News — ohio

Treka Engleman, a 32-year-old public school teacher from Cincinnati, Ohio, is a foster mum who has adopted three white children. However, she has faced massive trolling for this particular act. They criticize her choice to adopt white kids as a form of betrayal to the black community. The backlash is based on the idea that there are a lot of black kids that need homes. This is quite unfortunate as all kids deserve a chance to get home regardless of their race. Are we limited by race when seeking to expand families, as in Treka Engleman? Are the trolls depicting some form of double standards? What do you think?

The O’Jays, an R&B ensemble from Canton, Ohio, was formed in 1958 by childhood friends Eddie Levert, who was born in Bessemer, Alabama in 1942 and moved to Canton at the age of 8, and Walter Williams, Sr. born in Canton in 1942.  They became best friends and a singing duet in 1958. The duo invited other schoolmates who could sing, William Powell, born in Canton in 1942; Bobby Massey, born in Canton in 1942; and Bill Isles, born in 1941 in McAntenville, North Carolina, also joined.  The five, all of whom attended McKinley High School in Canton, first called themselves the Triumphs but in a1960 they changed their name to the Mascots.

In 1961, The Mascots released a single, “Miracles,” on the Cincinnati-based King label. Their song was actively promoted by Eddie O’Jay, a popular disc jockey in Cleveland, Ohio. As a tribute to him, they in 1963 rename themselves the O’Jays.

The group’s first chart hit was “Lonely Drifter” in 1963.  Two years later in 1965, they moved to Los Angeles, California and earned their first national R&B hit, “Lipstick Traces on a Cigarette, which peaked at # 28 on the R&B chart.  The next year, 1966, the group reached # 12 on the R&B chart with “Stand in for Love.”

Kenny Gamble & Leon A. Huff signed the O’Jays to their Philadelphia International label in 1972 and there they had their first and only million-selling single, “Back Stabbers” which reached #1 on the R&B chart and no. #3 pop on the US Billboard Hot 100 later that year.  In 1973, their hit “Love Train” followed, peaking at #9 on the R&B chart. Unusual for an R&B song, the lyrics of “Love Train” promoted global unity. While not as successful as “Back Stabbers,” it went gold, selling more than 500,000 copies. Many music critics considered it the birth of Philadelphia-style soul music.

The O’Jays received the Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s Pioneer Award in 1997. In 2001, the O’Jays’ For the Love album released earlier in the year, was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Traditional R&B Vocal Album. Additionally, they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004 and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. Four years later, in 2009, BET awarded the group the Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2011 they received the Trumpet Lifetime Achievement Award. The O’Jays were inducted into the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in 2013, and in 2019, they receive the Soul Tracks Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 2019, it was discovered that much of the O’Jays original music scores and recording documents were destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire on the backlot of Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles, California.

While it seemed everyone rushed to stock up on toilet paper at the start of the pandemic, a group of Black men saw it as an opportunity to launch a startup that brings a new toilet tissue line to the market.

Five Black men from Ohio, who call themselves “mogul minds,” created a toilet paper brand called “Leafy.” With the company motto, “Go Green, Stay Clean,” Leafy is an eco-friendly brand that focuses on the betterment of the environment through the benefits of bamboo.

According to the company website, the founders say, “We look to educate and elevate consumers to be more socially conscious through the use of biodegradable paper products. We partner with organizations centered on environmental solutions and organizations that elevate underserved communities to build sustainability.”

In addition to being good for the environment, the brand is intended to benefit local communities.

“We wanted to bring in a product that would have a direct impact on the community, co-founder D’Andre Martin told WBNS. “Proceeds from our toilet paper company are going back to minority communities,” added co-founder Charles Peaks.

While the group launched the business only a few months ago, Leafy is already thriving. The brand can be found in local grocery stores in Ohio, the Hyatt, and on the company’s website.

“We feel amazing about it,” Marvin Green, another of the founders, told WSYX. “It’s exciting, we look forward to watching it grow.”

Leafy now joins a short nationwide list of Black-owned paper product brands and is the first in the state of Ohio. In fact, the state of Ohio is reporting that 2020 was a record year for new businesses in the state, with around 160,000 new businesses that launched.

While the founders say they enjoy the success so far, it’s about more than making money.

“We’re not even thinking about money right. It’s about growing our communities, being able to help, educate people, and get them more aware of what they’re using,” the group told WSYX.

A Black-owned bakery was forced to close its shop after a number of racially charged threats targeted the business this past weekend. 

The co-owner of Bake Me Happy in Columbus, Ohio, says out of an abundance of safety for her employees, the business closed its doors. The decision came after someone called in several times inquiring about the gluten-free bakery and then preceded to go on a violent and racially charged tirade, saying people need to get out of the building.

Letha Pugh, the bakery’s co-founder explained to affiliate NBC affiliate WCMH–TV, “That’s a threat, essentially,” she said. “I called the number back and the person answered the phone and just kind of went into saying a bunch of racial slurs.”

Pugh alerted police and decided to talk to the Columbus City Council. According to Black leaders, the incident is just one of several they have noticed in the area.

“It is incomprehensible that respected entrepreneurs and community activists felt it necessary to close their beloved business because of threats from an extremist racist demagogue,” Stephanie Hightower, president and CEO of the Columbus Urban League, said in a statement. “What’s just as unbelievable is that other Black business owners reportedly also are receiving similar threats. Federal, state and local authorities should immediately and thoroughly investigate these issues, protect the intended victims and ensure that swift and sure prosecution is pursued against these criminal acts.”

Hightower went on to say, “As we witnessed during the debacle in our nation’s Capitol last week, we should never underestimate the capacity for violence by those who appear to be the 2021 version of a lynch mob.”

Word circulated about the incident on social media, generating an outpouring of community support.

“The staff was freaked out,” Pugh said. “We’re trying to figure out what our next steps are, but I’m not into predicting what people are going to do these days. So we’re going to close it down, regroup.”

The bakery says it plans to reopen on Tuesday.