BY LISA DONOVAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Yvonne Wabbington of Hartwell sings along with the opening band at the Ujima Cinci-bration Friday.
(Craig Ruttle photo)
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For organizers of this weekend's first major African-American street festival in downtown Cincinnati, catch phrases such as "improved race relations" don't begin to describe what the event means.
"It really is the first dedicated commitment by the public and private institutions to come to grips with the issues surrounding a major, principally all African-American event in the city," said Cincinnati City Councilman Tyrone Yates.
He is head of council's law and public safety committee and organized a series of public hearings to discuss and arrange this weekend's Ujima Cinci-bration. The event is named after one of the principles of Kwanzaa: Ujima, which stresses collective work and responsibility. The event was born out of discussions on how the city would deal with the kind of violence that marred last year's Coors Light Festival. One man was killed, one boy was raped and 97 arrests were made downtown on a variety of charges.
Mr. Yates said it is unfortunate it took such events to propel them to action.
Benita Price of Pleasant Ridge watches her son Haneef Smart, 4, and Benjamin Price, 16, at Fountain Square during the Ujima Cinci-bration Friday.
(Craig Ruttle photo)
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"I think that I've witnessed a lot of foot-dragging on the part of public officials in terms of the failure to address the issue and, regrettably, it did take events like this to turn the corner and to get people's attention," he said.
Like many city officials, Mr. Yates said he can't promise there won't be problems -- especially with an anticipated 100,000 visitors converging downtown.
"I'm not suggesting there will be absolutely no problems, but I'm more than hopeful -- I believe this thing has been so well-planned I have no expectations of those kind of problems again."
The idea behind the event downtown, as well as several neighborhood and village activities today, is to make them more family-oriented. A lot of work has been done in the last 40 days to bring this event together, including the city kicking in $150,000.
Just two months ago, African-American leaders were balking at a city administration recommendation to close downtown to traffic the weekend of the Coors Light Festival. The idea was to restrict all events to Cinergy Field and its plaza. It also suggested that, because of time constraints, an organized event could be planned for 1999.
"The way they were planning this, they sort of wanted to cage people in . . . (as if) they weren't dealing with people who were looking at having a good time, enjoying music," Cincinnati City Councilwoman Minette Cooper said.
"The way they decided to lock it down seemed real culture specific, you know, group specific," she said.
Martin Scruggs Jr., 13, and his friend Joey Cromwell, 13, both from Cincinnati joke around during the festival on 5th Street.
(Ryan Miller photo)
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In addition, there was concern that black vendors weren't going to have a chance to sell their wares to the large African-American crowds that traditionally turn out for the concerts at the ballpark, as well as events downtown during the weekend.
In the end, there was compromise in the form of an African-American-themed street festival, called Ujima Cinci-bration.
David Ginsburg, senior vice president of Downtown Cincinnati Inc., said he's never seen anything like it in the four years he's been with DCI.
"I've never seen so many segments of the community coming together, listening to each other's points of view and trying to do something that's positive for the entire community," said Mr. Ginsburg. "It is really nice to see the business community, the (city) safety division, the African-American chamber, the hotel people -- everybody is trying to do something constructive."
Councilman Dwight Tillery said that while the event has an African-American theme, it should be a citywide celebration.
"This is for everyone. This is a chance to say, "Come see our culture, come and be a part of it.' Isn't that what Oktoberfest is about? It's a celebration of the German culture."
Whether events like this will improve race relations is for future historians to decide, perhaps in five or 10 years, Mr. Tillery said.
He said many African-Americans attend predominantly "majority" events, but it often doesn't work in reverse.
When that happens, "it begins to tell a story," he said. "That's a recognition of, "Hey, your culture is important.' "
