75 CENTS
OMAHA STAR
THE
Nebraska Election Dates: MAY 12: PRIMARY NOVEMBER 3: GENERAL ELECTION
Proudly Serving Our Community for Over 80 Years Dedicated to the Service of the People that NO Good Cause Shall Lack a Champion and that Evil Shall Not Go Unopposed
Nebraska’s Only Black Owned Newspaper Vol. 82 - No. 4 Omaha, Nebraska
Friday, February 21, 2020
Let’s vote in record numbers!
75 cents
Lydon House Day is Proclaimed Mayor Jean Stothert has proclaimed Feb. 16 Lydon House Day. The house is named for Jason Lydon, of Boston, founder of the Black and Pink organization. Executive Director Dominique Morgan and the Black and Pink team held a ribbon-cutting event for Lydon House, which is the first house of its kind that is community based housing in the United States for incarcerated individuals who identify as LGBTQIA+ and/or those who are living with HIV/ AIDS. Lydon House will also
serve as a safe quality home option as well as a hub for services for those reentering the community. “Success upon reentry to the community from incarceration is not about luck but rather the access to strengths base resources,” says executive Director Morgan. Heartfelt sentiments were expressed from the organization’s founder, Jason Lydon, members of the Black and Pink team, City Councilman Ben Gray, Nebraska State Senator Megan Hunt and Artist Felicia
Mayor Stothert and Dominique Morgan
Webster. At the ribbon cutting Morgan announced Lydon House II will begin construction in April 2020. Lydon House II will house persons 18-24 years of age and provide wrap around services for its residents. Black and Pink now based in Omaha is a 501(c)3 and is the nation’s largest prison abolitionist program. There are eight chapters throughout United States. More information can be found: www. blackandpink.org and social media:@BLACKandPINKorg.
Dignitaries
The Lens of Rudy Smith “The Black Experience Through the Lens of Rudy Smith” represents the lifetime passion and photographic work of the late Rudy Smith, the first Black photographer hired by the Omaha WorldHerald newspaper. Smith’s 45-year photography career allowed him into places to meet people who were history makers. With his camera he recorded civil unrest in Omaha, North Omaha residents, education, people throughout the city, events of his beloved Salem Baptist Church, athletic icons and family. Rudy Smith lifelong ambition was to publish a book of his photographs. When his life ended after battling cancer in December 2019, his wife of 52 years made his dream a reality. The Great Plains Black History Museum will be the location of a book signing on Feb. 29. Signing the book will be his wife Llana Smith and son, Rudy Smith Jr.
Photos Clockwise: Rudy Jr. and Llana Llana and Kristine Gerber Front Cover of the Rudy Smith Book
March 12-20, 2020 Official Census Bureau Mailings
The Publisher’s Pen By Terri D. Sanders Legacy, G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Times) and an elegant lady are all words that describe Mrs. Mildred D. Brown, founder, publisher and editor of The Omaha Star Newspaper. Beginning in 1938 The Omaha Star published the good news about the people in the North Omaha community. As a founding member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) in 1940, she along with others organized a meeting of African American publishers that has become the voice of the Black community and an incubator for news that makes history and impacts our country. Back in the day people looked to The Omaha Star to get THE News about what was going on in OUR community. Pictures filled the pages of the paper with family celebrations, birthdays, social gatherings, politicians and information that effected our standard of living. Fast forward to February 2020, eighty-two years later and I, Terri D. (McAlister) Sanders, have been called upon to assume leadership in my community as interim publisher of the paper. I stand on the shoulders of previous Black women who have proudly held this role. I am a native Omahan that looks forward to providing the GOOD news of our community to the world. The estimated 2018 population of Omaha was 466,061 as the 40th largest city in the United States, the Omaha Black population is approximately 12% of the total population of our city. We are representing the 12% to the 466,061population and the world. During a time when the printed newspaper is going away, I believe community newspapers have a place in the media landscape. The Omaha Star shares print and digital space. We are increasing our digital presence and our social media engagement in order to reach and increase our demographics with multiple generations. Family of the week and features on individuals will be part of our focus by sharing events and activities in pictures. We will be recruiting writers and photographers to help us make the paper more relevant in our community at large. New columns aimed at information for our community will be included in the paper. We will also take a look back and share from the archived papers. You cannot move forward if you do not know where you have been. We will respectfully share the history of our community. Our Junior Journalism program through the Mildred D. Brown Memorial Study Center will give young people an opportunity to exercise their skills that will be developed through hands on writing and photography that will appear in the paper. Legacy is a thing (The Omaha Star) handed down by a predecessor (Mildred D. Brown). We will continue with the legacy and enhance the brand of the paper. You can help TODAY by subscribing to The Omaha Star for your home, office or organization. The paper is also available digitally. Our archives are available through Newsbank: http://theomahastar.newsbank.com. Revenue is important to our success. Consider advertising to reach our readers. Call our advertising manager at 402-346-4041 or email: tcooper@omahastarinc.com. We invite your input, story concepts, announcements and comments. Please contact us through email: publisher@mdbmsc.org or sending a letter to: The Omaha Star, Attention Publisher, 2216 North 24th Street, Omaha, NE 68110. Follow us on social media and through our website: www.omahastarinc.com; Facebook: Omahastarinc; twitter: @ omaha_star; Instagram: omahastarnewspaper. The paper is owned by The Mildred D. Brown Memorial Study Center, a 501(c)3 organization and can accept donations through the website: www.mdbmsc.org. For this interim publisher The Omaha Star is an assignment in my life, an opportunity to serve my community and a way to add to the value of the stories of Omaha. Into the future with the good news…
Join The 2020 Census Team:
Please Send Articles and Photographs to:
2020Census.gov/Jobs
Publisher@mdbmsc.org
