask on your heart?’ As I started drawing, different images were emerging from what I was supposed to be drawing. When I finished one, another one popped up. In few months I have done about 15 pieces that I would not have been able to do in a life-time. I think this work was spiritually inspired.”

Thursday, February 8, 2018, beginning at 6pm Talle will open his Art Show tagged “Human Heart” at the King Arts Complex, 867 Mt Vernon Avenue, Columbus, Ohio. Originally from Togo, West Africa, Talle came to the United States in 1995 for an Art Show in Philadelphia. He decided to improve on his education by attending the famous New York Academy of Art. 

Talle’s appetite for adventurism and dreams led him to Columbus, Ohio with a desire “to meet two of America’s leading Collectors, Wexner and Ron Puzzuti.” He immediately founded Kiaca Gallery in 2004 on High Street when it didn’t have the present high rise buildings. Though, Talle is yet to meet “the two great collectors”, he operated the Gallery for 10years. It served as a meeting point for African and African American artists from America, Europe and Africa.  

“We were bringing Africans from Africa, from Europe and other places to showcase their arts.  

The public appreciated what we did then. It was new to many people and African immigrants in Columbus were always coming to the gallery, they have their meetings there and they saw it as a place away from home. “

The last two years had been a time of reflection for Talle Bamazi, whose works grace the hall of The King Arts Complex. As the time of taking inventory comes to an end, Talle will be showcasing several art works done with pens picked up from two banks in Columbus in what is expected to awe the arts community in Central Ohio. 

Black History Month: Out of This World

By Pedro Mejia

In 1926, a historian by the name of Carter G. Woodson introduced an idea to the United States that would one day grow into the cherished tradition that we now know as Black History Month. Woodson, an African-American historian, author, and founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, wished to see a larger presence of African-American history being taught in a coordinated effort alongside what had become a white-washed version of American history. As a result, an early iteration of what we now celebrate and reflect upon was established: Negro History Week. 

Fast forward to present day and February now marks a month long period of celebration and reflection upon one of the United States’ most dynamic histories. Black History Month is a platform where we may not only recognize the heroes of this rich history, such as Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass, but also some of the lesser known figures who are of equal importance. As we approach this significant celebration, in a year which has been marked by new levels of racial contention, let us become more familiar with the remarkable stories of Kitaw Ejigu and Mae Jemison.

Known for its hot springs, waterfalls, and caves, the natural landscape of Bonga, Ethiopia in 1948 was a vastly different scene than the one Kitaw Ejigu would be working in as Chief of Spacecraft and Satellite Systems for NASA. Bonga was Ejigu’s home until he began higher education, and eventually he graduated as the top student in his class at Bahir Dar Polytechnic Institute in mechanical engineering. 

After a brief stint in Japan where he studied automotive engineering on a scholarship, Ejigu moved to the United States and began working at NASA. Truly a self-made man, Ejigu represents a larger pattern of Black excellence in science that goes largely unrecognized. Among his contributions to NASA research centers were two patented aerospace mechanisms, the creation of space shuttles and rockets that contributed to planetary science research, and prominent work during the creation of the Global Positioning System (GPS). For some, the idea that a young boy from Ethiopia, a country that represents the origins of humanity on Earth, would go on to contribute to our race’s desire to explore more than our terrestrial roots, to be citizens of the galaxy, may come as a surprise. But for Kitaw Ejigu, the sky was never the limit; it was the goal. 

The 2016 movie “Hidden Figures” introduced the United States to the story of strong and intelligent African-American women who were involved in mathematical calculations at NASA during the space race. The portrayal of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Johnson gave young black girls and women role models in a space that is usually occupied by white men. Another important name and role model to reflect upon is Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman to travel in space. Growing up mostly in Chicago, Jemison is said to have always had a connection with outer space. From an early age, Jemison was resistant to the stereotypes and gender roles that frequently made her interest in space seem more like a childish dream than the expectation it always was to her.  

Reflecting on her childhood, Jemison has said, "In kindergarten, my teacher asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I told her a scientist. She said, 'Don't you mean a nurse?' Now, there's nothing wrong with being a nurse, but that's not what I wanted to be." Jemison’s strong sense of self awareness and drive allowed her to study at Stanford by the age of 16 where she would earn a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering as well as a Bachelor of the Arts in African and Afro-American Studies. She then furthered her education by obtaining her Doctor of Medicine degree from Cornell Medical College. It would surely be quite the accomplishment had this been the end of Jemison’s education and career. However, Jemison would end up serving in the Peace Corps serving the populations of Liberia and Sierra Leone, before applying for the astronaut program. 

In 1987, Jemison was accepted into the astronaut program, a stunning feat considering the almost 2,000 applications NASA received. In 1992, Jemison spent 190 hours in outer space, conducting experiments on bone cells, weightlessness, and motion sickness, as well as being involved with many other of the 43 investigations occurring on this space flight. Riding on the successes of Vaughan, Jackson, Johnson, Ejigu, and many other untold African American heroes in the space program, Jemison was at center stage, just as she had expected as a child. 

In the United States, Black excellence in every profession continues day to day, against racial barriers that unfortunately yet undoubtedly still exist. February, however, is a special time to recognize the powerfully somber, powerfully resilient, and powerfully relevant nature of this history, of which it is our duty to ensure it does not go untold. Together, Kitaw Ejigu and Mae Jemison represent strong black leaders whose accomplishments should serve as reminders of the prevailing drive and passion that is seen throughout Black history. The human race’s efforts and dreams of exploring our place in the universe is an endeavor that reveals an ambition deeply embedded within who we are, and it is difficult to think of a pair of leaders that better demonstrate our propensity to be, and want to be, out of this world. 

(Pedro Mejia, AmeriCorps VISTA, Department of Neighborhoods, City of Columbus)

There should be commitment to combat racism – Jane Elliot, Diversity Pioneer

By Deba Uwadiae

Jane Elliot

Monday, January 15, 2018, Jane Elliot, diversity pioneer, was the Guest Speaker at the City of Columbus’ Celebration and March marking Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Jane Elliott, internationally known teacher, lecturer, diversity trainer, and recipient of the National Mental Health Association Award for Excellence in Education, exposes prejudice and bigotry for what it is, an irrational class system based upon purely arbitrary factors. She spoke with the New Americans magazine on race relations under President Donald Trump, the fears, solutions, 50 years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the fact that everyone on earth is related. 

Race Relations

With Donald Trump as a President, “what I make of race relations is that we have gone backward 40years in two years’. And he said he is not a racist because he doesn’t know what a racist is. He thinks a racist is someone who is lynching someone. He doesn’t realize that when you say ugly things and when you make ugly issues that limit the opportunities for people of color, and women and members of the LGBTQ society and those who are old, you are acting in a bigoted way and the ugliest form of bigotry is racism. I think he doesn’t know, as most white people don’t understand what racist means. They think it is lynching. They don’t realize that every time somebody says to a black person “when I see you I don’t see you black,” they’re acting in a racist way because what they are saying to that person is “I am upset by the color of your skin so I am going to pretend that you don’t have that problem when I am talking to you.”

Has anybody ever said to you “what is it like to be black?” Has anybody ever sad to you “I am color blind, I don’t see color.” When some woman said that to me, I said “I knew that before you told me because if you weren’t color blind, you won’t wear that blouse with those pants and you certainly wouldn’t have your hair that color.”  We have to turn these ugly words back on the people who are making them. We must not tolerate this. We must not tolerate the intolerable. If it is intolerable for my black and yellow and brown cousins, it is intolerable for me. I don’t have the right to tolerate it.

Fear

Whites in America right now are reacting to their fear. They know that within 30 years we would be in the numerical minorities in this country. They are afraid that when the people of color get power they are going to want to treat us the way we have treated them. That is really what is going on.        

In his book, “The Birth Dearth” Ben Wattenberg said in the first paragraph of the first page that “the major problem confronting the United States today is that there are no enough white babies being born in this country. If we don’t do anything about it and we don’t, soon we will be in the minority and this country will no longer be a white man’s land”.  The reason for a war across the southern border of the United States is to keep those people out because they reproduce too rapidly.  I think most people have no idea of how dangerous this man is and the people who are talking to him. And he listens to the last person he hears. 

Solution

The solution to the whole problem is education. It is not indoctrination, it is not schooling and it is not counseling. It is education.  Racism and bigotry are individual problems. There should be commitment to combat racism. Society is composed of individuals and not until we truly educate individuals will we get rid of racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia and ethnocentrism that is growing every day in this country. 

After all, if the President of the United States acts that way why shouldn’t the rest of us; if the President of the United States can grab women by wherever he wants to why shouldn’t little boys and teenage boys and the old men, if it is alright for the President. And we approve it that it is alright for the President. I am angry about this kind of thing. 

Relationship

We are all cousins. Everybody on the face of the earth today is a descendant of the first black people who appeared in sub-Saharan Africa about 500,000 years ago. For example, several weeks ago, my ex-daughter-in-law had her DNA done, she thought she was Norwegian. And now, of all these countries that the DNA said she came from, one of them was 1.2percent Nigeria. I was totally delighted because if    everybody has the DNA done, they are going to find out that at least 1percent of their DNA is black. The only way those first human beings could have survived was to have enough melanin on their skin to protect them from the damaging rays of the sun. That is the reason for black skin. And that is the reason for the people that we call red people, Native Americans. Black people came to this country before Christopher Columbus got here. Read the book “Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization” by Anthony Browder. He is an archeologist, and absolutely brilliant.

There will be no white people if there hadn’t been black people. And black people were brilliant enough that they circumnavigate the globe many, many years before Columbus got here. They built their own ship and they did it without the kind of technology that we use today. They used the sun and the stars and the moon.

Black History Month

In this country, we celebrate the Black History month but according to us, Black History started when we enslaved Blacks.  Black History in the United States starts with slavery. It should start 4,000years before the birth of Jesus Christ. It should start, with facts that black people were doing cataract surgery with metal instruments before there was such a knowledge in the UK or in Europe. 

Rev.  King Jr.

Fifty years after Rev. Dr. King Jr, I’d thought we will have enough teachers educating instead of lying to their students, and that when I die, we would have killed racism. Now I can’t die. I resent losing that freedom. There is no way I am going to stop doing what I am doing as long as there is still racism. What is important to me is that all lives are better. I think the thing white people don’t realize is that we have no freedom. We do not have freedom in this country. We cannot associate closely or love someone who is of a different color. We can’t have them in our neighborhood because we feel the color might rub off.

We can’t appreciate their music ,

We can’t appreciate the fact that we can have two shoes of different shapes if it hadn’t been for a black man. If you are racist and you like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, you can’t have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ever again because peanut butter was developed by a Blackman working at the Ohio State University. So if you can’t use peanut butter then you can’t eat bread because that was invented by people of color too. Give up all the things that people of color have made possible for you, and that is our language, alphabets, numeration system, calendar, astronomy – by the time you list all the things we got from people of color, you’re going to end up with very short list of what we have given and that includes our religions.  Every major religion on the face of the earth came to us from societies of people of color.      

2017 Tax filing begins Monday, Jan. 29

As the tax filing season officially opens Monday, January 29, 2018 taxpayers can immediately start preparing and e-filing their taxes for free with IRS Free File software. Free File software will automatically submit returns as soon as the filing season begins.

Although taxpayers may complete and file their taxes now through Free File, the returns will not be submitted to the IRS for processing until January 29. The fastest way to get a refund remains e-file and direct deposit. The IRS issues most refunds in less than 21 days, although some require additional time.

A dozen brand-name Free File partners, acting through the Free File Alliance, offer their software free to eligible taxpayers. Each partner sets its own criteria, but any taxpayer earning $66,000 or less will find one or more software products available. Some providers offer both free federal and Free State tax preparation, a seamless way to file taxes.

Active duty military personnel with incomes of $66,000 or less may use any Free File software product of their choice without regard to the criteria.

Use the Free File Software Lookup Tool to find free federal and Free State return options that match your situation.

Taxpayers now may use their smart phones or tablets to electronically prepare and file their federal and state tax returns through IRS Free File. Taxpayers may access the products using mobile devices in two ways: (1) Use the IRS2Go app, which has a link to the Free File Software Lookup Tool, or (2) use the device’s browser to go to www.IRS.gov/freefile. The IRS2Go app is available for Android and iOS devices.

The Internal Revenue Service and Free File Alliance mark their 16th year of providing free tax preparation products to taxpayers.

In those 16 years, taxpayers have filed 51.1 million free federal tax returns. This means a savings of $1.5 billion to taxpayers, using a conservative $30 per return preparation fee.

For taxpayers who earned more than $66,000, there are Free File Fillable Forms, which will be available Jan. 29. Free File Fillable Forms, provided by the Free File Alliance, is best for those taxpayers experienced in preparing returns by hand and with limited assistance.

The IRS reminds taxpayers that if their refund includes the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit, the agency by law must hold that refund until mid-February.

The IRS, however, urged taxpayers to prepare and file their returns only when they have all the tax documents they need to support their claims on income, credits and deductions. Taxpayers who use a final pay stub instead of a Form W-2 could end up with errors on their returns.