Well, now that I have your attention, take a deep breath.

Exhale.

Good.

Now do it again.

Because before anyone reacts to the headline, I want to explain exactly what I mean. After hearing my opinion, a friend once told me I should write about Black women.

So here we are.

First, some context. I am a heterosexual Black man, and I was raised by three beautiful Black women. I have spent my life watching Black women navigate a world that often demands impossible contradictions from them. I can definitely tell you with 100 percent certainty that the problems that Black women face are way more complex and detailed than one would expect.

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Be strong, but not intimidating. Be confident, but not aggressive. Be successful, but not threatening. Be independent, but still make everyone else feel comfortable. Be submissive, but control everything. Be aggressive, but not masculine. Then people turn around and ask questions like: ‘Why are Black women so angry?’ But before we answer those questions, maybe we should ask a different one:

Who decided the defining characteristics of Black women in the first place?

The problem with Black women is that Black women are not the problem. The problem is that society has often misunderstood, mislabeled and punished the very traits it demanded they possess. Strength becomes anger. Confidence becomes attitude. Self-protection becomes hostility. A voice becomes aggression.

The same qualities that allow all women to survive difficult circumstances are often amplified, ridiculed and criticized when displayed by Black women who society has historically expected to remain quiet, gentle, or docile. That contradiction is where the real problem begins — not with Black women — with the way society chooses to view them through a judgmentally-tinted lens.

History is full of examples of strong and intelligent Black women whose confidence and refusal to accept limitations were often misinterpreted as defiance, when they should have been called leadership. Few examples illustrate this better than Angela Davis.

Davis was not born a revolutionary. She became one. She was a gifted student who excelled at everything academic. The daughter of educators, she pursued an intellectual curiosity that took her far beyond her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. She studied philosophy at three of the world’s most respected institutions: the Sorbonne in Paris, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt and Humboldt University in East Berlin. Under the influence of prominent theorists such as Theodor Adorno and Oskar Negt, Davis explored some of humanity’s most difficult questions: power, violence, oppression and the forces that shape society.

After writing her dissertation “Towards a Kantian Theory of Force” And graduating Magna Cum Laude, she was appointed assistant professor of philosophy at UCLA. At this point, Angela Davis was not simply a person with strong opinions; she was a highly educated scholar who had spent years studying the very systems she would later challenge. Yet, when she became outspoken about racial and social injustice, many people did not see an educated woman engaging in an intellectual debate about society. They saw a threat.

Another example is Nina Simone. Nina was a renowned singer, songwriter, pianist, composer, and Civil Rights activist known for her powerful voice and virtuosic piano skills. She blended classical, jazz, blues, folk, and R&B, sometimes within the same song. As a classically trained pianist, Simone’s music was not protest music because it was fashionable; it was protest music because she could not separate her art from the reality around her. The violence and injustice she witnessed were not abstract one-off issues; they were wounds inflicted on her community and country. Born in North Carolina, Simone began playing piano at age three and studied at the Juilliard School.

After Juilliard, Nina was denied admission to the Curtis Institute of Music, she believed racism and jealousy influenced the decision. That rejection became a defining moment for her, fueling her determination to prove her talent. Nina’s style was so unique that critics struggled to categorize it. A Nina Simone album was an audiological adventure, moving between genres and emotions like a Kung Fu master changing styles mid-fight, filtered through her distinct voice and piano style. During the Civil Rights era, she became a powerful voice for change through songs like “Mississippi Goddam.”

She connected with leading figures of the movement, including Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Angela Davis. For Simone, music was not separate from activism; it was another form of resistance. Nina used her voice, and society loved her for it. But when she used that same voice to speak truth to power, the applause faded, and the message became clear: “BE QUIET.”

Angela Davis and Nina Simone came from different worlds, but they faced the same contradiction. Today, Michelle Obama represents another example of that same struggle: society celebrates Black brilliance until that Black brilliance challenges the world around it.

Former First Lady Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is quite possibly the quintessential example of Black excellence.

If Black excellence were a dictionary entry, it would probably just be a picture of Michelle Obama holding a sign that says, “Stop Hatin’,” because a Princeton-educated attorney, best-selling author, and former First Lady does not need to explain herself to people who had already decided they didn’t want to listen.

Michelle Obama is an American attorney, author and public figure who served as the most beautiful first lady the United States has ever had from 2009 to 2017. What…she is…fight me! As the wife of “the luckiest man on earth” — his words, not mine — 44th U.S. President Barack Obama, she made history as the first Black woman to hold that role. Raised on the South Side of Chicago, she graduated cum laude from Princeton University. She earned a law degree from Harvard Law School before building a successful career in corporate law, municipal government and nonprofit leadership. Everything about her says she would have been something special even if she had married me instead.

During her time as first lady, Michelle Obama became known not simply as the president’s wife, but as a leader in her own right. Her popularity even led some supporters to suggest placing her on the 2016 presidential ticket. After witnessing how the country treated her husband, I was glad she chose not to do it.

She championed initiatives focused on healthy families, education, international girls’ education and support for military families and veterans. She embodied a combination of intellect, discipline, compassion and achievement that made her an undeniable example of excellence, but it also caused extreme discomfort in a specific group of men because she’s tall, beautiful, well-spoken, confident — and so far out of their league.

History is full of “problematic” Black women.

I’m not at all sorry if you’re disappointed that this piece isn’t filled with self-hating, propagandized nonsense about fake nails, fake hair, gold teeth, hair bonnets, big booties, or questionably revealing outfits. I refuse to ask for, make, or accept apologies from or on behalf of my beautiful Black sisters who carry entire communities on their backs effortlessly while rarely saying a word about the weight. I accept them. I appreciate them. I respect them. I encourage them to be everything they are without question and everything they want to be without concern.

Serious. Sexy. Brilliant. Loud. Quiet. Complicated. A little silly. A little wild. A little weird. Soft when they want to be and strong when they have to be.

I love all of it.

I love all of them.

And I will never accept anything less for them than the freedom to exist unapologetically, exactly as they are — comfortable in every shade of skin from golden olive to midnight onyx, just as God created them.

Perfection.

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Iowa Writers Collaborative Roundup

What happens when a candidate has no opponent? Does your vote still matter? According to Iowa State Rep. Rob Johnson, D-District 34, the answer is a resounding yes.

Although Johnson is running unopposed in this election, he says the importance of casting a ballot extends far beyond a single race. He believes every voter plays a role in shaping the future of their community by supporting candidates throughout the ballot.

“Your one vote matters, it impacts policy, it impacts everything,” Johnson said.

He emphasized that elected officials are responsible for making decisions that affect billions of taxpayer dollars and the lives of Iowans across the state.

“The people that you elect are a part of a $10 billion dollar budget,” he said.

Despite facing no challenger, Johnson said fundraising remains a critical part of his campaign. Rather than focusing solely on his own race, he said campaign efforts are designed to encourage voter participation and strengthen turnout for other state and congressional candidates.

“We have to raise money for this campaign despite being unopposed because we still want the community to show up to vote for state and congressional candidates,” Johnson said.

State Rep. Megan Srinivas, the Democratic candidate for Iowa House District 30, said running unopposed comes with an added responsibility to support other candidates and encourage broader participation.

“When you have a candidate that is unopposed, responsibilities change. There is an added layer of responsibility,” Srinivas said. “Support other candidates with similar values to get other people and communities at the table.”

Low voter turnout, Johnson said, doesn’t just affect one race. When fewer people participate because they believe an uncontested election is already decided, it can negatively impact every other candidate appearing on the ballot. Competitive races for state and federal offices rely on strong turnout, and a lack of participation can change election outcomes while reducing community representation.

Johnson pointed to recent election cycles as evidence that voter outreach and fundraising make a measurable difference.

“Last election cycle we raised $40,000,” he said.

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Johnson contrasted that effort with an earlier election cycle, when only about 5,000 voters participated in District 34. Following a more robust fundraising campaign, voter turnout more than doubled to approximately 11,000 residents in the next election, he said.

For Johnson, those numbers demonstrate that investing in voter engagement pays dividends beyond campaign finances. Increased outreach encourages more residents to participate in the democratic process, benefiting every candidate and ensuring more voices are represented at the ballot box.

While Johnson may not be defending his seat against an opponent this year, he says the election is still one of consequence. Every vote cast helps determine who will serve in offices across Iowa and in Congress, shaping policies that affect education, infrastructure, public safety, health care and the state’s financial future.

Johnson hopes voters will resist the temptation to stay home simply because one race lacks competition.

An uncontested race may appear settled, but the ballot is not. For Johnson, showing up to vote is about more than supporting a single candidate, it’s about strengthening democracy, encouraging civic engagement and helping decide the future of Iowa.

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Iowa Writers Collaborative Roundup

Sare, of New York, was one of many mostly state candidates campaigning at the fair, which ran from Aug. 13 to Aug. 23.

Her platform includes reforming the Federal Reserve, increasing nuclear power plants and fusion energy, building high-speed rail, modernizing water management systems, implementing Medicare for All, directing credit to restore industry and family farms, among other priorities. Read more about Sare’s campaign here.

Read more about Diane Sare in Black Iowa News

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Sare’s experience includes running for the U.S. Senate in New York against incumbent Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand in 2022 and 2024 respectively, losing both races. Sare, 60, who was born in Burlington, Vermont, announced her campaign for president on Jan. 10, 2026. A musician, Sare attended Hamilton College and the New England Conservatory of Music, and she directs a community chorus she founded in Manhattan. Her spouse is Christopher. Her running mate is Jose Vega, 27.

An ally suggested she campaign in Iowa, and Sare arrived in the Hawkeye state on Aug. 20, meeting with Democrats, farmers and veterans. She attended the Iowa State Fair to better understand Iowa issues and discuss her platform, which includes reforming the Federal Reserve, increasing nuclear power plants and fusion energy, building high-speed rail, modernizing water management systems, implementing Medicare for All, directing credit to restore industry and family farms, among other priorities.

Iowans have long enjoyed a steady stream of presidential candidates with its previous first-in-the-nation caucuses. However, the Democratic National Convention didn’t include Iowa when it voted for its 2028 early-state calendar, instead prioritizing racial diversity in selecting South Carolina to go first. The Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate puts Iowa’s Black population at 4.9%, or 159,000 residents. The white population is 87.7%, or 2.8 million residents.

Many people had also expected Iowa to lose its status due to the 2020 Iowa Democratic Caucuses vote debacle. In July, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart told the Iowa Capital Dispatch the party “will have more to say” about whether it will adhere to the schedule after the November midterms. The Iowa Republican caucuses are expected to remain first.

According to Ballotpedia, Sare is among dozens of candidates who have already registered with the Federal Election Commission to run in the Nov. 7, 2028 presidential election, though it’s still early. Sare is listed as unaffiliated.

Pew Research Center data show many voters have become frustrated by the tireless fighting and divisive rhetoric between Democrats and Republicans, especially in recent years. According to the center, 37% of Americans wish there were an option beyond the two major political parties — Democrats and Republicans— especially among younger adults. About 25% of adults surveyed said neither party represents them well, the Pew Center found.

In 2026, 73% of Black Americans identified as Democrats or Democratic-leaning, 14% as Republicans or Republican-leaning, and 13% as non-lean/refused to answer, according to Pew.

Sare, who in 2011 called for impeachment of former President Barack Obama, said her economic policies and platform offer concrete solutions for voters who are fed up with or disenfranchised from the nation’s two-party system.

Dana James, founder and publisher of Black Iowa News, a digital and print platform, interviewed Sare about her campaign.

Black Iowa News: Do you describe yourself as an independent candidate, and what does that mean to you beyond simply not being a Democrat or Republican?

Diane Sare: “What it means really is that the parties have failed us, and I think we see a move now where both parties are not that interested in their primary elections. They go right onto the convention with their hand-selected candidate, and I think what we’re seeing is a terrible gap between the people and the people that they are voting for. So there’s a horrible lack of trust between the people and their alleged representatives . . . It’s actually shifted because of this so-called MAGA phenomenon, which I think really came out of the Tea Party, which was a bunch of working-class people. It became a different thing because it used to be just rich people. Now it’s a lot of angry working-class people. But then you see people leaving them too because a lot of people voted for Trump because they thought he was going to be anti-war and take care of the working class. And lo and behold, did not do that. He reverted or fulfilled his Roy Cohn training, and we’re in a really scary place right now. And that’s. . .why I decided to run for president; I did not fly in here on my own charter jet. I am not a reality TV star, and I was thinking about what LaRouche had done as a presidential voice for policy, particularly on the economy. And I said, we need a presidential voice. We have a disaster in the White House, but there is no opposition. The Congress has completely abdicated. They have the power to defund the Iran War. They have the power to defund the genocide in Gaza, and they will not. So far, there’s been an increasing move in that, but so far they won’t do that. And it’s very easy to sit back and say impeach Trump, and, believe me, he’s committed crimes worthy of impeachment. But if you’re not even going to do your job, which is to stop this, that’s how they stopped the Vietnam War. They stopped the funding. So I said we need a voice. We need a voice that’s actually for presidential policy. I think we’re headed for a massive crisis in this country. The economy is crashing. We’re going to have possibly food shortages. This thing with the Strait of Hormuz is not a small deal. We’re already having energy shortages. We didn’t get fusion. We didn’t develop nuclear, and we shut down coal. I mean, so what do people do then? And therefore, I think in a moment like that, someone who’s saying, ‘Hey, we can learn from what FDR did in the Depression, what Abraham Lincoln did during the Civil War,’ there’s an American system of credit, the principle of the general welfare and the Constitution. We have to outline the policies, so that’s something I’m very interested in doing. It’s not just a negative campaign, but saying, ‘Okay, reinstate Glass-Steagall, nationalize the Federal Reserve, build 42,000 miles of high-speed. You know, very concrete.”

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Black Iowa News: What do you think that independent candidates can offer Black voters that Democrats and Republicans have failed to offer?

Sare: “It’s economics. I mean if people cannot afford to have a house or raise a family. What we can say, freedom and equality — it means nothing unless there’s a physical economic basis for it . . . I think that our nation needs a mission because if we have a certain quality of unity for a mission, everything is going to look different, and we’re going to be looking for the talent and the potential. We throw so many people on a scrap heap right now . . . Now, if your nation is saying, ‘Look, we need 42,000 miles of high-speed rail, and we need to figure out how to get to Mars, and we need to cure Parkinson’s,’ then you can’t throw people away. You’re gonna need every single person, and you’re gonna need people who are looking for the talent.”

Black Iowa News: Do you think that it’s easier or more difficult to run as an independent? Do you think it’s easier or more difficult to be accepted?

Sare: “Well, I’ll tell you, everyone else thinks it’s more difficult . . . It is in the sense that I’m also not delusional because of what I went through. So I could say, well, I could run as a Democrat, for example, in New York, where I remain the only person in the whole United States now who’s gotten on the ballot in New York, because they tripled the signature requirement for independents. So if you’re a Democrat or Republican, it’s 15,000 signatures in six weeks. John McCain couldn’t even do it. Now it’s 45,000. I did it, and I’m the only one, and I did it twice. The Libertarian Party crashed and burned; the Green Party. New York has no minor parties anymore, and so that is very hard. I’m looking at the ballot access question. It’s designed to be impossible because you have a fiefdom, and they don’t want an independent . . .”

Black Iowa News: What do you believe that Black Americans, in particular, should demand from independent presidential candidates that they have not demanded or received from the two major parties?

Sare: “. . . It’s obvious that the nation is becoming a lot more racist with the ICE policies and so on. But you can’t just say, ‘Don’t be a racist, right? It’s the solution question because it’s easy to say, ‘I’m being raped. So you get rid of the rapist.’ Can you pay your rent? Do you have a house? Does that guarantee? And I think that this is where candidates are not held to account. It’s easy for you to say the drinking water’s bad, or you don’t support genocide, or you don’t think we should be funding wars. What are you going to do? What are you going to do to rebuild our cities, rebuild our transportation grid, improve our public schools, allow our children to become geniuses? What is your plan for that? And force them to think that through. I see it because I’m actually trying to lead a slate of independent candidates, and what I’m trying to do is actually help them because a lot of people are running independent because they’re very fed up. So I say, ‘OK, I understand you’re fed up. What is your solution? And that’s really, I think, the biggest thing. Not only for Black voters, for all voters, we have not held these people accountable, and I think, because the economy is so difficult, I suppose the more that you are suffering, the more that you are impoverished, the harder that you have to work, the harder it is to have the morale or the hope that you can move that jerk who’s in that seat, but but we can, especially in an election year, you can scare them.”

Black Iowa News: What are you prepared to do differently in your outreach to us, to Black Americans?

Sare: “I’ll tell you one thing that I’ve thought about not my whole life, but since I lived in D.C. for 10 years, and one really important area is culture. Because I didn’t know this history, and one thing I think is really important is for us to know our history. There was supposed to be an American school of classical music that Antonin Dvorak, who was in a way a student of Brahms came here to found, and he went around the country listening, and he said, “The kernel of a great and noble school of American music is the Negro spiritual and the Native American music, and they had a national conservatory for a few years in the 1890s in New York, funded by a woman named Jeanette Thurber, and that’s where H.T. Burleigh, came out of, and Hall Johnson, and a lot of these Black composers, and it was killed because of Jim Crow, etc. We have a political culture. The ideas of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, however short our founders fell from those principles. It was true. It is true that every human being is created equal. That is a true principle. We’re supposed to live up to that. We’re supposed to grow into that. So we had a potentially great political culture, but we should have a great artistic culture, and I think this thing again, particularly the spirituals, which I consider part of classical music. Classical music is one area, and then I just think if we knew the history, we were just at the Henry Wallace House, and of course George Washington Carver, and people don’t know this history, right? So I think that’s one very important thing because then you say, ‘Well, of course it’s normal for an African American to be a genius, right?’ And again, if the nation has a mission, then we need geniuses. So we’re going to want to bring develop that in every single person in the nation. So I think that would be, I think that would be different. I think it’s quite different than anything else I’ve heard.”

Black Iowa News: What are your thoughts around affirmative action and the DEI conversation when it comes to college admissions, employment and areas where racial disparities are still there?

Sare: “There really needs to be affirmative action. I think there also does have to be a merit-based system . . . That’s why I think, in a sense, we can start from the bottom up and assign quotas, but the question is, why? What is your mission? What is your purpose? And if you have a purpose, then it also makes sense to have quota, you know, systems of affirmative action because you want everyone to have an equal opportunity involved, but you don’t want to create arbitrary constructs to check off boxes.”

Black Iowa News: Now, in terms of data centers and your proposed project with high-speed rail, historically, these kinds of projects have sometimes displaced Black communities rather than benefited them. How would you prevent that from happening under your administration?

Sare: “We wouldn’t do it. I mean, I look at New York State. They shut down Indian Point, a nuclear power plant, which was perfectly in good shape for another at least two decades, and replaced it with coal-fired and gas-fired plants. Where in Queens and the Bronx, the African American Bronx. My running mate, he’s running for Congress. A young man named Jose Vega, who’s 27 years old, running in the Bronx against Richie Torres. His family is El Salvadorian. His stepfather, actually, who’s been in this country for 20 years, got picked up by ICE and shipped out of the country, and Jose always makes the point . . . The Bronx has the highest asthma rate in the whole United States. You have Robert Moses putting the Cross Bronx parking lot (Expressway) and then the dirtiest power plants right there. So, absolutely, it is an issue I am aware of, and I would not do it. Would not allow that to be done. It’s an outrage. And again, I’m sorry. I get really angry about this because if we had a mission, you could never treat people like that.

We’ve got people who’ve committed horrible crimes, and no one’s even convening a grand jury about it, but if you say there’s something, there’s a mission for mankind, because what is it that makes us human? It’s in the invisible domain, right? It’s our creativity. It’s that we can make a contribution to generations for centuries to come . . . But if you have an actual human identity, then these ephemeral things like skin color, religion, sexual, whatever. It doesn’t matter because you’re looking for something which is really universal and in a way which hasn’t even been discovered yet.”

Black Iowa News: How can people get to the level where that’s something they can worry about when they’re experiencing rising costs, food insecurity and all of these issues are top of mind?

Sare: “ . . . You have to actually care, and then you have to figure it out . . . because every situation is going to be different.”

Black Iowa News: What about reparations and the need to repair the harm — the generational harm that has been done to Black Americans?

Sare: “Some like giving people money, particularly because I think our whole entire society is so horribly broken. I guess the horrible standard of living of young white people might be higher than the horrible standard of living of young Black people, but I don’t consider that an equal. We should all want something much better than where almost anybody is at right now. But do you have a way that you can see this working for the good? I’m open to discuss it. I have a hard time imagining that it would actually fix anything because I think the whole trajectory is down.”

Black Iowa News: What would you do about ICE if you were elected, since ICE is an issue for immigrants, people of color and Black people?

Sare: “When did we create ICE anyway? I don’t think we need it. We have to have a path to citizenship. We have an insane program. I mean, there’s two aspects. One, as I said, if you go over and invade a country and make their life unlivable, and then they come here, you have no right to throw them out. You made the mess. So stop doing that. What we’ve done to Haiti is an absolute atrocity . . . crime. So you’ve made this mess. I don’t think we should have open borders where we have no clue who’s coming in, but it means you better have the number of judges that you need. You better have a way of rapidly processing large numbers of people, and then you better figure out. For example, now, I mean, the whole thing is criminal. But one of the particularly criminal things about this whole ICE deportation policy is again the numbers. You assign a quota. So then, what do the ICE agents do? They go sit at the courthouse where people who are are trying to be legal. Why? Because they know the people at the courthouse aren’t legal, and they’re there trying to fix it. Right? I mean, it’s so sick . . . There has to be hope. There has to be a future place. Everyone knows who’s lived in any city anyway knows dozens or hundreds of cases of people here who don’t have status, who should be citizens, and there is no way for them to get across that, which is outrageous. You have to have that . . . a reasonable way for people to get citizenship who have been here. The other thing that I think will happen is, you will see if there are criminals who, in other words, you’ll be able to see if there’s a criminal element. It will stand out in bold relief because you’ve created an opportunity for all the people who want to become citizens. But there is no-I don’t care how criminal someone is. We don’t have a right to be criminal and brutalize people and put them in full detention centers with no medical care where they die. And I mean that is just absolutely abhorrent, and it destroys the people who are doing that to other people, whether they know it or not.”

Black Iowa News: Black Americans, in particular, experience significant disparities in maternal and infant health, life expectancy and access to health care. What would you do to address those disparities?

Sare: “I think it has to be addressed. And also, no one is taking care of the mental health of women after they give birth, right? I think that is one of these things that requires a special effort.”

Black Iowa News: Lack of mental health care is at a crisis, too. People don’t have access.

Sare: “It’s horrible. I was at a meeting three years ago of a bunch of retired cops talking about the stuff they’re dealing with, especially since they legalized pot, but I’m vehemently opposed to legalization, not decriminalization. I don’t want people going to jail, but having commercial marijuana in every street corner is so destructive. And then they rolled it out in New York’s the whole state of New York in a completely insane way. But I think the whole thing is destructive. I really oppose it . . . because now you have mental illness and nowhere to go, and it’s combined because the new super high THC marijuana things can cause psychosis and schizophrenia very easily. Like it’s a huge correlation, so you’re dealing with severely mentally ill people, and police officers aren’t trained. And I heard these retired cops saying there was a naked man in front of one of the projects wielding a machete . . . They said we used to have a place where you take someone like that. They said there is no place now. We take him to the emergency room. So lo and behold, 80% of nurses in the state of New York have been assaulted. Why have they been assaulted?”

Black Iowa News: What do you want voters in Iowa to know?

Sare: “I’d like to say the situation is much worse than people imagine. We are potentially very close to a nuclear war. The result of our post-industrial economy is that we didn’t have enough weapons to send them to Ukraine and Israel and start a war with Iran. We are out of conventional weapons, and so you have people now discussing using tactical nuclear weapons. And a tactical nuclear weapon is about the size of what we used on Hiroshima. This is so evil, but they are insane enough. You have people like Rear Admiral Buchanan, who said it ceased two years ago. Now, he said, “Well, the thing I worry about is if we had a nuclear war, would we still have enough weapons at the end of it to remain the global hegemony?” If they think you can win a nuclear war, we are in deep trouble, worse than people can imagine.

So that’s one, and the other area where it’s far worse than people think is the economy. This bubble is going to crash, and we can all think it would be nice to be rich, but the billionaires are really panicked, which is part of the reason for fueling the war more. Because we’re talking about futures of weapons. Ukraine is buying airplanes from Sweden that are not going to be produced for three years. That means they have no intention of ending the war, and it’s a meat grinder. I mean, millions of people have died in this war. So we are talking about the U.S. may not feel it as much as some countries in Asia or South America, but thanks to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the fertilizer shortages, again that’s not instantaneous. That’s the spring planting that didn’t happen. So the food shortage is this autumn, and they’re talking about 342 million more people facing starvation on the planet, and I fear in the United States, if we don’t have people who are putting actual solutions on the table, that we could have real chaos. I’m very worried about that, and I think that’s why it’s so important that my voice is out there, and we’re talking to people, and we’re saying this is what you are actually facing. It’s not just a personal hardship; it is a full-on physical, economic blowout. The cattle herd is the smallest it’s been in 75 years. They’re shutting down the meat processing plants, so farmers are going to have to drive 200 miles. No, when you get to that point, this is not a gradual collapse. One bridge collapses, and the whole thing goes out. And again, so I think we’re very close to that kind of disaster, and of course that’s the reason why I could end up becoming a prominent voice because people are going to say, ‘Well, I thought she was nuts, but you know, this now makes sense.’ So that’s really the compelling reason, I have to say: the situation is so much worse than people are aware of, and that is not a reason to be hopeless. In a sense, it’s an opportunity because these billionaire perverts who are running things will never give up their power willingly. But if they go into a free-fall collapse, we have an opportunity to change everything. So instead of being under it, we have to think about what we actually need, what we actually want, what a just society should look like, and we have to be prepared when everything goes crazy to be putting that in place.”

Black Iowa News: What else should Iowans know about you?

Sare: “Well, I think Iowa can be a really important part of the nation, and I think we have to address some of the problems Iowa is facing. And part of why I’m here is I want to know about that. I’m advocating for the North American Water and Power Alliance, which is this massive continent-wide water project that should have been built in the 1960s. I know Des Moines is having a lot of water issues right now. That would not be happening had that been built. We should build it. I also was in touch with some people about the incredibly high cancer rates . . . So I think these things have to be addressed . . .

So, my website is actually going to have state pages, which have all the issues of the state, and then how would the state benefit from Diane’s program. Where are the high-speed rail corridors going to be in Iowa? Where is the water going to go through? I want to hear from people. So if there are Iowans who have ideas, or there was some great thing that should have been built years ago that wasn’t built, tell me.”

Email Diane Sare at Diane@sareforpresident.com.

Iowa Writers Collaborative Roundup

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By Shade Burgs

Recently, I’ve heard friends and relatives call the current Supreme Court the worst ever because of its corruption, and that sits with me like a trash bag full of fish guts because it loudly announces we, or at least some of us have no idea how astoundingly bad it was in the past.

This is not even close to the worst the court has been. It’s more like a grimly consistent return to form. Since we were raised in a post-Thurgood Marshall world and probably didn’t spend our childhoods cramming Supreme Court history, we’ve managed to forget the long parade of awful decisions, rulings and opinions that show the supreme in Supreme Court was rarely supreme and didn’t apply to anyone but those who could afford the privilege.

Throughout its history, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly managed to turn uniquely terrible ideas into constitutional doctrine. Whether it was defending slavery, protecting segregation, restricting voting rights, or shielding powerful interests, the Court has often made life harder for ordinary Americans while making it easier for those who already possess wealth and/or power. As it turns out, the Court has always reflected the strengths and weaknesses of the people who make it up. It isn’t some sacred institution floating above politics; it is a profoundly human institution quite capable of catastrophic error.

I don’t doubt the Chief Justice John Roberts’ Court is among the most troubling in modern history, but if we start at the Court’s beginning and work our way to the present, we see the same pattern over and over again: a rich buffet of bad decisions and poor choices. While the Court did not invent colonization, slavery, or inequality, it made decisions that gave them constitutional legitimacy and tossed them — along with quite a bit of bizarre racist seasoning — into America’s melting pot.

Take the first Supreme Court, for example. Chief Justice John Jay decided in Chisholm v. Georgia (1793) that federal courts could hear lawsuits brought by private citizens against state governments, effectively stripping states of sovereign immunity. States, alarmed at the prospect of being bankrupted by unpaid Revolutionary War debts, were furious. The ruling was so broadly condemned that Congress responded by drafting the 11th Amendment just one year later, and it was ratified to erase the decision.

Then, a few decades later, came the Marshall Trilogy — because apparently one landmark case just wasn’t enough — stretching from 1823 to 1832. Starting with Johnson v. McIntosh, the Court decided Native Americans didn’t actually have “full” legal title to their ancestral lands, only a right of occupancy. At the same time, ultimate ownership conveniently belonged to the U.S. Later decisions branded tribes as domestic dependent nations, giving federal control the uniquely foul stench of colonial legitimacy it so desperately wanted and helped provide the legal framework that, alongside congressional legislation, executive action (Mr. Andrew Jackson, to the front, please) and state policies, culminated in the Trail of Tears.

In the ridiculously ridiculous case of Prigg v. Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court decided that the federal Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, signed by President George Washington, had the magical ability to trump Pennsylvania’s effort to keep its Black residents from being kidnapped into slavery. Justice Joseph Story, speaking for the majority, reversed the conviction of Edward Prigg, a Maryland slave catcher who had seized Margaret Morgan and her children in Pennsylvania and dragged them back to Maryland. Morgan had moved north years earlier and, though never legally freed, had been allowed by her owner to live with a measure of practical freedom. After his death, his heirs evidently concluded that freedom had been more of a privilege granted by their dad and hired Prigg to retrieve her. Pennsylvania prosecuted Prigg under a law meant to prevent the abduction of Black residents, but the Court held that federal power over fugitive slave enforcement came first. The state argued its law protected free Black residents from being unlawfully kidnapped and sold into slavery. In other words, the Constitution’s promise of liberty somehow produced a system in which the federal government could protect a claim to ownership before it bothered with a claim to freedom because, well . . .Black people!

While not remotely the last example of excessive poor judgment by the Supreme Court, the Dred Scott decision stands as one of the Court’s most damaging and destructive failures. More than 160 years after it was overturned, its systemic impact can still be seen in the legal and social structures we continue to confront today. By declaring that Black Americans could not be citizens and possessed no constitutional rights that the government was obligated to protect, the Court transformed the deep sands of racist assumption into a constitutional doctrine chiseled in stone.

Oddly enough, for a nation founded on the principle of “no taxation without representation,” free Black Americans were still subjected to taxes, restrictions and laws that limited their rights (like undocumented immigrants) while also denying them political power, again because . . . Black people! In Dred Scott v. Sandford, the court gave legal legitimacy to the idea that race could determine who was entitled to the protections of citizenship. Although the decision itself was eventually overturned, the damage it caused did not simply disappear; if anything, it became blatantly more obvious. It reinforced the racial hierarchy that survived the Civil War and helped open the flood gates for the conditions in which later systems of segregation, including Jim Crow, could take hold.

Now, undoubtedly, the Supreme Court has also had its dazzling moments of brilliance, bravery and apparently astonishing wisdom. I don’t want this piece to dwell only on the Court’s greatest blunders without acknowledging the times when nine people looked at each other and collectively seemed to say, “Bro, we can do better.” Then executed that better flawlessly. There have been moments when the Court recognized the need for change and helped nudge the nation closer to its constitutional claims, doing the difficult work of justice with rare clarity and courage in pursuit of justice for all.

In cases like Brown v. Board of Education, Gideon v. Wainwright, Loving v. Virginia, and Obergefell v. Hodges, these are the moments when the Court expanded constitutional protections, swinging the sword of justice quite accurately and reaffirming the promises of the Constitution were never intended for only some Americans, but for all Americans equally. They remind us that the Court has, at times, possessed the wisdom and courage to move the nation closer to its own ideals.

Whether today’s Court will ultimately be remembered alongside those decisions or alongside Dred, Plessy, Korematsu and the other cautionary tales of constitutional history is a question that only time can answer. What we do know is that recent decisions, including Citizens United, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, changes to the scope of the Voting Rights Act, and rulings that have reshaped the balance of power among the branches of government— will be studied, debated, defended and criticized for generations to come.

From all this, history teaches us that no institution, no matter how revered, is immune from human flaw. The Supreme Court is not an all knowing, all powerful oracle. It’s nine people entrusted with extraordinary authority to interpret the law. Sometimes those people display remarkable wisdom, moral clarity and courage. Other times their decisions feel excessively more questionable than logical.

That’s the real lesson hidden in two centuries of Supreme Court history. The greatest danger isn’t that human beings have bad ideas; we all do. The danger is when those entrusted with immense power stop recognizing those ideas as opinions and begin mistaking their own B.S. for objective truth. Once they possess the authority to act, that B.S. can become policy, law, and, on more than one occasion, constitutional doctrine. History reminds us that even the brightest minds, are still connected to human flaws.

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Iowa Writers Collaborative

Thurgood Marshall, because American legal and Civil Rights history needed one man to drag the country toward equality under the Constitution, stands as one of its most consequential figures. His life and work artfully shaped what justice was supposed to mean in the U.S. As the first Black Justice of the Supreme Court, he carried not only extraordinary legal brilliance but also the scarred wisdom of firsthand encounters with systemic racism, especially in the Jim Crow South, where he fought discriminatory laws and the officials who enforced them with grim determination.

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Long before that historic appointment, Marshall had already built his name by confronting injustice head-on, using the very legal machinery designed to crush Black Americans as a weapon to dismantle segregation and inequality. To Thurgood, the law was a work of art whose beauty radiated equality for all. It was a musical sonata whose notes vibrated with melodic liberty. It was an operatic play in which tragedy ultimately led to unbiased, far-reaching justice. The law wasn’t just his work; it was his poetic life mission to create a legacy from which all Americans reap benefits.

The law was never some cold, procedural nuisance but something far heavier. It was a living, breathing force, aching with possibility when handled with precision and conviction. His life’s mission became the pursuit of that fragile ideal with an ironclad insistence that the Constitution serve all citizens equally instead of selectively.

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Born Thoroughgood Marshall on July 2, 1908, in Baltimore, Maryland, Marshall grew up in a home that deeply valued education and critical thinking, because, of course, that is where such stubborn determination begins. His father shortened his name to Thurgood when he was in the 2nd grade. His father, William, a railroad porter who later worked at a whites-only country club, loved legal debates and often took young Thurgood and his older brother Aubrey to watch courtroom proceedings much like other parents would take their kids to sporting events, planting an early fascination with the justice system.

At home, the conversations about these cases were lively and demanding, sharpening their minds from childhood for whatever the future held.

His mother, Norma, a Black elementary school teacher, stressed intellectual growth through reading and urged them to read authors such as W. E. B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, and Frederick Douglass to explore literature and philosophy, thereby widening their understanding of society and human thought. That combination of practical exposure to law and a strong intellectual foundation helped shape their worldview in ways that could hardly be undone. Their steady devotion led to the making of both a doctor and a lawyer. Aubrey became a doctor but was listed as “staff” at Seaview Hospital in Manhattan and worked directly with Black patients, treating tuberculosis alongside a group of nurses known as the Black Angels.

As a student, Marshall was both capable and mischievous, remembered for his jovial sense of humor and cleverness. If anything, he was the textbook example of a smart kid — but more. In one instance, as punishment, he was made to read, memorize, and recite the Constitution in its full entirety.

I think that Marshall and his father’s love of the legal process may have sparked his interest in the justice system. As a Constitutionalist myself, I can completely understand how reading the document, comprehending the words and understanding what it is and how the framers intended it to be used definitely does challenge you while also forming your opinions.

After high school, he attended Lincoln University, which, at the time, was considered the Princeton of Black colleges. Attending Lincoln gave Thurgood an arsenal of tools that his counterparts were ill-equipped to deal with. He was known on campus as a walking encyclopedia of legal and philosophical information, able to quote accurately from case law to Socrates from memory.

Shortly after graduating with honors from Lincoln, he attended The Howard University School of Law, where, under the mentoring of Dean Charles Hamilton Houston, he thrived. Dean Houston pushed all of his students to excellence and activism. He gave all of his students one simple yet monumental mission: “The only purpose of your existence at this level is the uplifting of your people; everything else is secondary.”

With that, he put all of his students to task daily. Memorization, recitation, debating, writing and theorizing weren’t just things students did: They were ingrained into each student as if their very lives depended on these abilities and with good reason, as in the case of Marshall, they did.

There was an interesting incident between Marshall and Houston where Marshall made a mistake on a paper and debated Houston’s correction. Houston then held a mock trial, calling nine current and former students as witnesses. He issued mock subpoenas for their notes from his class, and even put Marshall himself on the stand to testify, proving point by point over a 3-day period that not only was Marshall wrong, but also citing each individual time he had stated the correct information during his classes. Needless to say that while Thurgood put in a valiant effort, he was handed his first defeat and took that lesson to heart.

Houston demanded perfection from his students. In one of his addresses to his students, he said, “Everything you do in the courtroom from the basic paperwork to legal briefs to closing arguments must be flawless.” Houston was the motivation behind Marshall’s attack on “Separate but Equal.” He and a group of peers sat with the dean socially and formed a strategic plan to overturn the ill-fated Supreme Court decision. At graduation, he was not only valedictorian but also graduated “Magna Cum Laude.”

Immediately after law school, Marshall joined Houston in devoting himself to civil rights litigation. Their work laid the foundation for what would become the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, a central force in the struggle against racial discrimination. His career quickly gained momentum as he took on case after case challenging segregation, often in places where danger seemed to wait around every corner. His method combined painstaking preparation with a fearless willingness to confront injustice directly. Even when he lost, he used the defeat to build stronger appeals, a long-view strategy that made him an exhausting opponent in court. That persistence eventually helped him argue and win Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, declaring racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional and marking a bitterly overdue turning point in American history.

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An interesting side note: Iowa desegregated its schools in 1868, becoming the first state to do so. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled in Clark v. Board of Directors that school segregation was unconstitutional, allowing 12-year-old Susan Clark to attend a previously all-white school in Muscatine. Marshall used this case as an example in his argument.

Marshall’s growing prominence made him a symbol of hope and endurance within the Black community, though hope in those years often had to survive humiliation and fear. His courtroom appearances drew crowds, and his mastery of the law earned respect even from those who opposed him.

Despite his fame, he remained devoted to the mission rather than personal gain, accepting only a modest salary. He endured constant threats of violence and death, yet pressed on, driven by an unwavering belief in justice. His experiences in the South, including near encounters with lynching, laid bare the stakes of his work and the courage it demanded.

After viewing hundreds of photos taken at lynchings, he said the thing that struck him most wasn’t the act itself nor was it the crowds of racists dressed in their “good clothes,” but the children in those images, some laughing and smiling as if somehow this was a normal thing. One day, while looking at photos, he said: “The thing that makes me most sad about this is it could be me in one of these pictures with little white kids playing, dancing and singing under my corpse swingin’ in the breeze.”

In the end, Marshall’s legacy rests not only on his victories but on his stubborn refusal to let the law become a lie. His deep understanding of the Constitution enabled him to force the legal system to confront its own ideals, exposing hypocrisy and demanding change from within.

Through his work, he altered the legal landscape of a nation, inspiring generations of activists and attorneys to keep fighting for Civil Rights.

Marshall left an imprint on me as a young man that shaped parts of who I am now. Justice Marshall taught me what “fair” truly meant, in a world that seemed determined to deny it. His story showed me that we, as Black people, were never asking for charity or welfare; We only needed racist people to stop standing in the way. We are fully capable of making, doing, and being on our own. His conviction was not selective. He understood that the laws and policies he fought for made life better not only for Black people, but for everyone. And that was the truth he carried and passed on: as long as Black people are oppressed, all people remain oppressed.

Now it feels as though we are watching once unthinkable efforts to unravel the hard-won gains made under Marshall by a Supreme Court willing to toy with our freedoms and rights under the idiotic assumption that this country is “post-racial,” and that such protections are no longer needed after 60 years, even though there are states that immediately shut down primaries after their recent decision to gut the voting rights act, just to redraw districts so Black and Brown people are left with no real representation in the process.

This most recent decision is just another in a series of horrible decisions the Supreme Court has made in its history. When you hear people say things like “This is the worst Supreme Court ever,” it means they have no understanding of the Supreme Court’s long-storied history of poor choices and bad decisions. (Yes, I’m totally going to write about that) — and how one driven, determined, relentless Black man changed that.

So yes, you need to thank Thurgood Marshall.

Iowa Writers Collaborative Roundup

Linking readers and professional writers who care about Iowa.

By Julie Gammack

The inaugural Iowa African Film Festival will debut Aug. 6-7 at Drake University, creating a new platform for audiences to experience authentic African storytelling through film while fostering cultural exchange, education and international collaboration.

Hosted at Drake University, 2507 University Ave., the two-day festival will feature African films, documentaries and short films exploring conservation, health, entrepreneurship, innovation, history, culture, lifestyle and contemporary life across the African continent. Organizers say the event is intended to connect filmmakers, students, scholars and community members while strengthening understanding between African and American communities.

The festival is produced by Kuona Foundation, presented by ALN Studios and curated by One Voice DSM.

“There has never been enough authentic African stories being told,” said Jack Chimbetete, festival director of the Iowa African Film Festival and founder of ALN Studios. “This event will help combat misinformation in modern media by allowing audiences to hear directly from African storytellers.”

Jack Chimbetete, festival director of the Iowa African Film Festival and founder of ALN Studios.

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Chimbetete said the festival represents years of collaboration and reflects Iowa’s growing connection to Africa through its expanding African diaspora. Thirty films from 22 countries were selected from more than 500 submissions.

“Every culture deserves exposure,” he said. “There has been a significant increase in the African diaspora, and this festival creates an opportunity for people to engage with our stories, traditions and experiences in meaningful ways.”

The inaugural festival has already received more than 500 film submissions from filmmakers around the world. Awards will recognize excellence in directing, producing, acting, authenticity and documentary filmmaking while providing networking opportunities for both emerging and established filmmakers.

Festival organizers also expect the event to attract visitors from across the U.S. and abroad, contributing to Iowa’s cultural tourism while creating new opportunities for filmmakers to connect with distributors, industry professionals and local audiences.

For Ines Umubyeyi, marketing and public coordinator for the Iowa African Film Festival, the event represents more than a celebration of cinema. She said it also creates space for dialogue and inclusion.

“Partnerships are essential when creating something meaningful,” Umubyeyi said. “The more partnerships we build, the more people can be included, and the stronger our communities become.”

Umubyeyi also hopes the festival will encourage Iowans to learn about the experiences of African immigrants and members of the African diaspora.

“When Africans move to America, they are expected to learn a new language and adapt to a new culture,” Umubyeyi said. “Too often, people never ask where we came from or take the time to learn our stories. This festival creates an opportunity for those conversations to happen.”

Hosting the festival at Drake University carries special significance for Chimbetete, who first came to Iowa as a Mandela Washington Fellow through the Young African Leaders Initiative. Since then, he has earned a degree from Drake University, mentored entrepreneurs through the Drake Business Clinic, served as board president of One Voice DSM, consulted with CultureALL and founded both ALN.TV and ALN Studios.

He said those experiences convinced him that Iowa was ready for an event dedicated to authentic African storytelling.

The Iowa African Film Festival was established to celebrate African storytelling while promoting education, cultural understanding, tourism and international collaboration through film. Organizers say they hope the event will become a lasting destination for filmmakers, educators and audiences interested in exploring Africa through authentic voices and cinematic storytelling.

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Iowa Writers Collaborative Roundup

Linking readers and professional writers who care about Iowa.

By Julie Gammack

Ninety days in the ICU. Medicine and monitors. Fear and faith battling for prominence. But every morning, hope strode in wearing a white coat and stethoscope.

One morning, we overheard our mother’s doctors standing in the hallway talking about families’ expectations — about us.

“They think it’s like a recipe we can just put together,” lamented my mom’s primary care doctor to his colleague.

My sister and I understood in that moment that despite doctors’ medical expertise and God-like status in society, they could not guarantee the outcome of their medical interventions.

That’s the mindset we took into the 2020 coronavirus pandemic — that scientists were trying to develop answers, interventions and strategies — with varying degrees of confidence in the outcomes — in real time. We understood that our survival would depend partly on their advice and on our adherence to it, which included masking, distancing and vaccination.

^{WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 03: Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic at the Rayburn House Office Building on June 03, 2024 in Washington, DC. The Subcommittee is holding a hearing on the findings from a fifteen month Republican-led probe of former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci and the COVID-19 pandemic’s origins. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)}

Now, six years later, Sen. Rand Paul continues to demonize Dr. Anthony Fauci. I contend Fauci was among the few credible voices of that era. Remember when Donald Trump, the president who has been convicted of 34 felonies, turned to Dr. Deborah Birx during a White House Coronavirus briefing and suggested UV light and ingesting a disinfectant like bleach to treat COVID-19?

Far too many Americans are still angry about the coronavirus pandemic, where they routinely ignored medical advice, spread misinformation and carried on as usual while people died.

Black Iowa News emerged during the pandemic to provide credible information to Black Iowans and document what was happening in Black communities.

Some Americans don’t remember the details accurately because they spent too much time during the pandemic whining about their rights and dismissing any medical advice they viewed as contrary to their personal freedoms and political affiliations.

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Take a look back at some of Black Iowa News’ COVID-19 reporting.

• UNPROTECTED: Politicized Coronavirus Pandemic Harmed Black Iowans

  

• UNPROTECTED: Vaccination Barriers Harm Black Iowans

  

• UNPROTECTED: Blacks Must Fight Bias in Health Care while Sick with COVID

  

Read the Roundup: The Iowa Writers Collaborative

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Mays and Lembcke Peña collaborated on a story for the July edition of the Black Iowa Newspaper about the toxic chemicals present in synthetic braiding hair used by and marketed to Black consumers. Mays interviewed students from Iowa State University. Lembcke Peña interviewed Elissia Franklin, Ph.D, a research scientist, about Franklin’s work on the study.

Here, the pair discussed their approach to the story and the surprising and alarming information they discovered. 🎥 2:46.

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Read the Roundup: Iowa Writers Collaborative

America has now celebrated the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. The fireworks have faded, the speeches have ended, and families have returned to their daily routines. Yet, I believe the most important part of this historic anniversary is only beginning. The question before us is not how we celebrated America’s first 250 years, but how we will help write the next 250.

As I reflected on this milestone, my thoughts returned to an experience that changed my life forever.

Growing up in the inner city of Washington, D.C., my eighth-grade teacher gave our class what seemed like an impossible assignment: write your own obituary.

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As I began writing, I found myself putting words on paper that frightened me. I wrote that I would someday live in the Midwest, become involved in politics, lead a community organization and that after my death something would be named after me.

I remember staring at those words in disbelief. None of them made sense. I had never imagined living anywhere but Washington, D.C. Politics was not part of my plans. Leading a community organization seemed beyond anything I could imagine. I even remember grabbing my own writing hand because I wanted it to stop. Yet I continued writing.

Looking back through the eyes of faith, I have come to believe that God was preparing me for a journey I could not yet understand. That is my personal testimony.

Years before that obituary assignment, another experience quietly shaped my thinking. As a sixth-grade student, I read about the Mayo brothers and how they built the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. What impressed me most was not simply the hospital they built, but that they chose a community where they believed they could put their philosophy of serving others into practice. I had no idea that one day I would travel to that very city.

In 1969, football brought me to Rochester, Minnesota, on a scholarship to Rochester State Junior College. I arrived carrying a serious leg injury from high school that threatened my football career. My coach, Cy Champa, took me to the Mayo Clinic, where treatment allowed me to continue playing. Looking back, that opportunity changed the direction of my life. In 1972, I earned a football scholarship to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. What began as a dream of playing football became a lifetime of serving communities in Iowa.

Then came 1976 — America’s Bicentennial

As our nation celebrated its first 200 years, I was beginning my own journey of civic engagement. I served as Minority Education Coordinator for the Iowa Jimmy Carter presidential campaign and organized Concerned Citizens for Minority Affairs, an effort that later evolved into the Brown & Black Forums of America.

Looking back today, I find that timing remarkable. America was celebrating its history while I was just beginning what would become more than fifty years of public service.

Over the decades, I was blessed to help found Urban Dreams, serve in the Iowa Legislature, and work with extraordinary people committed to expanding opportunity. During my legislative service, I helped develop Iowa’s Racial Impact Statement process because I believed government should carefully consider the potential consequences of legislation before it becomes law. That belief still guides me today — understanding should come before decision-making.

The Brown & Black Forums of America grew far beyond anything I could have imagined when that work began in 1976. Today, it is recognized as the nation’s oldest ongoing minority-focused presidential forum and is among the longest-running presidential forums in America. In 2020, the Iowa Brown & Black Presidential Forum, produced along with VICE News, received a News & Documentary Emmy Award. That recognition was never simply about an award. To me, it affirmed that ideas born in Iowa could help strengthen our democracy.

When I wrote my obituary as an eighth-grade student, I believed that something would be named after me after I died. I never imagined that God would allow me to witness such blessings during my lifetime. Today, the Wayne Ford Equity Impact Institute bears my name, and Urban Dreams dedicated the Wayne Ford Courtyard in my honor on Sixth Avenue, where the organization continues serving the community more than forty years after its founding. Those recognitions do not fill me with pride as much as gratitude.

Years later, award-winning journalist Dan Rather selected my story for his bestselling book “The American Dream.” The obituary assignment that had shaped my own life also became part of educational conversations connected with that work.

As I look back, I realize that none of these accomplishments belonged to me alone. Every meaningful step involved parents, teachers, coaches, mentors, colleagues, neighbors, and communities that believed in giving people opportunities to grow.

I often think about another childhood memory. My family tells me that when I was about five months old, a photographer could not get me to sit still until someone placed a set of keys in my hands. Looking back through the eyes of faith, those keys have become a symbol for me.

America’s first 250 years have included extraordinary achievements as well as painful chapters. We cannot change our history, but we can learn from it.

As an African American who came from Washington, D.C., to build a life in Iowa, I have always understood that opportunity is not equally available to everyone.

As a Christian, I believe every person is created in the image of God and possesses gifts that can make a difference in the lives of others.

When I look back at the obituary I wrote as an eighth-grade student, I realize that, by God’s grace, I have been blessed to fulfill every major aspiration I wrote on that paper.

If there is one lesson I hope readers take from my story, it is this: You do not have to be wealthy to make a difference. You do not have to be famous to serve your community. You simply have to be willing to use the gifts God has entrusted to you in service to others.

America’s next 250 years will be written by millions of ordinary citizens who choose to do extraordinary acts of service.

If one young person reads these words and begins asking, ‘What is my purpose?’ then this article will have accomplished exactly what I hoped it would.

That, to me, is the enduring promise of America.

Now it is our turn to help write America’s next 250 years.

MORE BY WAYNE FORD

When the NAACP asks Black athletes to boycott: Connecting the dots —scholarships, NIL, protest and political power

GET THE ROUNDUP: IOWA WRITERS COLLABORATIVE

For many Black college students, hair forms an integral part of who they are. Braided styles have long been a part of Black culture.

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College is a time of self-discovery, when young adults make important decisions about their careers, relationships, health and personal appearance. Hair can play a significant part in that journey for Black students, serving as a form of cultural expression, confidence and identity. But as students begin their adulthood, new research is raising concerns about the products they’ve long used to care for their hair.

A recent study by researchers at the Silent Spring Institute revealed potentially hazardous chemicals in products commonly used by Black consumers, including synthetic hair extensions. Researchers examined 43 synthetic hair extension products and found that 95% contained chemicals appearing on federal, state or international hazard lists.

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They detected about 900 chemical signatures across the products, identifying 169 distinct chemicals, 48 of which are linked to cancer and hormone disruption, such as phthalates, pesticides and flame retardants. Some of the most alarming findings were toxic organotins — compounds linked to skin irritation and hormone disruption — that were found in roughly 4 out of 43 products at concentrations exceeding European regulatory limits.

Of all products tested, only two were free of hazardous chemicals and labeled “non-toxic” or “toxic-free” — Spetra, used in EZBRAID, and an unspecified one. The results from the study prompted conversations surrounding long-term exposure, product safety and the lack of oversight in products disproportionately marketed to Black consumers.

These findings build on concerns highlighted in a previous Black Iowa News article, which examined a Consumer Reports investigation that found carcinogens in synthetic braiding hair products. The new research shifts to a wider range of hair extensions and identifies chemicals that appear on federal, state and international hazard lists. Researchers say the findings raise broader questions about long-term exposure and whether products commonly used by Black individuals are receiving enough safety testing.

For students who grew up using these products, this news can be alarming.

“I’ve been wearing extensions since I was 12. I’m 21 now, so that’s almost been 10 years,” Sophia Turner, an Iowa State University student, said. “Being exposed to anything that’s carcinogenic for that long can’t be good for you.”

She connected the research findings to a pattern she had already noticed. “We see really high cancer rates in the Black community. I know cancer rates (here) are higher than average,” she said. “That’s just another thing adding to an already unfortunate statistic.”

Turner’s concern is backed by data. According to a 2025 study, Iowa has one of the highest cancer incidence rates among Black women in the U.S., at 496.7 per 100,000. Black women nationwide have the lowest breast cancer survival rate compared to other groups of women, according to researchers. From the long-term health consequences to the lack of transparency, she voiced her frustration towards the industry’s lack of honesty.

“I think it’s the fact that they’ve been used extensively without any transparency,” she said. “I feel like there’s a lot of testing around shampoos and conditioners. The fact that brands like X-Pression and Freetress have been around for 20 or 30 years and nobody has been regulating their products is really alarming.”

Elissia Franklin, Ph.D., the study’s lead researcher, established the link between the chemicals found in these products and the health disparities Turner described. “The chemicals that we found in particular are associated with outcomes like breast cancer, which we know Black women have the lowest survival rate compared to other groups of women.”

Despite the worrisome findings, Franklin said the ultimate goal is awareness and reduction, not alarm.

“There’s always a new product, and all of them have chemicals. That doesn’t mean they’re all bad,” she said. “We need to think thoroughly about how we can reduce our exposures so we can reduce our risk of these adverse health outcomes.”

These concerns have reached other countries as well. Frank Banascoe, an Iowa State University student originally from Africa, said he identified this problem firsthand.

“I want to use Africa as an example. Most of our ladies and gentlemen use these kinds of chemicals to braid their hair, and it creates irritations and even balding,” Banascoe said. “I think we should learn more about these chemicals and see how we can curb the negativity from it.”

He detailed how this issue could potentially affect future generations, saying that if nothing changes, it will leave a mark on communities to come.

Back on campus, other students expressed doubt that change would come quickly or at all. Iowa’s Black population accounts for about 4% of the state’s 3.2 million residents, and in Ames, home to Iowa State University, Black residents make up 2% of the population.

A 2023 report from Iowa State Daily documented how ISU students struggle to find natural hair care products in Ames, with some commenting that the city’s options are limited. Due to the lack of products, some drove to Des Moines, which is roughly 36 miles away. This is why Essence of Natural Beauty opened as the only Black-owned hair care business in Ames.

Dee Sims has owned the Essence of Natural Beauty, a beauty supply store and braiding salon in Ames, for seven years. Are many of her customers particularly worried about the chemicals in braiding hair?

“Honestly, you’d be surprised — they are not,” she said. “But I tell them about it anyway.”

Washing the hair before use reveals that some braiding hair, including popular brands that use Kankelon, is “dirty,” she said. She recommends the EZBRAID brand since it’s listed as non-toxic.

“They’ve conducted their own tests,” she said. “I’ve tested it myself, too.”

She added: “We need to educate the community about the stuff that we’re putting in our hair,” Sims said.

Will increasing awareness about the chemicals in braiding hair spark consumers to change? Shannon Jelks, an anthropology major at ISU, is skeptical.

“I think this will be an ignored issue,” Jelks said. “It would take a long time for protective styles to go out of fashion. Braids are common and practical styles. This is really upsetting to learn. Wow, even the stuff I’m using to do my hair is a carcinogen.”

He went on to mention how systemic racism comes into play. Black communities and natural hair have been marginalized throughout history, he said, making the reform of issues like this one harder to achieve.

Boluwarin Ojo, an ISU student, shares this frustration, asking how this was allowed to happen for so long.

“It’s disheartening to hear that braiding and synthetic hair has been used for so long in Black communities,” Ojo said. “How has this been going on, and how are we just finding out?”

Ojo says she hopes the study will lead to legislative action but is aware that what happens next remains uncertain.

“I would hope that when a new study like this comes out, they make some changes,” she said. “But I guess it’s on us as a community to demand that change too. If we don’t say much, they’re not going to do anything.”

For researchers like Franklin, the path forward starts through transparency. Knowing what is in these products, understanding the risks and making choices that reduce exposure when possible.

And for many young Black students, it starts with the realization that some of the products they have used their entire lives come at a cost unknown to them and their communities.

🎥Watch the Video: “The Price of the Style: Toxic chemicals in synthetic braiding hair raise health concerns for Black Iowans.”

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Speakers included Anita Fleming-Rife, Ph.D., founder of the Black Child Development Institute-Iowa, and Michaelyn Mankel, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. They gathered in front of a sign that read: Our Money, Our Services! Cut DMPD. No Cuts to Libraries & Parks.”

Mankel discussed the city budget process and criticized the city’s budget priorities. Fleming-Rife discussed the impact of closing the Forest Avenue Library, located north of downtown, on the Black community. She also advocated for the essential role libraries play in families and communities.

Residents can voice their opinion on the city’s estimated $12 million budget shortfall using a digital tool, which Mankel called a “farce” here. Budget decisions are expected in the coming months.

🎥 Watch residents discuss how the city of Des Moines budget cuts would affect residents:

Anita Fleming-Rife, Ph.D., founder and president of the Black Child Development Institute-Iowa.

Michaelyn Mankel, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

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I glanced at the shirt. It read: “Party Like It’s 1776.”

As a Black woman, I do not want to party like it’s 1776, when slavery existed and a fledgling nation was led by duplicitous “Founding Fathers” who wrote in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Those lofty words came from tyrants fighting tyranny.

Fireworks, flags, and renditions of the National Anthem have never distracted me from that hypocrisy.

With the president of the U.S. and national and local lawmakers orchestrating the attacks on Black Americans’ voting rights and civil rights while being openly anti-Black, I can understand why the offending T-shirt has a market today.

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Welcome to the Inside Black Iowa Podcast. I’m Dana James, your host and the founder and publisher of Black Iowa News. We’re discussing “The Black Superwoman and Mental Health, Power and Pain,” an anthology edited by Bernice Berry and Janette Taylor, both Ph.Ds, which is published by Peter Lang. The anthology explores the trope of the Black Superwoman, which emerged during slavery and continues to exist today. The book illuminates the mental health issues of Black women from a broad perspective, says its co-editor.

“We want to explore why Black women must fight to retain a sense of wholeness,” said co-editor Berry.

Today’s episode includes Berry, a professor of journalism and African American Studies at the University of Iowa, and guests Katrina Harden Williams, a doctoral candidate at Drake University, and Georgene Bess Montgomery, Ph.D., a professor at Clark Atlanta University. The book is co-edited by Berry and Taylor, an associate professor emerita in African American Studies, Gender Women’s Sexuality Studies, and an RN at the College of Nursing at the University of Iowa.

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Mildred Mckay and her spouse, George Mckay, a formerly enslaved man from Tennessee, moved to Des Moines in 1918. By 1920, Mildred Mckay began operating her own in-home laundry business. Her husband, George, also worked in the cleaning industry. More than 100 years later, Mildred Mckay’s heirs are still in the cleaning business — operating Reliable Maintenance Company, which is situated on the city’s north side at 2525 Douglas Ave.

Mildred Mckay’s legacy is also on display at the African American Museum of Iowa in Cedar Rapids. Her family donated the laundry equipment she used in the 1920s to the museum. Mckay’s great-great-grandmother had contracts to clean linens and sheets for businesses and homes, and she also operated a dry-cleaning business, he said.

“When we went through her house, my dad found a ledger with all of the transactions she did throughout the years,” he said. “That was pretty fun to see.”

Her business used a 1920s Maytag Gyro washing machine and other equipment, Andre Mckay said. He said family members are excited about the prospect of taking their children to the museum to see Mildred Mckay’s laundry legacy recognized.

Her work allowed her to travel and see the world, he said.

“She was going to Hawaii. Doing cruises,” he said. “I actually have (her) 20s travel trunk . . . Like you see in Titanic.”

Her accomplishments are a source of pride for Mckay, who works in business development — managing contracts, meeting with clients and cleaning — at Reliable Maintenance, the company founded in 1973 by George McKay III.

Reliable Maintenance performs commercial cleaning, routine custodial work, construction cleaning, hard-floor cleaning, carpet cleaning and dry cleaning. The company, which is more than half a century old, employs about 80 people statewide. Andre’s father, Keith, also owns a car lot, K & M Auto, located on the company’s property. His dad also operated a dry cleaning business for 22 years. He credits Mildred Mckay.

“I think that’s where I get my entrepreneurship — from them and my dad,” he said.

Today, Andre Mckay enjoys bringing his 11-month-old son, Andre Mckay Jr., to work with him and his dad. It’s possible that one day his son will run the company, furthering the family legacy.

Until then, Mckay is busy handling the family business.

“I always tell people I might be in a suit today, but I’ll be out cleaning — waxing floors or something,” he said, with a laugh.

This story appears in the May edition of the Black Iowa Newspaper.

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What has happened since the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, while in Minneapolis police custody, brutalized, struggling to breathe and calling for his mother?

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Protests and promises of change. Then, backlash and backpedaling. Most of those Black Lives Matter signs dotting front lawns and windows have long since packed the landfills. Building owners have painted over murals. Protesters have returned to their homes. Demands remain unmet.

Police and ICE violence continue to harm Black and Brown communities. Anti-Blackness is rampant. Government officials are using their powers for everything from upending legislation meant to ensure Black voting rights to crying reverse racism for everything else they intend to take.

Six years have passed since that fateful day when Floyd’s life ended so violently at the hands of the police, and collectively, we must fight harder than ever.

This piece appears in the May edition of the Black Iowa Newspaper

George Floyd Square revisited: ‘Beauty for ashes’ on 2nd anniversary of Floyd killing

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There are moments in American history when sports become larger than sports.

Sometimes athletics becomes a stage for patriotism. Sometimes it becomes a stage for protest. Sometimes it becomes a stage for race, economics, politics and national division all at once.

America may be entering another one of those moments now.

Recently, the NAACP called upon Black athletes and supporters to reconsider participation in states where political redistricting and voting-map decisions are being challenged as unfair to minority communities. The request immediately generated strong reactions throughout the sports world, political circles, universities and Black America itself.

The NAACP asked athletes, fans, families and alumni “to withhold athletic and financial support from public universities in states that have moved to limit, weaken, or erase Black voting representation in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which gutted what was left of the Voting Rights Act. The NAACP identified eight priority states — Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Georgia — and targeted flagship public athletic programs generating more than $100 million in annual revenue that continue to recruit Black athletes while their state governments dismantle the political power of Black communities.”

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Some praised the request as courageous and historically necessary. Others questioned whether college athletes—many of them barely out of high school—should be asked to sacrifice scholarships, educational opportunities, or even multi-million-dollar NIL agreements because of political decisions made in state capitols and courtrooms.

I am not writing this article to criticize the NAACP. Nor am I questioning the sincerity of those who support athlete activism. People have the right to protest. People have the right to organize. People have the right to challenge systems they believe are unfair.

But I also believe America has the responsibility to ask difficult follow-up questions. As the founder and executive director of the Wayne Ford Equity Impact Institute and a former college athlete, I believe this moment deserves more than emotion alone. It deserves context. It deserves history. It deserves institutional analysis. Because many times in America, especially across generations, we fail to connect the dots.

Those of us from the Baby Boomer generation are now entering what many would call the winter of our lives. Many younger Americans inherit emotional moments, headlines, protests, slogans and political division without always receiving the historical context that explains how we arrived at where we are today.

Sometimes that is because institutions themselves failed to connect the dots.

That, in many ways, is one of the missions of the Wayne Ford Equity Impact Institute: to help connect the dots so future generations have stronger points of reference than many of us had growing up. Not simply points of reference based on race alone, but points of reference connected to economics, governance, opportunity, history, institutional power and long-term outcomes.

Because when people lack historical context, society develops gaps in understanding. And eventually those gaps become divisions.

I know personally what an athletic opportunity can mean.

I grew up in Washington, D.C., during one of the most turbulent racial and political periods in modern American history. Football helped carry me from Washington, D.C., to Rochester, Minnesota, and eventually to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, through a football scholarship that changed the course of my life. Looking back now, I owe everything in my life to Almighty God first, my family second and football third. Football was not simply a game to me.

Football became a bridge

Football carried me across the country to Drake University through a scholarship. That opportunity eventually helped me become a legislator, founder of Urban Dreams, co-founder of the Brown & Black Forums of America, founder of the Wayne Ford Equity Impact Institute, a radio and television voice, consultant and author of Iowa’s racial impact statement legislation.

I am only one example among many.

Across America, athletic scholarships helped create doctors, teachers, military veterans, business leaders, pastors, nonprofit leaders and public servants from both Black and white working-class communities. For many families, athletics became one of the few available bridges toward higher education and economic mobility.

That reality deserves discussion, too.

From boxing to football: Sports as a pathway out

Years ago, boxing was often viewed as one of the few available paths out of poverty for poor whites, immigrants and poor Black Americans alike. Over time, football and basketball became similar pathways. Athletics represented a way out for many families. Many athletes used the structure, discipline, exposure and education sports provided to build lives far away from their circumstances. That reality crossed racial lines.

There are countless Black Americans whose lives changed because someone gave them an athletic opportunity. There are also countless white Americans whose lives changed because they received scholarships and opportunities they otherwise may never have received. Sometimes in America, we become so focused on racial separation that we forget certain institutions historically became ladders for many struggling people, regardless of race. But, that does not erase racial inequities.

But it does help connect the dots more honestly.

From Muhammad Ali to the NBA Bubble

Black athletes have long played an historic role in American protest movements.

When Muhammad Ali refused military induction during the Vietnam War era, he knowingly sacrificed years of his career and millions of dollars. When Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell and others publicly supported Ali, they understood the personal and professional risks involved.

But history must also remember an important distinction: most of those men were already professionals. They had contracts. They had income. They had public stature. They had already crossed into another level of economic security and influence.

College athletes occupy a very different reality.

An 18-year-old freshman from Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, or Texas may not simply be playing football. He may be carrying his family’s hopes, educational opportunities, economic mobility, healthcare access, networking opportunities and now potentially NIL earnings capable of changing his family’s financial future for generations.

Years later, after the killing of Trayvon Martin, the Miami Heat famously wore hoodies in solidarity. During the NBA bubble following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, players considered boycotting games entirely. Reports later confirmed that Barack Obama spoke with LeBron James and other NBA leaders regarding how players could strategically use their influence.

Those moments mattered. They raised awareness. They reflected moral outrage. They forced conversations.

But years later, another question remains: What measurable institutional changes followed? Did ownership structures significantly change? Did governance structures significantly change? Did long-term economic participation significantly change? Or did America simply experience powerful emotional moments before moving on to the next crisis?

These are not cynical questions. They are historical questions.

The NIL era changed everything

There is another reality America must confront honestly. Today’s college athletes are operating in an entirely different financial environment than previous generations. Under modern NIL policies, some student-athletes can now legally profit from their name, image, and likeness. For some athletes, NIL opportunities now involve six-figure contracts, national endorsements, family support, housing assistance and financial security that previous generations of college athletes could barely imagine.

That changes this conversation significantly. An athlete considering protesting today may not simply be sacrificing a season. He or she may be sacrificing educational opportunity, economic mobility, family stability and potentially generational wealth. This becomes especially important because many college athletes still come from working-class communities, underfunded school systems, or families struggling economically.

As someone whose own life changed because of athletics, I cannot casually dismiss the seriousness of asking a young person to walk away from those opportunities.

That does not mean protest is wrong. It simply means the stakes are real.

The question that may make America pause

Sometimes in America, one question can change an entire conversation. This may be one of those questions. I sometimes ask myself: What if the political roles were reversed?

What if conservative white athletes believed progressive-controlled states were drawing voting maps in ways conservatives believed unfairly protected Democratic political power? Would conservative organizations encourage white athletes to boycott universities in blue states?
That question is not designed to provoke anger. It is designed to test consistency.

Because throughout American history, who draws political maps often depends on who controls the governor’s office, who controls the state legislature, who controls the House and Senate within a state and which political party currently holds power. In some states, Republicans control the process. In other states, Democrats control the process. In many cases, redistricting battles become intensely partisan regardless of race.

That reality does not eliminate concerns about fairness, race, or representation. But it does raise larger democratic questions about political power, institutional incentives and whether principles remain consistent when power changes hands.

Sometimes the best way to test the fairness of a political principle is to reverse the roles and ask whether we would still support the same action if the political power structure were different.

That is not confrontation. That is democratic inquiry.

The unfinished question of ownership

There is another difficult question America rarely discusses deeply enough. Black athletes have helped build modern sports culture in America. Black athletes helped transform college football, college basketball, the NBA, the NFL, Olympic sports and billions of dollars in sports-related media value.

Yet ownership remains remarkably limited. Currently, the National Football League has no Black majority owner. Major League Baseball has no Black majority owner. And while Robert L. Johnson, who founded BET, became the first Black majority owner in the modern NBA era, he later sold his controlling stake in the Charlotte franchise to Michael Jordan, and Jordan sold his ownership in 2023.

This raises larger institutional questions. Who owns the systems? Who controls franchise valuation? Who controls media contracts? Who controls stadium financing? Who controls succession planning? Who benefits most from generational sports wealth?

These are not anti-American questions. They are accountability questions.

Beyond emotion

Perhaps that is the larger issue confronting America now. Emotional moments matter. Symbolic moments matter. Athlete activism matters. But eventually America must also confront governance, ownership, institutional power, generational wealth, and structural participation.

Before America asks a young athlete to sacrifice everything, America should also be willing to discuss who controls the systems. Maybe this moment is bigger than sports. Maybe it is really about democracy itself: who participates, who governs, who profits, who sacrifices and who ultimately owns the future.

I do not claim to have all the answers. But I do believe America deserves the right to ask the questions. And sometimes the questions themselves may force us to think more deeply than the slogans.

Correction: An earlier version of this story contained an error about the ownership of the Charlotte Hornets. We apologize for the error.

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Read more about the NAACP’s Out of Bounds campaign.

Cover art: Getty Images

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By Jayla Poindexter

A new digital resource aimed at connecting and empowering the Black community in the Quad Cities launched this month, offering a centralized hub for local businesses, services and community information. Elois Wilson saw a need in the community for a hub where Black people could communicate with one another.

The Quad Cities African American Resource Directory is a new website that will give the Black community access to the Black-owned businesses, resources surrounding education, economics, youth development, legal aid and community services and a community calendar.

This is not Wilson’s first directory. Wilson made her first directory book in 2004 and another in 2022. The natural progression was to create a website. Creating a website presented its own benefits and struggles. The major benefit is the ability to change and add things as they arise. When it came to finding a web developer, Wilson had a bit more difficulty. Then, trying to get her vision from her mind to the page was difficult as well. Eventually, they made the website just as she had pictured, and Wilson is very proud of it.

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Of all of the features in the Directory, Wilson says the Black Business Directory is the most important. Right now, there are hundreds of Black businesses, and a database lets you search for the ones you might need. Local authors are also featured on the website. Wilson believes it is important to showcase the talent in the Black community. The community calendar is a space that will list black events in the community so everyone is on the same page. “There’s not enough communication between the cliques,” Wilson says. “If you’re in the church clique, you’re not in the rap clique.”

When it came to the five resource categories, education, economics, youth development, legal aid and community services, Wilson wanted a centralized place to help Black people find what they need to make their lives a little easier. “We want people to know everyone can be a social worker or whatever they want to do,” Wilson said. “We are all our brother’s keeper, so we need to know what’s available in the community.”

The next steps for the Resource Directory are to expand its service area by 100 miles to include more Black businesses in cities like Cedar Rapids and Peoria. As for cities like Ames or Des Moines, Wilson hopes that someone else will take on that challenge and make one for those towns. She would be glad to help.

Wilson’s work to uplift the community will extend beyond the directory. She is currently developing a “Black Quest” platform, an interactive educational and cultural tourism app designed to highlight Black history in local communities, stories and landmarks that often go unnoticed. “You can’t take away our pride,” Wilson said, describing the app as a way to counter what she sees as the erasure of Black history in America. The platform aims to help users discover the presence and impact of Black communities in places they may not have previously recognized.

Wilson said she is proud of how far the project has come and remains committed to its mission. She hopes the platform will serve as a lasting resource that strengthens connections and highlights the impact of the Black community across the Quad Cities.

This story appears in the May edition of the Black Iowa Newspaper. Statewide distribution begins on May 22.

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One great thing about Jim Tillman? You can hastily shoot him a Facebook message asking to interview him, and he’ll agree with no questions or additional details needed. Tillman is all about action. Now 67 years old, he is full of vim and vigor, working with urgency and intention as he researches Sioux City. His family has deep roots in Sioux City dating back to the early 1900s. Tillman’s family arrived by way of Forsyth County in Georgia and is a surviving descendant of the infamous 1912 Forsyth lynching.

His family, just like many other Black families in Georgia, were among the 1,100 people who had to quickly flee from white-hooded gangs that were running rampant through southern communities. Black families were threatened, terrorized and forced to choose between freedom and justice or life and liberty. They relocated to rebuild in new northern towns across the US. Evacuees, who were left with the unfortunate choice between safety and livelihood, left behind their lives, their friends, their property, businesses and farms.

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Tillman’s uncle, George (G. S. Tillman), was one of them. After exile, he and his parents built a new life in Sioux City, and he eventually grew up to run the Rib Hut, one of many Black businesses that formed along the Missouri River back then.

The area’s revenue was due in large part to the presence of Black-owned businesses. Chophouses, barbers, taverns, barbecue, chicken shacks were popular amongst all residents. Just after the Civil War, developers quickly moved to the Siouxland area and hired displaced Black workers to install pipeline, lay asphalt, pave sidewalks and build the new settlement literally from the underground up.

Tillman’s story is just one of the many he aims to share about local history. An advocate for suppressed stories, his role on the Sioux City Public Museum‘s Board of Trustees serves the community well. He is passionate about the significance of Sioux City’s history and aims to document as much as he can. His early days as a videographer included documenting local events in the Black community. Later, as he discovered old family photos, he aimed to identify his own archives that also help tell the history of Sioux City.

Those photos informed his series of books, all dedicated to the Black history of Sioux City. His first title, “The Journal of African American History – Sioux City, Iowa (Vol. 1),” covers Sioux City’s Black leadership dating back to its origins. His other three volumes cover a range of Sioux City’s history, including sports, music, education, churches and Black narratives before the 1900s and the 1950s. His fourth book, “Voices of Resistance,” is all about the city’s Black churches.

Tillman’s newest project is about the Sanford Center, one of the few places in Sioux City where the Black community was able to socialize with safety. The center served everything for the Black community, including funerals, weddings, church services, after-school programs, dinners, dances and more. But after years of disuse, the center is returning to a place where it is inviting the community back.

”I am a product of the Sanford Center,” he says, noting it hasn’t changed much since he was a kid, including the curtain he recalls from his younger days. The center is in need of a remodel, and Tillman aims to assist with raising funds for the building.

Beginning with Sioux City’s Juneteenth celebration, Tillman expects to attract the community and advocate for support for the remodel. You can find more information about the Sanford Center on his YouTube channel.

Eventually, Tillman hopes to broaden his focus to include additional community stories that may not originate in Sioux City or the Black Community.

“Everybody’s got a story, and everybody wants to tell their story. If we listened to enough of them... we can share in this,” he said.

Tillman is working on his fifth independently published book and is busy marketing and booking speaking engagements about Sioux City and Iowa history.

He has more stories than he could ever write.

This story appears in the April edition of the Black Iowa Newspaper. Pick up a copy!

Correction: Jim Tillman’s age was listed incorrectly in previous versions of this story. We apologize for the error.

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