United Way kicks off campaign with focus on learning from history to drive change

Hours after launching a project to commemorate an important chapter in America's Black and women's history, the United Way of Summit and Medina kicked off its annual campaign Thursday with a call for action to help the Akron community heal and overcome collective burdens.

Speakers focused on respecting and acknowledging an accurate portrayal of our collective history — even when it's painful — to steer the community to a brighter future. The June 27 fatal Akron police shooting of Jayland Walker was mentioned multiples times along with challenges local residents face in everyday life.

"A majority of those people did not create that burden on their own," said United Way President and CEO Jim Mullen of the people his organization helps. "They were placed in positions where equality and equity were not the same and where opportunities for success were not delivered in the same fashion and they do not have the opportunity to seek a better life."

On Wednesday night, local leaders broke ground on Sojourner Truth Plaza outside the United Way's downtown office to commemorate Truth's historic speech on women's suffrage, a theme that carried into the next morning's annual Knight Breakfast, a tradition since 1954.

Recognizing history: Construction of Sojourner Truth Memorial Plaza marks decades-long dream

Keynote speaker Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, spoke about how ignoring the accurate history of America's diverse population makes it difficult to move forward as a society. The multi-generational impact of slavery still "pervades every aspect of contemporary society," he said.

Only 2% of historic sites in the United States address the country's diverse people, he said, while describing his efforts to restore important sites across the country with the proper cultural accuracy, equity and justice.

"We must face the fact that the history and the character of our nation is carved out of chasms of racial brutality and economic exploitation," he said, noting our "self-determination, character and resilience moves our nation toward its best self."

"The purpose of preservation practice is not to stop change but to help society manage change in ways that do not disconnect from the legacies of the past," Leggs said.

Mullen told the crowd of several hundred community leaders the United Way remains committed to driving change by actually working in underserved communities and urged people to do more than write a check to the annual campaign.

"This is a contact sport," he said of the organization's bold goals to improve educational attainment and financial literacy while reducing Black infant mortality. "...It is way more important for the size of your voice than the size of your check."

Bold goals: United Way refreshes its goals with greater emphasis on equity, infant mortality

Mullen also urged leaders to truly listen to the Black community, something he tries to do when clients are visiting the United Way office downtown.

"The one thing that I continually hear time and time again is I need a safe place to live, my kids need educated, and I want to be safe," he said.

Campaign Chair James "Whitt" Butler, a managing partner of EY in Akron, said he was not always familiar with the work of United Way or where his checks went until a colleague introduced him to Mullen.

"I became extremely connected to the mission and the four bold goals to the measurable impact and the return we can see from our dollars and the impact in our community," he said. "...It's truly God's work and we're making a huge impact."

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: United Way of Summit and Medina launches annual campaign