Diversity + Inclusion

The faces of Old Brooklyn are changing and diversifying. Here's why.
When LaRaun Clayton and his husband decided to buy a house, they sought a neighborhood where they’d be comfortable and fit in. “For us, it was about finding a place where we weren’t going to be the only ones,” shares Clayton. “Sometimes, being a same-sex couple—not to mention African-American—puts a target on you.” The couple looked in familiar places: Lakewood, Fairview Park, and Gordon Square (where they already lived). But the home prices were at the top of their budget, so their real estate agent took them to another neighborhood: Old Brooklyn.
Invisible touch: How a local sculptor is translating modern art into 3D brain candy for the blind
Pop-surrealist sculptor Leslie Edwards Humez is on a mission to make contemporary art accessible to the blind with her Perceiving Art Through Sculpture (PATS) initiative. For the past six months, Edwards Humez has been creating sculptural replicas of paintings and illustrations—which are then scanned and 3D printed as a means to getting visual ideas into the hands of the blind community.
La Villa Hispana begins a new chapter with the food entrepreneurs who helped shape it
When Haguit Marrero got word that the Hispanic Business Center was assisting startups, it sparked an idea: she would cater the same recipes her mother and grandmother had taught her on the island when she was a kid. Enter Pura Cepa (‘full-blooded’), her culinary attempt to return Puerto Rican cuisine to its faraway roots. “When you’re on the island,” she says, “people always ask, ‘Are you pura cepa?’ I want other people like me to be proud of saying, Si, soy.”

Today Pura Cepa is one of four businesses spotlighted in La Villa Hispana’s latest development in business incubation: Las Tienditas del Mercado.
We're amped up about the Rock Hall's efforts toward sensory inclusion
Imagine 100,000 watts of surround sound pumping out high-voltage performances from 100 artists including Prince, the Rolling Stones, and Metallica, shown on 12-foot-high moving screens. Top it off with 761 laser lighting cues (one per second), and the Rock Hall’s “Power of Rock Experience” is one potent multimedia mashup.

For many people, “Power of Rock” amounts to a highly memorable music experience, but for those with sensory processing issues, it can be a whole lotta overload.
Move over, Comic-Con: Cleveland is about to host the midwest's first-ever LGBTQIA+ geek convention
Not just a first for Cleveland, Flaming River Con is actually the inaugural LGBTQIA+ geek convention for the Midwest. (The only similar event takes place in New York City.) Like other comic cons, Flaming River Con includes panels, vendors and events highlighting geek-culture like comics, tabletop gaming, books, and arts and crafts—but with a focus on inclusivity, a trait that’s sometimes lacking at similar events.
Getting down to the roots of Cleveland's first African-American "surrogate suburbs"
This Saturday, Surrogate Suburbs author Todd Michney will lead a guided bus tour hosted by the Cleveland Restoration Society. Titled "The Roots of Black Sub-Urbanization," the tour will dive deep into the rich histories of the Mount Pleasant, Lee-Harvard, and Lee-Seville (Miles Heights) neighborhoods. “It’s basically about the struggle to achieve the American Dream,” Michney says. “It’s the history of Cleveland’s Black middle class and looking toward the edge of the city for African Americans [who] started moving in the early 1900s."
Local author Ken Schneck takes a deep dive into Cleveland's LGBTQ history with new book
The new book LGBTQ Cleveland showcases over 150 photos depicting five decades of Cleveland's LGBTQ history (including some by FreshWater's own Bob Perkoski). But along with a vibrant collection of images, local voices and stories shine through—thanks to author Ken Schneck's dogged efforts to bring them to light.
Legal blindness doesn't stop this self-taught seamstress from making military uniforms
Barbara Moore has been legally blind her entire life, but that didn't stop her from teaching herself to sew. Moore still remembers the day she took the measurements of a comforter in a store, went home with her sewing machine, fabric, a yard stick, and chalk and made her own comforter on the living room floor. For the past 16 years, Moore has put that knowledge to good use as a seamstress at Vocational Guidance Services, sewing buttons and buttonholes on women’s military trousers.
Fresh Take: Yoga should be for *every* body, and that's why I founded Daybreak Yoga
Our "Fresh Take" series invites Clevelanders to share their insights and opinions on issues and topics that matter in their neighborhoods, professions, schools, and civic life. This installment is from Daybreak Yoga owner Dawn Rivers, who is working to make the yoga scene a more inclusive place to be.
PHOTOS: AsiaTown comes alive at the Cleveland Asian Festival
Festival season kicked off last weekend with a rousing "Konnichiwa!" Check out our photos of the best of the 2018 Cleveland Asian Festival.
Asian Festival brings good fortune to new and emerging businesses
Almost 50,000 people are expected at the annual Cleveland Asian Festival this weekend—offering great exposure to growing small businesses that operate a booth during the two-day celebration of everything AsiaTown has to offer. 
With Innerself, AsiaTown's favorite auteur is back in the director's chair
About eight minutes into Innerself, our hero is singing down the familiar streets of St. Clair-Superior when a fight breaks out. It’s the first time in the film that the audience hears the whooshing thwack effect of a kung-fu fight scene. It's a welcome sound that confirms the film’s promotional premise: we are indeed watching a “martial arts musical comedy"—and one shot in Cleveland, to boot.
Cuyahoga County’s first-ever Reentry Week gives 4,000+ former inmates a second chance at society
Plenty of tours exist that showcase all Cleveland has to offer—but none quite like this one. From a boutique for curvy women to an upscale restaurant to a carpet cleaner to a vineyard, eight local businesses formed the itinerary for the Cash Mob/Passport Bus Tour held on Tuesday, April 24. The common thread? All of the businesses are owned by, staffed by, and support returning citizens (those making the transition from incarceration back to society).
Fresh Take: Building a better world for women in construction
The construction industry has just nine percent women—but Turner Construction's Tara Lindholm has a few ideas on how to change that.
Race in Cleveland: Recapping the YWCA's powerful "It's Time to Talk" forum
Images of a football player taking a knee, a Black Lives Matter protest, the Trump administration’s travel ban, and even a photo of President Barack Obama wiping a tear from his eye were the first things to meet the eye for the 300 attendees of "It's Time to Talk"—the YWCA of Greater Cleveland's annual forum on race.
Thriving in Fairfax: How Karamu House got its groove back
At Karamu House, necessity has been the mother of reinvention. Several years ago, the renowned 103-year-old performing arts institute was struggling to sustain itself amid funding and administrative challenges, but thanks to a laser-focused strategic plan, Karamu House is starting off the next 100 years on the right note—branding its rebirth as “Karamu 2.0.”
Ready to launch: The Q's Launch Test Kitchen about to debut three minority chefs
Quicken Loans Arena (aka “The Q”) isn’t just launching the next generation of pro basketball stars—it’s turning out culinary power players as well. Today, the arena’s Launch Test Kitchen announced its newest lineup of local chefs, all three of whom come from minority-owned businesses.
All-access: Cuyahoga Arts & Culture-funded programs ensure arts are for everyone
When the community talks, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) listens. As CAC enters its second decade of funding arts and cultural programming in Northeast Ohio, one of its top priorities will be working to achieve equity and diversity in programming—a focus identified as the result of a community listening project and in-depth assessments.
Hullabaloo 2017 set to give Cleveland's fashion scene a taste of Yellowcake
This Saturday, October 7th, Rockefeller Park & Greenhouse will transform into a fashion-forward runway as local designer Valerie Mayen debuts 30 looks from her new "Of a Kind" collection for Hullabaloo 2017. This year marks the sixth outing for the now-annual event, which Mayen calls a "giant fashion extravaganza."

Find out more about fashion maven Mayen and what's in store at Hullabaloo 2017 here.
Face to Face: Ciara Scott
Cleveland native Ciara Scott looks to beat the odds as recipient of a Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio scholarship for overcoming adversity in her young life.

Read about Ciara's journey here.