Your Morning Matters: Remembering ‘one of Youngstown’s most shining sons’

Good morning and welcome to your Morning Matters.

It's Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, and on this day in 1918, award-winning Black journalist Simeon Booker was born.

Born in Maryland, Simeon was 5 years old when his family moved to Youngstown. His father founded the Black YMCA (the building now houses the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley.) He graduated from South High School in 1938 and enrolled In Youngtown College (the forerunner to Youngstown State University). He left after he learned that Black students could enroll, but they were not issued student activities cards.

Armed with a degree in English from Virginia Union University in 1942, Simeon's journalism path eventually took him to the Washington Post where he became the paper's first Black reporter in 1952. Not satisfied with mundane stories, he joined Black-owned Jet and Ebony magazines. According to Blackpast.com, "Booker's reporting on [Emmett] Till's murder, the Freedom Rides, and many other pivotal moments in civil rights history guided him [toward] becoming the second African American reporter, after Harry S. McAlpin, to gain White House press credentials."

Simeon served as Jet's Washington bureau chief for 51 years. In 2013, he returned to YSU to receive an honorary Doctor of Letters degree. Former Vindicator Editor Todd Franko befriended Simeon in his later years and told me, "Simeon Booker was as brave a journalist as there was whose work galvanized the civil rights movement. Where there was hate and violence against Blacks, Simeon went. He is one of Youngstown's most shining sons."

After he died at age 99 in December 2017, Columbia University School of Journalism and New York Times journalist Howard W. French wrote that Simeon "felt it was his duty as an African-American reporter not to allow the white establishment any opportunity to proclaim ignorance about the true state of affairs in the nation."

Looking around these days, there, sadly, is still work to be done to fulfill Simeon's goals. Let's all pitch in — and let's be careful out there.

Now, here's what you need to know about the Mahoning Valley today:

The Southern Park Mall's $30 million redevelopment project was supposed to be completed this fall in time for the retail hub's 50th anniversary, but the coronavirus pandemic has pushed the completion date back by about a year.

Washington Prime Group announced Wednesday that the project is expected to be completed in the summer or fall of 2021. The mall owner also named new tenants joining the mall as part of the project: Planet Fitness, Bogey's Bar and Grill and "The Bunker," an indoor golf facility.

PANDEMIC FACTS

• In the U.S.: 5,750,145 confirmed cases; 180,511 deaths, according to infection2020.com at 10 p.m. Aug. 26.
• In Ohio: 111,331 confirmed cases; 3,761 deaths.
• In Pennsylvania: 130,536 confirmed cases; 7,624 deaths.
• In the Mahoning Valley: 2,812 confirmed cases in Mahoning County; 1,725 in Trumbull; and 1,781 in Columbiana.
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: Closed at 28,331.92, up 83.48 points, or 0.30 percent.

Other matters

Some Ohio Democrats who helped seat ousted Speaker Larry Householder have begun shedding campaign contributions, including state Rep. Michele Lepore-Hagan of Youngstown. She donated her FirstEnergy contributions to ACTION, the Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods. Mahoning Matters

Meanwhile, the Ohio Democratic Party filed a lawsuit in state court to permit county boards of elections to install multiple secure drop boxes for the return of absentee ballots, which was prohibited by a recent directive by Secretary of State Frank LaRose that limits counties to one drop box for the Nov. 3 general election. Mahoning Matters

Speaking of elections, the League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown and Congregation Rodef Sholom will host a drive-thru voter registration event at the synagogue from 4 to 6 p.m. today. Participants also will be able to complete an absentee ballot application. Mahoning Matters

The Struthers football practice was canceled Wednesday after a junior varsity player tested positive for COVID-19. Struthers Superintendent Pete Pirone said officials have been in contact with the Mahoning County Board of Health for contact tracing. WFMJ

With September right around the corner, the fall allergy season is about to begin, especially for those impacted by ragweed or mold. There is a concern the season could start earlier this year because of the dry summer. WKBN

Boardman schools Treasurer Nick Ciarniello is leaving the district. He'll be replaced by Terry Armstrong who has a long history in education and finance in the Valley. The Vindicator [May encounter paywall.]

Lordstown Motors Corp. was spotlighted briefly during the second night of the Republican National Convention. Vice President Mike Pence spoke with local truck driver Geno DiFabio during a prerecorded segment. The Business Journal [May encounter registration wall.]

In case you missed it

When Gov. Mike DeWine signed an order permitting the return of contact sports, the Warren Harding High School football team began preparing for its opener against Cleveland Heights. By Monday, Cleveland Heights canceled. Scrambling, Harding reached out to Cleveland Benedictine, which had lost its Week One opponent because of a positive COVID-19 test. Welcome to high school football 2020. Mahoning Matters

Your comments matter

"[Gov. Mike] DeWine has cared only about the lives of every Ohioan in this crisis. I respect the efforts he has made. I never once cared that he was a Republican because I am not. If he had gotten cooperation in the beginning instead of hatred that drove off the care and wisdom of Dr. [Amy] Acton, things may have been different. Thank you to what our [government] has done, and shame on those in [government] trying to tear their governor down for their own selfish reasons."

— Betty Terpak Minnie, on the state Controlling Board approving another round of federal funding to support Ohio's efforts to control the COVID-19 outbreak.

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This story was originally published August 27, 2020 at 6:55 AM with the headline "Your Morning Matters: Remembering ‘one of Youngstown’s most shining sons’."