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March 22, 2025 23 mins

Our guest is Sharen Sierra King - Journalist, public speaker and former radio host as well as a resident of Lincoln Heights Ohio...the place that is making national headlines for the Nazi demonstrations and the community response.

In the first half of the show, we talk about the original march by the Nazis on the town of Lincoln Heights. We discuss the timing of the demonstration as well as the emboldening of the far right by the current administration.

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Broadcasting from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. I'd like to
welcome you to another episode of Civic Cipher, where our
mission is to foster allyship empathy and understanding. I am
your host, ramses Jah, and yes, I know I've been
promising q Ward. We'll be back in the studio for
probably three weeks now, and I can assure you with
great certainty we are working on getting him back in

(00:20):
the studio, but for now, have no fear. We are
joined by a special guest. She goes by the name
of Charen Sierra King. She's a journalist, public speaker, and
former radio host, a lifetime member of the NCNW, an
organization that is very near and dear to our heart
for those unfamiliar, that as a National Council of Negro Women,

(00:40):
as well as the NAACP, where she is actively engaged
in policy advocacy, voter protection efforts, and racial justice initiatives
at both local and national levels. And also a resident
of Lincoln Heights, Ohio, the place that is making national
headlights for the Nazi demonstrations and the community response, which
is exactly what we want be talking about today. So

(01:01):
welcome to the show.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Thank you for having me it's an honor and a pleasure.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
Well, we are very much looking forward to the conversation
that we were going to have. As I mentioned, you know,
and for those who may not be, you know, familiar
with this story, this was right around the time of
the inauguration of the current administration. There was one notable

(01:28):
Nazi demonstration that took place in Ohio that got tons
of news coverage, and you know, people were concerned about
the police response. People were concerned about this community, which
was a black community, and this intentional display of hate
with what historically would have been a very vulnerable population.

(01:51):
Later in the show, we'll see that they're less vulnerable
than people may know, but still very vulnerable. And we
are going to get into the weeds of this story.
So stick around for that and so much more. But
first we are going to discuss some Ebony excellence and
today's Ebny excellence we're going to share from the source magazine,
you know, shout out to Miami. It is a pleasure

(02:11):
to be on the air in Miami and of course
at the Beat in Miami and elsewhere in the country.
But this is Miami Dade's own story. So Miami Dade
County commissioners have officially approved the renaming of several streets
in honor of hit songs by Miami artists. The initiative,
spearheaded by Commissioner Keon Pardiman, aims to celebrate the city's

(02:35):
deep musical roots while bringing a sense of pride to
local communities. After facing initial resistance earlier this month, the
proposal has now passed with a ninety three vote, drawing
national attention for its unique approach to cultural recognition. Hardiman
emphasized the significance of music in Miami's neighborhoods and the
power of this move to inspire change. Quote, we need
to try something dramatic to really change the neighborhood. People

(02:57):
in these communities take music very seriously. This according to
Hardeman himself. As a result, several streets in Liberty City
will now bear the names of classic Miami anthems, paying
tribute to artists who have shaped the city's hip hop legacy.
Among the newly renamed streets are City Girls Street, which
is Northwest sixty sixty third. Streets are born in Rays

(03:20):
Street Northwest sixty seventh Street. We the best terraces Northwest
sixty eight Terraces Trick Love, the Kids Street, ninety six
Terrace Northwest, ninety six Terras, and many others. Additionally, individual
artists are being recognized with street names dedicated to treat
It Still, the Baddest Balgreases, I Deserve It All, and
Luther Campbell's It's Your Birthday Moves further cements Miami's reputation

(03:42):
as a city where music and culture are woven into
its very streets now quite literally. And you know again,
because this show we target hip hop stations around the country.
Anytime that we get to combine some ebony excellence with
some hip hop culture, it is just a feather in
our cap. Shout out to Miami doing the right thing. Okay,

(04:03):
back to the lecture at hand, Charenzi, Eric.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
King, Yes, that is me.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
Do us a favor. I gave a brief introduction when
we first, you know, started the show, of who you
are and the business upon which you stand. But you
know your connection to Lincoln Heights runs quite deep. Yes,
and you are I know that you have you live

(04:35):
a very very full life. I know that I've known
that since we met at the at the convention in Maryland.
But you are the right person to have this conversation
as well, So do us a favorite again for our listeners.
Talk a little bit about yourself and sort of what
qualifies you to have this conversation. And then I also
want you to discuss your deep roots in Lincoln Heights.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
Well, thank you again for having me, and I'm thankful
for those roots. I was born too, a single black woman.
She chose to have me. She kind of left my
dad at the altar and she forged her way. I
am fortunate in the fact that my mother bred into
me and my brother's advocacy from infancy. We had drills

(05:22):
in our house because she was very involved in some
radical goings on. We had drills of how to get
out the house, where to go. We talked about collaboration,
we talked about advocacy. It was like food for my soul.
I was an avid reader as a child, and I
lived in a community called Avondale just for one year.

(05:44):
It was called the heart of Jewelry because it is
where a lot of the Russian and German Jews landed
and started their own businesses. So I also had an
exposure to Jewish people of Jewish faith and how they
were able to escape hate their generations later and how
they forged together. So I saw it on both sides.

(06:08):
And I was a quiet child. You would never think
I would grow up to speak because I was always
reading and I was always listening to my mother. She
didn't believe in leaving us at home with babysitters. She
took us to the meetings. So I think a lot
of it filtered into my soul by sitting there at
my coloring book listening to adults. We were not to speak.

(06:31):
I didn't know I was listening to the revolution, but
I'm so thankful that I did.

Speaker 1 (06:38):
And that translated to your work with the NCNW because
up until recently you were holding a formal position with
the NCNWS to talk about that as well.

Speaker 2 (06:48):
Yes, NCNW we have sections, and I was the second
vice president of the Cincinnati Section. I was pleased and
proud because again in my upbringing, I belong and was
baptized and to mout Morale Missionary Baptist Church one one
sixty nine Simms Avenue. It was called the Mother Church.
It was also a place of advocacy and Sister Mamie

(07:12):
Hall founded the chapter and Cincinnati. She was one of
the charter members and she was the first president, so
I got it. I had a three hundred and sixty
look degree. Look, it wasn't one eighty. It was three
sixty of women, specifically black women doing the work. So

(07:33):
I only knew that no matter where I went. And
then from Avondelle, I went to whitten Terras, which was
is now called the Bricks. For me, it was a lifeblood.
It was still multiracial, but I had teachers who taught
who were concerned. I still refer to them in my
writings where I write for the sin Sint Harold. My

(07:55):
third grade teacher, missus Gregory, she was like, she taught
me lessons through education, so she has listen, read the
entire paper and then follow the directions. The directions were
at the end of the paper and it said write

(08:17):
your name on the right hand corner.

Speaker 1 (08:19):
And then you're done.

Speaker 2 (08:19):
Yeah, So I absorbed all of that when I moved.
We moved. My mother was able to buy her home
when I was in fourth grade, and it had to
be outside the city in order to get the most
house for the most land. And I started school there.
My mom went to the Prince of the boy and

(08:40):
said there was only five of us in that school.
African Americans. She said, my children are not perfect, but
you're not to spat them until you call me at work.
So I thought, my mother's giving them permission to swot me.
She doesn't spank me, but there are lessons and learned
less and the reasoning, and of course that happened. They

(09:02):
tried to swap me and I fought them and my
mother had to call the NWCAP. So early I learned
the value collaboration, collaboration with organizations they were advocating for me.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
So I think in some of these stories, I'm hearing
that there's a strong sense of community, not just in
Lincoln Heights, but you know, in the surrounding areas in Ohio.
So before we get into this story, talk to us
about your like familial connections to Lincoln Heights specifically.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
Wow, I use my last name King on everything and
I will never change it, married or not married, because
my family name matters. Lincoln Heights is bordered by Woodlawn
and Lachlan and it's called Zona fifteen because the zip
code is four FI two one five. And anywhere in

(09:59):
the world that you go oh and you hear Zone fifteen,
you know they're probably related to one another, or you
went to school with one another, or someone you married,
or someone had a child by So it's the familiar
congregation of love. We support each other whether we live
there or don't live there. I still have family members

(10:21):
who live in Lincoln Heights Lachlan while Lincoln Heights and
Woodlawn we're three four generations deep. Now yeah, so yeah,
I am totally connected. It would always be my life
blood and good. The family that I have is not
always blood family, but they're my family.

Speaker 1 (10:40):
Now, you mentioned something to me. You mentioned that Lincoln
Heights was a bit of a refuge for people that
were migrating out of the South, out of the South,
and I believe it was your grandparents.

Speaker 2 (10:57):
Yes, my grandparents.

Speaker 1 (10:59):
As it is, they were part of that migration.

Speaker 2 (11:01):
They're part of that migration. The migration started before they
moved there, but it was a continuation of migration. You
would come to Cincinnati, you get a job, and then
you send for your family, You send for your brother,
you send for your cousin. You got in. My grandfather
worked for the aviation company Gie. His brother, my uncle's
worked for Seagrums. And when you got in, you bought

(11:22):
other people with you gotcha. So the migration was real.
It doesn't happen as much now because we don't have
that familiar ties, not just Lincoln Heights, but we as
a community, we've grown, we've accomplished, and sometimes people don't
look back.

Speaker 1 (11:39):
Well. I think that this story, in this thing that
is taking place, is all the more important because now
that we've established that this town has deep roots, there's
historical context for this town, and we see sort of

(12:03):
the why Nazis would target this town for their demonstration.
It makes sense why there was this national lens placed
onto Lincoln Heights. It's not just a place where a
lot of black folks live. It's not the run down
part of town. It doesn't sound like at least, it's

(12:24):
a place with strong roots, where there's a strong sense
of identity, is a strong support among black people, and it,
dare I say, is a community where black folks can thrive.
And so we'll get into the story now. So I'll
share a bit from CNN. Now bear in mind that
this part of the story is from February ninth. We're

(12:45):
going to talk about the community's response a little later
in the show, but right now we're talking about something
that was from last month. So you know, I want
you to understand that we know that. Okay, So from
seeing and local residents confronted and drove off neo Nazi
demonstrators waving large swastika emblazoned flags along a highway overpass

(13:06):
on Friday between Lincoln Heights and Evandale, Ohio, home to
a historically black community that has endured a long history
of racism. White nationalist groups in Ohio have recently grown
increasingly brazen in expressing hateful rhetoric and racist ideologies. Last November,
Hate Club, a newly formed white supremacist organization, paraded through

(13:28):
a Columbus neighborhood, waving swastika flags and shouting racist slurs.
About a dozen neo Nazis wearing all black clothing and
red face masks. The marchers in Columbus also wore were
seen on traffic cameras waving the swastika flags. They also
pinned red swastika banners on the fence of the overpass
and a sign reading America for the White Man, according

(13:50):
to photos shared with CNN, So you know, we talked
a little bit about, you know, why the Nazis wanted
to go there, specifically, you know, what was what was
your reaction when you first saw the story? Was what
was people's reaction when they first found out.

Speaker 2 (14:11):
My phone was ringing off the hook. I was not
in Ohio, as you know. I also have a home here.
My home in Lincoln Heights is my home in Sinci.
It is not in Lincoln Heights, but my life is
my church is I was really not surprised, and I
say that with complete honesty, because where else would you go.

(14:33):
There is Avondeale, which is where I lived for that
one year, which is a thriving Avondale community. We just
got our first black grocery store, but it's too close
to the police station. It's too close to vital White
communities use the hospitals there, the hospital that I don't

(14:54):
want to name their name because I don't want folks.
But there's a lot of thriving community this surrounds Avondale,
so it would have bought police from everywhere. Lincoln Heights
is kind of isolated because we are in a recommissioning
of properties and we have an African American builder building there.

(15:16):
But we are governing overseen by the Hamilton County Shrift Department.
I'm not saying they don't do a good job, but
they're not us. And so they came to where they
thought they can have a great exit because the overpass
leads to Evendelle, which is a middle class, affluent white

(15:37):
community with their own police force as well. I looked
up the numbers and if they are strategic, like I
would be strategic that I would want to know that
I have some help if things go bad. Because as
they did this at two point thirty in the afternoon,
and our children were getting out of school and thank

(15:59):
goodness that someone was driving over that that overpassed which
is fairly new by the way, and got immediately on
social media, and folks who lived in Lincoln Heights still,
and folks who used to live in Lincoln Heights still,
and those folks who worship in Lincoln Heights because we
have a very concentrated community of churches showed up in droves.

(16:22):
And I'm on the phone. I'm getting phone calls and
I'm getting texts. I'm like what, and they're sending me
pictures And because you know, I thought, wow, this is
really happening, and they were right on point. They first
scattered at the babies I actually called the mayor because

(16:44):
we grew up in church together and she was in
Kentucky a bit of ways and not able to leave
immediately because she was the only person color and the boss,
and she didn't leave right away. But there were others
like Carton Collins, who you know, I said we could
bring into the conversation. He is a co founder of
the Heights Moovement along with two other young men, and

(17:07):
they it just really mobilized right away. They mobilized, they confronted,
but the Evendel police were there protecting not us the Nazis,
but the neo Nazi group.

Speaker 1 (17:24):
So so that's what I wanted to talk about because
that's what a lot of the initial response looked like,
and like in terms of the online response and some
articles too.

Speaker 2 (17:36):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (17:36):
You know, there were people that were saying, okay, so
the Nazis left peacefully.

Speaker 2 (17:42):
Okay, great, they didn't come in peace. They came to agitate, right,
came agitate, but you know, no arrest were made, no arrest.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
Right, And so so I remember seeing this comment that
the police were protecting their own and and you know,
one of the things that we know to historically be
true is that a lot of times, people that feel
the way Nazis feel, the people that feel the way
clue clubs, clan members feel, those people often live double lives.

(18:12):
They'll be a Nazi on Monday through Friday, and then
Sunday they'll be you know, at the courthouse, or they'll
be you know, driving the patrol car. Right, it's the same,
prim I are you.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
They're a Nazi every day of the week. Yeah, they
put on the uniform of a police officers peacekeeper. And
I know this for a fact because where I grew
up from fourth grade on. And yes, it was very
disturbing for me to be told at that time, miss Charin.
I have three names, Auntie, miss Charin, that's normally for

(18:45):
my community engagement, and coach. So if they're calling me
miss Charin, I know one is respectful and two is
because of my community engagement, mis Charenne. They're letting them go.
I'm like, what do you mean? They're letting them go?
Who's there? Who's there? What's going on? So? I was
getting to play by play this entire time, and I
knew immediately, okay, what can I do? You know? I'm

(19:07):
you know, how many thousands of miles away, But I
will give credit to my community, the heightst movement, the
churches that folks who don't even live in Lincoln Heights
who may not have come from Lincoln Heights showed up
and the basis was not here, not today, not ever.

Speaker 1 (19:29):
Now I want to say this. I know that this
is a direct response to the election of Donald Trump.
I know it's a direct response to Elon Musk. You know,
Elon Musk's twitter feed historically speaking, has looked exactly like
a neo Nazi's Twitter feed.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
It does.

Speaker 1 (19:47):
And then he got on stage and did a Hitler
salute twice in front of everybody's face. And somehow people
are just people on that side are surprisingly cool with it.
Goes to show you exactly what they stand for. But
there's a question I have for you. If hate groups
were to target a community, whether through intimidation, recruitment, or misinformation,

(20:09):
what protective steps should residents take to protect themselves or
push back against extremism and strengthen their communities' resilience. And
this we want to teach lessons that can be replicated
as the vulnerable communities around the country.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
So your thoughts, well, from the beginning my life was
about being prepared. I need us to teach each other.
This can happen in any dainty moment to any of
our communities. That's the first thing. Teach one, teach many,
and work on preparation. You need to build collaborative partners

(20:45):
folks who are going the same direction with the same
things issue. They may not look like you all the time.
They may be brown, tan, indigenous, but if you're living
in the same community, then it's going to affect you
to so. And if you don't want to be a
part of the solution, than you are the problem and
you were just left out. We need We had a

(21:05):
phone bank because we didn't have you know, mobile, I
grew up with a phone because something was happening. We
had it within our church and it's just like enslave times,
whether it was a song or signals. We need to
develop a way to communicate with each other in a
quick fashion like social media. Yeah, like social media, and

(21:26):
that's exactly what happened. But we also need to make
sure our seniors are protected because I actually do a
lot of work with our seniors to make sure that
they are knowing what's going on. We need to make
sure that we're inclusive to our seniors. We need to
make sure that everything that we do is intentional, So
it starts there.

Speaker 1 (21:46):
Okay, Well, I know that there are communities around the
country that where things like this happen. And because we
get the stories here on the show, and we obviously
can't cover them. We have an hour show one day
a week and we get ten stories.

Speaker 2 (22:04):
A day, So.

Speaker 1 (22:07):
Excuse me. It's good to have just kind of some
general advice for folks that are, you know, up against
these sort of problems. But one of the things that historically,
I think to your point, historically has really served the
interests of black communities in particular, but marginalized communities is

(22:28):
places of worship. You know, those can be great cultural
watering holes, places where information can get out, places where strategies,
strategy meetings can take place, and just really a show
of force. I think that's really what we saw in
full display and Lincoln. It's a show of force. Everybody
coming out and saying no, in a full out, loud

(22:50):
rebuke of that type of display by a community in
mass I think that is just the most decisive type
of maneuver possible.

Speaker 2 (23:00):
And I thank you for making note of that, because
it takes and even though Lincoln Heights is in a village,
it does take a village, and some people think that
might sound right. We cannot do this alone.
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