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13 YELLOW SPRINGS NEWS The GUIDE to YELLOW SPRINGS 2019 – 20 237 Xenia Ave., Downtown Yellow Springs • 767-9400 Dark Star Bookstore Visit us on Facebook • e-mail: books@darkstarbookstore.com BROWSE OVER 40,000 BOOKS New, Used, Out-of-Print and Collectible! Games • Graphic Novels • Back Issue Comics WE BUY BOOKS & COMICS • 36 YEARS IN YELLOW SPRINGS WWW.DARKSTARBOOKS.COM • OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK B est s election in the A reA B eAutiful hAndcrAfted s terling J ewelry A ffordABle P rices s omething s PeciAl for e veryone 245 X eniA A venue y ellow s Prings , o hio 10:30AM–6PM M on -S At 12:30 –5PM S un A dAZZling collection OF BeAutiful Jewelry from Around theworld This article was originally published in 2008. By LAUREN HEATON F ebruary is Black History Month. For the entire month, the nation’s citizens will be encouraged to celebrate, honor and remember the history and contribu- tions of African Americans in various ways. But come March, are we supposed to stop thinking about issues related to black people and people of different races? And might we forget what we learned about justice and equality until the following Feb - ruary rolls around to remind us? According to a group of residents known as The 365 Project, there should be a way to talk about the African American expe- rience and by extension inclusiveness, cultural awareness and social justice all year long, to really digest their meaning and relevance today. With the Elaine Comegys Black Film Festival in February, the group is launching the first of a series of events aimed at sparking dialogue about issues that can be abstract and are sometimes uncomfortable to address. “Our goal is not only to recognize Black History throughout the year, but also to equip people with the skills that go beyond talk about racial issues,” said Karen Dur- gans, a member of The 365 Project who also represents the First Baptist Church in Yellow Springs. “We wanted to challenge people to do more than look at issues but to address them.” The 365 Project doesn’t aim to “reinvent the wheel” but to be more of a clearing- house organization that unites and adds to the many efforts the community is making to celebrate African Americans and multicul - turalism, according to member Joan Chap- pelle. In her personal view, the group’s effort should also stimulate the community’s desire to maintain a sense of the diversity that has given the village its unique character. “We’ve always had a strong African American community in Yellow Springs, and we wouldn’t want it to shrink or die out as we look at growth and economic stabil- ity,” she said. “Diversity needs to remain on the front burner, and we need to come together to talk about it.” But the ethnic character of the village has changed over the past several decades, according to The 365 Project members, including Yellow Springs High School Principal John Gudgel. Village leaders speak of promoting diversity, but the community has yet to have a “courageous conversation about race,” Gudgel said, quoting the title of the book on education by Glenn Eric Single - ton. “But we as a village need to dialogue about race, racism and what this means.” The film festival was one of the ideas for sparking conversation that The 365 Project member Elaine Comegys had before she died unexpectedly in November. Comegys, a social work educator and committed com - munity person, inspired the group to “be the community we want to see happen,” and according to Chappelle, the films in the series and the discussions that follow will hopefully help “get us there.” The film festival is just the beginning of what The 365 Project hopes will be a con- sistent effort to gather, discuss and keep the ideas of racism, classism, gender, age and other types of discrimination fresh in the minds of local residents and especially youth. A group oriented toward being inclusive, the members of The 365 Project include First Baptist Church Interim Pastor Vurn Mullins, Gudgel, Human Relations Com - mission members Chappelle and Don Wallis, Coretta Scott King Center Director Dana Patterson and outreach coordinator Menelek Alexander, AACW President Faith Patterson, Village Council member John Booth, and residents Alyce Earl Jenkins, Jocelyn Robinson, Durgans and Robin Jordan-Henry. The 365 Project celebrates 10 This article was originally published in 2008. By MEGAN BACHMAN ‘R acism is alive and well.” It was a refrain from John Gudgel’s childhood, something his mother told him growing up in the village in the 1960s. Racism is still alive and well. That’s why The 365 Project, a nonprofit founded a decade ago by Gudgel and a multi-racial group of residents, continues to engage villagers on the issue of racism, as well as to celebrate the achievements of local black people and mentor young people of color growing up here. The notion that racism is alive and well, even in Yellow Springs and even in 2018, may not be shared by all villagers, several leaders of The 365 Project said in inter- views this week. “Sometimes we tend to, as a village, rest on our laurels as this utopian, perfect, open, tolerant place,” said Gudgel, the group’s board president. “But we have some skel- etons in our closet.” Although the village is a great place to live, Gudgel added, racial discrimination persists in Yellow Springs. And whether it’s the docu- mented achievement gap between black and white students in village schools, unequal treatment of black residents by police or racist comments and actions that residents of color commonly endure from villagers, being black in the village remains a struggle, The 365 Project leaders said this week. As an all-volunteer organization, The 365 Project has accomplished a lot in a decade. It has screened films, organized black history tours led by local youth, started an online encyclopedia of notable black residents and organizations, formed the Young People of Color group, helped revive Kwanzaa in Yellow Springs, hosted forums on the African-American experience such as “Elders Speak” and “Growing Up Black in Yellow Springs” and led interactive discus - sions at schools and community groups on matters of race, among other activities. And it has done so year-round, as its name implies, rather than only during Black His- tory Month. Today, the work of The 365 Project is in high demand and its mission continues to be critical, Gudgel said, especially as Yellow Springs becomes less racially diverse. For co-founder and longtime village resident Jocelyn Robinson, in addition to its many accomplishments, the longevity of The 365 Project is worth celebrating. “I’m proud that something we knew needed to be a part of the civic life of this community is going strong,” Robinson said. The group is now depended upon by many in town “to give voice to the African- American experience in this community,” she added. Is Yellow Springs an exceptional oasis of racial tolerance, or a microcosm of an America still rife with systemic racism? In some ways it has been both, according to The 365 Project leaders. Giving voice to the African-American experience Continued on page 14 SUBMITTED PHOTO Before she died in November 2007, consummate community member Elaine Comegys, right, shown here with Barbara Fleming, came up with the idea of a black film festival to jumpstart conversations about race relations. The Elaine Comegys Black Film Festival was the first event organized by The 365 Project, founded in early 2008. The event and the nonprofit are ongoing.