Community Voices

This week on Senior Voices we meet Dorothy Johnson, born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 1938. She moved her family to Dayton in 1967, and spoke with Dayton Metro Library volunteer interviewer, Ken Standifer, about her many years working at the Dayton VA.

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Firefighters have two families, the one that they run into burning buildings with and the one that waits for them at home. As Dayton Youth Radio contributors work on these stories, they sometimes interview their parents, and this is the center of  Lillian Ferguson’s story; a rainy night, and a bad accident that her father responded to.

Rev. Boise Miliner was born in rural Alabama in 1938, and as a young man, he migrated north to Dayton to look for work. Three decades later, he found his calling. Today on Senior Voices, he shares the story of how he went from being a Deacon at Omega Missionary Baptist Church, to becoming the Pastor, overnight. He spoke with Dayton Metro Library volunteer interviewer, Cynthia Wallace-King.

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Boise Miliner: The Bible says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and righteousness and all these other things will be added unto to you.”

Health and strength seem like a given when we're young. And so, for a teenager to have a near death story is somewhat unusual. When I met Scott Lyttle at a meeting of our radio class, he told me he was 19 years old, and I wanted to know why he was still in high school. He shared the story of his lost year.

I’m Scott Lyttle, a 19- year old that goes to Ponitz. I also like to draw.  I want to tell you a story about the day my life almost changed last year. I woke up, got ready for school. I got to school and had a normal day until I got to the gym.

Although the term Urban Sprawl was coined in the 1930’s, by the ‘70’s, it was a hot topic, as increasingly more rural areas, and farmland, were divided up and paved over into strip malls and subdivisions.

This spreading ring around our cities where urban sprawl is happening is officially known as the Rural-Urban Fringe.  Today on County Lines, producer Renee Wilde takes us there.

Mary Ellen Graham has lived in Dayton her entire life. She grew up on the East side, attended the University of Dayton, and worked as a middle school teacher for 34 years, retiring in 2001. And she loves reading. Today on Senior Voices, Mary Ellen shares her story with Dayton Metro Library volunteer interviewer, Nancy Messer.

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When there is drug overdose, the Center for Disease Control adds it to the statistics. And Ohio is at the top for drug deaths.  Dayton Youth Radio producer Carmen Tibbs, told our youth radio class that Dayton had the highest mortality rates from drug overdoses in the country. I remember wondering why would a 17-year old know such a grim and compelling statistic.

Dayton Youth Radio gives teenagers a chance to tell their own stories, in their own words. And we hear them trying to make sense of the world. We hope that stories like this promote dialogue and openness with the young people you care about.

The country has been talking non stop about sexual assault and harassment. And it turns out that this is a conversation young people are having and urging others to join them. 

Migiwa Orimo is a visual artist in Yellow Springs. The work she creates in her studio, might end up in a traditional art gallery  – or carried through the streets during a political protest. Because alongside her formal studio work, Orimo makes protest banners. She’s been showing her art work in galleries for over 30, years but recently her banners were included in an exhibition of protest art called “Still They Persist.” 

This week on Senior Voices we meet lifelong Daytonian Andy Heins, who grew up in North Dayton, near Hara Arena and the Salem Mall. He remembers being a student at Meadowdale junior high when the Dayton City Schools were desegregated. Andy talked with Dayton Metro Library volunteer interviewer, Nancy Messer.

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