CINCINNATI -- We celebrate Black History Month in February, but the previously untold history and rich heritage of Cincinnati's African-American community will now be available year-round on a new online project.
The Black Agenda Cincinnati and The Cincinnati Herald have launched Cincinnati Black History, a digital hub for user-submitted stories about the unique experiences and lives of black Cincinnatians.
The goal of this project is to give the public an opportunity to share and preserve its unfiltered, personal stories of heritage in its own voices.
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“We, as African-Americans, typically have our stories told for us — in history books and schools, television and movies. And while we seem to be entering a time where our fight to have true ownership over our narrative is breaking through, it’s a struggle that’s far from over,” wrote Dwight Tillery, Black Agenda Cincinnati co-convener, in a news release. “That’s why the Black Agenda Cincinnati and The Cincinnati Herald are coming together to give us a chance to tell our history, share our experiences and preserve them in one place for posterity.”
People within Cincinnati’s African-American community are invited to submit their stories through the site. They’ll also have the opportunity to include photos and will be able to organize them under a variety of categories, including business, slavery, sports, civil unrest and several more. Tutorials on the site will help guide users through the process.
“As the leading African-American multimedia publisher in the region, working with The Black Agenda Cincinnati on Cincinnati Black History was a natural extension of what we do every day -- tell the stories of the African-American community,” said Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, publisher of The Cincinnati Herald. “This is an educational and experiential online destination where we can reclaim our narrative by simply sharing our stories that make us who we are today. Whether the accounts are from our own lives, the stories of our ancestors or our hopes for our descendants’ futures, this is a place where our history can live on in a voice that is our own and no one else’s.”
Visit the new website at cincinnatiblackhistory.com.
