Words We Heard: 'I want to stay here.'

Gentrification is the loaded word of the year; is it good, is it bad, is it ugly, is it just life? Are we considering the way our city is changing in terms of its people? Or just in terms of how many cool eateries we have? Charlene's words below are powerful, and personally, I can't pretend to understand what that community is going through. I'd like to share those stories; if you have a perspective to share or know someone who would want to share, please let us know. For some perspective from our Women of Cincy, enter the thoughts of Mortar's Miranda Millard or Play Library's Julia Fischer.

-Kiersten

  • "Hard work, leadership, being part of a team, personal sacrifice and pursuit of goals, the joy of achieving, and of course, the hurt of sometimes falling short." –Jeff Berding, president and general manager of FC Cincinnati, on the new Cincinnati Development Academy for girls and how soccer teaches great life lessons, in an interview with WCPO
  • "There’s no manual on how to hand raise and reintroduce a premature hippo, but our animal care staff got Fiona through health hurdles and overcame curveballs to get us where we are now." –Christina Gorsuch, curator of mammals at the Cincinnati Zoo, in an interview with WCPO
  • "I’ve been in downtown Cincinnati since I was three days old. I have family who have lived down here all their lives, too. I want to stay here." –Charlene, Parkway Towers resident in Over-the-Rhine, in an interview with CityBeat
  • "I truly believe our greatest power is the power to convene nations, to bring people together in the pursuit of a common goal and prove that our similarities greatly outweigh our differences." –Joe Sestak, president of FIRST Global, on a group of Afghan teenage girls being granted visas to attend an international robotics competition in the US, in a statement as published by The Washington Post
  • "When you’re used to racing through life, you can forget to check your own pulse. Please check it." –Jerico Mandybur, editorial director, girlboss, in an e-newsletter
  • "It takes a lot out of me to share even part of my story, but I imagine that it’s just as much for you to absorb... It somehow finds its way out of our minds, because we’re too afraid to feel, too afraid to connect to something that could very much be true." –Darlene Valencia, author of Clouds and Forest, on mental health and storytelling, as quoted in an e-newsletter from Conscious Magazine
Kiersten Wones