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In a year that Toledoans
were inundated with news of local, regional and national
political scandals, much could be said about what is wrong
in society. However, to focus on the negative is to overlook
the potential of a group of bright emerging leaders who
catapulted to the top during 2020.
One such leader is Tiffany
Preston-Whitman, EdD., a young, bright, highly educated
African-American woman of faith. Shaped by both the Servant
and Surrogate Family Leadership models of the Black Church,
Whitman was equipped early in life to provide solutions for
the needs, concerns, and life issues of African Americans
and others attempting to cope with hardships and a lack of
resources.
Whitman’s recent
appointment to Toledo City Council provides leadership that
gives voice to her moral/cultural value system.
The following is our
conversation about her ethical leadership roots and her
agenda as a local community leader.
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Perryman: Please describe
your personal story.
Whitman: I was Toledo,
Ohio, born and raised in a family who prioritized
their faith in God, education and service to
others. I attended Central Catholic High School and
went on to attend and graduate from The Ohio State
University. Living in Columbus was a significant
time in my life, where I met my husband, then
married, and moved back to Toledo. As far as
personally, we have three children. We also
prioritize our faith and just living out our
purpose.
Perryman: Please describe
your professional experience.
Whitman: Professionally,
I’ve worked in higher ed. I would characterize
myself as an educator and an advocate, especially
for African-American and Latinx students, and as
someone who’s committed to changing my community
through education. |
Tiffany Preston-Whitman, EdD. |
Perryman: Talk a little bit
about your roots that led to a faith-filled life and
advocacy work in the educational system.
Whitman: I learned early
on that education was the key to freedom, liberation and
upward mobility. My maternal grandmother, my mom who only
had a grade school education, and even my father, they
wanted me to go as far as I could because they knew there
was a time that they and other African Americans were unable
to access that education.
Perryman: And, you’re a
product of the Black Church?
Whitman: I was born and
raised in Guiding Light Church under Bishop James Ransey, my
mom’s first cousin. My dad is also a member of Warren AME
Church and so I see that as my second church home growing
up. I always tell people I was fortunate cause I got both
sides. There’s some good to that. I value my Pentecostal
roots because that helped me understand how to strive
towards the mark, that there is a mark! From my AME
experience, I always loved the deep history, the culture and
the call to social justice. That is what brought me
currently to First Church of God. That’s where I felt is
the perfect marriage for me - that holiness, making sure my
family places God first, but then also the call to social
justice.
Perryman: Do you think that
those values and your professional background qualify you
more than anything else to be a member of Toledo City
Council?
Whitman: Yes. It’s
interesting you said that. I was actually just reflecting
on some things with others, and I don’t think I have … I
call it an edge, but I think you can relate. You are given
a discernment because some things have been purposed into
me, especially to touch people’s lives directly. And, in
churches I’ve been in, I’ve been someone who’s very involved
in discipleship and outreach and that’s where my gifts are,
including leadership. I think that definitely plays into my
role on council, but also to be humble. Part of leadership,
as you know, is about humility. It’s this constant back and
forth between learning humility and then acting on what
you’ve learned. So, definitely, my faith informs my
leadership in that way.
Perryman: Did you receive
all of your degrees from Ohio State?
Whitman: I did not. I
received a bachelor’s of history and African-American
studies from Ohio State. My master’s is in history with a
concentration in African-American history. Then, my
doctorate is a doctorate of education in Educational
Leadership from Bowling Green State University.
Perryman: What issues are
most pressing for the City of Toledo?
Whitman: There are some
things that we need to focus on immediately. One is
COVID-19 and making sure that we’re doing all we can to
ensure our citizens’ health and safety, period.
But also, coming off of
this summer is the need to focus on the issues we have
within our community about investment and police. Really,
for me, talking about Black Lives Matter and George Floyd,
it’s not even about a radical conversation, we’re talking
about people who are talking about basic needs, human rights
and dignity.
So, those are some of the
immediate things that we have to focus our attention on.
But, my specific areas of
focus are wellness, especially for women and children.
Wellness comes out of both my direct experiences and my
community experiences as well. The second issue is youth
investment. We need better infrastructure to ensure that our
youth and young adults can thrive.
Another issue is economic
opportunity, and that’s across the board, not just with the
black community. Obviously, with the recent announcement
with Chrysler’s expansion, that’s big. But I would like to
see more, across the board, whether we’re talking about
black, white, Latinx, communities; more middleclass
families, and individuals with low to moderate income, they
all need to be included in these economic expansion
opportunities. Those are my three specific areas beyond the
City’s immediate focus.
Perryman: Infant mortality
rates have skyrocketed here in Lucas County – especially for
African Americans, but they’re down elsewhere. Can you speak
to that issue?
Whitman: Yes. There are
so many racial and social factors that impact health. What
we’re seeing with COVID is that people also don’t have
access to jobs or transportation while having limited
healthcare options. All of that affects the health of the
mother and the health of the infant.
In Toledo, we have a lot
of work to do in those areas because some of this stuff is
not income-related. It exists because of systemic racism.
The research has shown that Black women, regardless of
education or income, are more likely to struggle in
pregnancy or possibly lose their children during pregnancy.
Perryman: Why is Lucas
County so high compared to others in Ohio?
Whitman: I think there
has been a lack of investment here, especially when talking
about Black children and African Americans. It points to a
lack of investment, quality education, and quality
healthcare. In northwest Ohio, Lucas County, we do have some
issues. Still, there’s systemic racism that is deep, and
it’s long prevented access to quality resources, and I
emphasize quality. That’s the issue. I think that’s the
issue here in Lucas County and Northwest Ohio.
Secondary to that, it’s
the infrastructure. I’ll be honest. Especially when we talk
about the mental health community, we have to improve the
way our services are structured and ensure we’re paying
attention to culturally relevant services. That’s so
important.
Perryman: How do you
compare the financial investments being made downtown to our
neighborhoods’ investment needs?
Whitman: What you will
see, actually starting this year and what we are working
with the administration in our budget, prioritizes our
neighborhoods.
You are correct. There
needs to be an equal investment. But here’s the thing, so
we need to prioritize our neighborhoods and private downtown
investment like we have been; however, I think our downtown
expansion investment is great. My point is that we need to
ensure that the people who live in all our neighborhoods in
Toledo can participate and be welcomed into these new
endeavors downtown.
That simply could be that
I’m walking downtown. In fact, that’s where I go work out,
downtown at the Y. If I want to go out at 6:00 or 7:00 in
the morning, my husband and me, I don’t want to be afraid
that someone’s going to stop us or something’s going to
happen to us because of us being Black down there. Are we
going to be able to see people across all kinds of races, be
able to be down there? We can and should have jobs and
economic opportunities come downtown. I’m just trying to
get people to understand that we have to make sure that
people from all of our neighborhoods can participate in
those economic opportunities.
Perryman: If you received a
$2 million grant to use for the city for any purposes, how
would you choose to use it and why?
Whitman: I would invest
accordingly into what I told you my three focus areas are.
I think you could never go wrong investing in your future,
never. That would be one, and then two, reinvesting to make
sure we multiply the businesses we’re bringing here and the
businesses we’re developing here. Also, what I’ve seen in
other cities just in my own research, is that we have to
diversify the business we have here. When you look at
Pittsburgh or other places, like Grand Rapids, they are
really doing some bold things, and we have to do the same
thing here. And again, I think you can never go wrong in
investing in your citizens’ health and wellness. If you
don’t, it can cause a national tragedy. COVID-19 is a
national tragedy that we always seem to be the leaders of
the free world and, yet we could not, with all our wealth
and our resources, do what we needed to do to keep everyone
safe and healthy.
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, D.Min, at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org
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