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Virtual Chat Highlights Toledo-area Activism
By Tricia Hall
Sojourner’s Truth Reporter
State Representative Paula-Hicks Hudson hosted a virtual
chat with U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown and three local
activists. The 60-minute virtual chat was posted on the Ohio
House Dems Facebook page.
“Thank you for joining this virtual chat. I am so glad to
have a good friend and good senator who cares about Ohio and
our country, Senator Brown. I also have three
inter-generational women who have spent their time talking
about voting and citizen advocacy,” explained Hicks-Hudson
during open remarks.
The virtual chat focused on how elected officials can become
engaged with constituents, the importance of voting and
safeguarding the election. In addition to Senator Sherrod
Brown, the virtual chat featured three Toledoans: voter
activist Tina Butts, minority business activist Zahra
Collins and public education activist Lola Glover.
“The best ideas don’t come from Washington, but from Ohio
communities and from the people, like the activists who do
the work,” said Brown. “It is very critical this year in the
midst of a pandemic to fight voter suppression. There are
people, starting with top elected officials in this country,
who really don’t want a lot of people to vote. The President
of the United States has said that if everyone votes than
republicans will lose. I disagree, sometimes a republican
wins and other times democrats win, our mission is to make
sure everyone has the right to vote and does so safely. I
encourage everyone in Ohio to vote early if possible, use
mail-in option, or vote absentee, all options are safe. I
served as Ohio Secretary of State for eight years.”
Lola Glover was inspired to become a public-school advocate
once her children began school. The mother of nine children
explained during the virtual chat how she began the journey
into activism.
“I’ve been an education advocate for so long, but I first
got involved because I was a parent who wanted the best
education possible within the best environment possible,”
said Glover. “There isn’t a 101 activism class, so I just
got involved at the school, there is just on-the-job
training. I volunteered with PTA, as a teacher’s aide and
later a chaperone. I was able to find out about some school
related things that weren’t clear. Instead of just saying
‘oh well,’ I got involved. It wasn’t just about my kids, but
all the kids that attended and didn’t attend my kids’
schools;. I advocated for all kids and fought the school
system. See, once I started questioning, Once I began
questioning, I was no longer loved by the school
administration. I had to decide did I want the teachers and
administration to love me or advocate for these kids.
Parents have more power than principals, teachers and
superintendents. Teachers and parents must become allies, we
can do more for the kids and schools that way.”
Tina Butts, founder of The Movement, focuses on minority
engagement for the Ohio Democratic Party. Butts shared her
journey into activism and announced an upcoming voter
engagement activity on September 12 from 2 p.m. -5 p.m, in
downtown Toledo.
“Thank you, Representative Hicks-Hudson, for inviting me to
be a part of this call, it’s really heartwarming,” said
Butts. “The Movement is growing. I didn’t expect it to grow
to this magnitude into places like Dayton, Cleveland and
Columbus. The reason I first entered politics was because I
have a niece and nephew with mental illness and noticed that
they weren’t getting the care that they needed. I stepped up
to become their voice, and it became a passion to help
others in need.
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Paula-Hicks Hudson
Lola Glover
Tina Butts
Zahra Collins |
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“The Movement has grown from just 15 grassroots captains who
developed 20 leaders each into 650 leaders right now in
Lucas County. They are engaged and energized, if they could
vote today, they would be lined up around the early vote
building. On September 12, 800-1,000 people will march to
the early vote ballot box. Our message that day will focus
on how to fill out the form and where the box is located at
One Government Center. People may be scared about mail
in-vote, so let’s not give them a chance and just drop it
off. If people need a ride, we can help. We are going to
rock Lucas County,” Butts continued.
In October 2019, Toledo City Council passed a commercial
property nuisance ordinance which was initially designed to
hold businesses accountable, through a point system, for
noise disturbances, violence and crime in and around their
properties. In early January, minority-owned businesses
owners attended a meeting organized by Councilmen Tyrone
Riley at Mott Branch Library to voice concerns about the
ordinance. Zahra Collins was one of the business owners who
eventually addressed City Council’s Neighborhood Committee
that led to the eventual repeal of the ordinance in February
2020 and creation of Toledo Metropolitan Tavern and Pub
Association.
“I am a background person and usually work behind the scenes
to get things done,” said Collins. “My family owns a bar,
Robert’s Food & Spirits. The City of Toledo decided to pass
a nuisance ordinance that was going to disproportionately
affect our urban and minority owned bars by placing points
on bars for received police calls rather than actual
problems at bars. These calls would be attributed to the
bar, even if it occurred in the vicinity of the bar. It was
passed without opposition from bar owners and passed
unanimously. City Council held meetings to make sure we
found out about the nuisance ordinance. However, the more we
dug into it and researched what the law actually was about,
we realized how unfair and how targeted it was to minority
establishments.
“We decided to come together as owners and discussed how we
could make this better. We got in front of the Neighborhoods
Committee and broke down how unethical, discriminatory and
were in violation of civil right acts. Within two months we
were able to have City Council resent the law completely,
but we didn’t stop there and have discussed organizing a
night advisory board among other things. This wasn’t just
about assisting minority owned businesses, but all
businesses because we are law abiding citizens and business
owners who want to see the City and NW Ohio prosper.”
The Ohio House Democratic Caucus will continue the virtual
Ohio Promise Tour which is led by elected officials and
discusses current topics. The final two Ohio Promise Tours
will air on September 12 with State Representative Phillip
Robinson and September 23 with State Representative Joseph
Miller. All Virtual Ohio Promise Tour dates and Virtual
Town Halls are live-streamed on the Ohio House Democrats
Facebook page.
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