The Chicago Project

Cincinnati Trip

Over the Rhine

“Why do communities engage in urban uprisings?”

We boarded a bus early on a Friday in late March and headed into Over the Rhine, a small neighborhood adjacent to the downtown business district in Cincinnati.  This neighborhood became internationally known in April of 2001 as a result of the uprisings that happened after the death of Timothy Thomas, a young African American male shot and killed while running from the police.  He was the fifteenth African American shot and killed in Cincinnati by the police in six years.  

Our first guest speaker, Cecil Thomas, (no relation to Timothy Thomas) is a twenty seven year Cincinnati police veteran who was brought over to city hall directly after the April 2001 events to improve race relations in the city.  He boarded our bus and directed us through the side streets and back allies of Over the Rhine.  He presented us with six main causes of the urban uprisings that occurred in Cincinnati in 2001:

  1. Lack of Jobs in the Community

  2. Poor Health Care/Limited Access to Health Care

  3. Poor Police-Community Relations

  4. Overrepresentation of Substandard Housing

  5. Narrow Viewpoint of Issues Presented in Media

   6. Poor Quality Education

We ate lunch at the only remaining family style restaurant in the community, Tuckers.   It is a small breakfast and sandwich place with AWESOME cheeseburgers!  After getting our fill, we visited with a new speaker for us this year Rev. Damon Lynch, Senior Pastor of New Prospect Baptist Church in Over the Rhine.  Pastor Lynch was instrumental during the uprising in providing organization, support, and resources for many residents in Over the Rhine.  He challenged us to consider that as a community we need to not only teach people how to fish for themselves, but also work to remove any fences and barriers that may surround the pond!

Finally we visited the Drop Inn Center, the largest homeless shelter in the community.  Students were shocked to discover that over HALF the people who stay at the shelter are employed!  The minimum wage jobs they work do not pay enough for both food and an apartment.  Mr. Lovell, our guide, started by providing us with a general tour, but near the end shared with us a very personal story of how chemical dependence had the most terrible of consequences on his life.  His story of abuse, loss, and recovery moved many of us to tears.