By Kendahl Plank
Originally Posted On: February 1, 2023
Updated February 1, 2024

Cultural enrichment, education, and experiencing new things are at the heart of travel. Which is why we invite visitors into the celebration of Black History and current Black American culture that you can experience and soak in while you are here in Toledo! We sat down with the following folks to learn from their perspective and amplify their voices on how visitors and locals alike can do just that.

 

Let's hear from some local Toledoans:

Photo courtesy of Shana

Shana is a blogger and social media content creator who is passionate about food, travel, clean beauty, sustainability and supporting local businesses. Her goal is to inspire people to be adventurous and experience the beauty of the world.

ShanaWasHere.com | @Missluvleelocs

Shana Lee

Shana is originally from Toledo, although she left for Atlanta in college. It was there that she fell in love with food blogging. In the midst of working several odd jobs, she would go to events and restaurants, and festivals for fun, and people would inquire about how she found out about such fun events. Eventually, after several years of unpaid content creation, Shana was able to turn her passion into her profession.

Her first paid gig traveling to Pittsburgh sealed the deal. She says, "It's all related, food and travel. You go somewhere, and you wanna eat." Since then she added a travel and tourism component to her content creation and has continued to grow her brand, all while educating her daughter Sage along the way. 

Since then, after 20 years, she has once again returned to the Toledo area, and has rediscovered what Ohio and the greater Toledo region has to offer. "It's a lot of gems in Toledo, and NW Ohio period. A lot." 

Q: On your first assignment for Ohio. Find it Here, you were doing a feature on Black History Month. What did you discover when you spoke to Black business owners?

A: "The hard work they put into it, some of the obstacles they faced, and just, you know, they just knew that they had something, and they were gonna do it. That was it, that was all they needed to know.

It wasn't handed to them, they really had to work for it and they reaped the benefits of their work, and it benefited the whole community, not just the Black community."

Q: What is it like being an influencer in Toledo, especially as a Black woman?

A: "There are more now, but when I first came here I didn't see any Black influencers, bloggers, that I knew of. I thought this might be a good way to incorporate myself into the community. I continuously tried to get my name out and talking to the right people and constantly networking because it was a little more difficult for me.

I did have to work really hard to, you know, make a name for myself, and it's good to work hard for something because it builds your character. I made every post as if I was being paid for it. Keep it tip top, that is just my whole, always.

It feels good, when I was coming up, there was a lot of Black influencers that I looked up to. I was so inspired by them, for someone to feel that way about me is kinda heavy...It feels like I am doing something good, like I am doing something positive for Toledo."

Q: How can visitors celebrate and honor Black History in Toledo?

A: "I feel kinda torn sometimes, like, it's like Black History month, go support Black businesses, but I feel like, it should be all year round. I always felt that.

Make it a point to go at least once a month and, you know, just support them, because they have to work 10 times harder to be successful. They aren't always sought out.

It should be regular, you don't have to be there every week, but just go try and take an opportunity to experience something different. Different vibes.

Take your kids to different areas of the city, take your kid to a Black-owned business. Let them experience, just the whole vibe of us. It starts when you are young, fun experiences with people who don't look like you, gives you a positive view point."

 

James Dickerson

James instantly connects with people and he almost always has his camera on him, uniquely positioning him to be able to capture folks on the street in Toledo. He says, "it's just one of those things that I will never leave without, and uh, that's how I make my work, just like spot on, I don't doctor images or anything, everything that I do is like 100% what you see right there in the moment."

His work is just something he feels inclined to do, it is a form of therapy for him. He is self taught, and he began by taking photos of his kids. People may not fully understand his choice to photograph people, or his use of old school film camera methods, but he has an audience for it. His work sees people through an intangible lens, everything is observed and absorbed, he meets people where they are at and his photos portray his connection to them.

James currently has his work on display at River House Arts Gallery in downtown Toledo.

Q: How do you feel your photography impacts the Toledo community and beyond?

A: "It actually influences the outsider more, like I was messaged one day on accident, this woman sent me a message that she was intending to send her friend, and was like 'I follow this guy who shows me a side of Toledo, that I know I will never be privy to'.

I photograph everyone, but I pay special attention to Black and Latino people.

I am normalizing the Black experience for people, because right now there is always this depiction of 100% poverty, and that isn't always the case. I am always focused on the people, and it doesn't matter if this person is a drug dealer or a millionaire, like, I just wanna see that person and know that person and make sure they are never forgotten.

Something that is unfiltered, I am not trying to paint this pretty picture, I wanna show the everyday life. I give Toledo something else to think about.

Having a mission like that where you are trying to showcase other sides of Toledo, so that people gain better understanding, I think, is like, super important and that is what I want my work to represent, its the fact that, if I photograph this kid or adult in this area, that's somebody that's happy, that's existing, that's not afraid to come outside. So if they're not afraid we shouldn't be afraid."

Q: If you had friends coming into town, where would you take them?

A: "The first place I would take someone is Jamaican Spice...the food is fantastic and their patio in the summertime is wonderful. You go there and you get curry goat jerk chicken, mac n cheese and green beans, it'll put you to sleep, its fantastic.

And then there's Hot Box, downtown, you go there and get a po boy. These places are loud, they are organic, and everybody is wonderful and supportive.

Wesley's and the Attic, just because I like a different mix of music, and Black Frog Brewery, he is really solid."

Q: How can visitors celebrate and honor Black History in Toledo?

A: "By focusing on someone else besides MLK and Rosa Parks, like if you really wanna do something big look at the people who are active now, support them.

So there is all of these other opportunities to highlight Black voices, but we are so geared towards the civil rights movement, and even then if you explore the civil rights movement there are so many more people to talk about...I would like to see more people highlighted.

BHM, for me, it is significant, I just wish there was more progression as a whole, I want there to be more opportunity on the table that exists right now." 

 

Photo courtesy of James

James is a street portrait photographer from Olde Towne neighborhood and a founding member of The Black Artist Coalition. Focusing primarily Black and Brown communities in underserved areas, his work has been widely published in literary journals and independent zines, as well as Harper’s Bazaar and The New York Times.

@dirtykics

Photo courtesy of TLCHB

Candace is a multi-faceted leader in the Toledo community. Her passion for people with intellectual disabilities led her to become the 2nd African American woman ever to serve on the executive board for Anne Grady Services, and currently she is the Chief Operating Officer at Toledo Lucas County Homelessness Board.

LinkedIn

Candace Bishop

Candace is passionate about housing and community development. There are many pieces that make Candace who she is and she involves herself in several different efforts to uplift and support the Toledo community. 

Another piece that Candace is currently pursuing is her undergrad in Christian Counseling, and she has a goal of earning her doctorate in that profession by age 45. She mentioned this is another passion of hers that she will get into if she ever can pull herself away from her work with the Homelessness Board. 

Q: What impact does your work with the Toledo Lucas County Homelessness board have on the community?

"So, the African American community is disproportionally represented in the homelessness system, African American families and individuals enter the system much faster than other races and they exit much slower.

Around 64% of folks passing through the system are African American, and they represent around 20.5% of this community, which tells the story...Some of it is tied to systemic racism and some of it is just strictly oppression."

Q: If you had friends coming into town, where would you take them?

A: "I was thinking, community, housing, sports, education, entertainment, etc. This is all who Toledo is. On the entertainment side, you gotta learn about the Art Tatum Foundation.

I think it would be pretty cool if you did a tour of the town and learn Toledo's Black history...you got J'maes in the south end, you got everything from The Onyx Cafe to Groomed Barbershop.

I am thinking the weekend experience right? So Friday night you get in town and go have a cocktail at Club Evolution which is minority owned, then get up in the morning and have breakfast at J'maes Home Cooking...and then go have a coffee at The Onyx Cafe, and while you are downtown check out the art scene, and wrap up the night with at Lucille's Jazz Club at TolHouse...Get up Sunday morning and have a gospel experience at Friendship Baptist and have Sunday dinner at a soul food place. And before you leave, don't forget to get your beauty and wellness supplies from Sonya Organics to take back to your friends and family, I mean like clearly that could be a whole weekend right there."

Q: How can visitors celebrate and honor Black History in Toledo?

A: "People who do it well, they tie the past into the present...who is our modern day MLK? Who is our community's modern Madam CJ Walker?

Feature our local modern day Jazz musicians and where they are playing at around town. Ramona Collins, our modern day Bill Holiday. Take that approach to tie it back to where it all started.

You want your content to be representative of your audience, so 20.5% of your content should be African American focused, find out the other percentages of other minority communities and represent them...Throw some intentionality behind your content."

 

 

Highlighting Black-owned businesses

Black Frog Brewery

Jamaican Spice

The Onyx Cafe

One of the most direct ways you can support the Black community all year long is shopping at the local, Black-owned businesses in your community and when you travel. There's a huge variety of Black-owned businesses in the Toledo area offering tasty cuisine, craft beer, unique art and retail shopping and more. We've compiled a growing list just for you! Check out the list here!

Find the most current conversations in our Celebrating Black History in Toledo Blog.