Beginning this weekend, the Herndon Gallery at Antioch College will host a new exhibition that looks backward — and forward — through the lens of hip-hop history.

Curated by Yellow Springs–based artist Joshua Whitaker, the upcoming show, “Rightstarter: Resistance, Rap and the Golden Era,” draws inspiration from the music and culture of hip-hop from around the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The exhibition will feature work from 10 artists from Yellow Springs, Dayton and Columbus, including Whitaker.

The exhibition opens Saturday, May 9.

Speaking with the News last week, Whitaker said the show’s title is taken from Public Enemy’s 1987 track “Rightstarter (Message to a Black Man),” a call to action and historical and political consciousness ubiquitous within the reigning hip-hop voices of the time. As Chuck D raps on the track:

I’m on a mission and you got that right
Addin’ fuel to the fire, punch to the fight
Many have forgotten what we came here for
Never knew or had a clue, so you’re on the floor

“Public Enemy was a huge piece of my identity and coming-of-age experience,” Whittaker said. “‘Rightstarter’ just felt like a really cool title that would kind of tap in and trigger questions and be an icebreaker for a conversation.”

“‘Rightstarter’” sets the tone for the exhibition, rooting it in the cultural and political climate that shaped the music of the era and, Whitaker hopes, putting it in direct dialogue with the music of today.

“A lot of what I want to talk about with this show is around the music of that time and the politics at that time,” he said. “A lot of the stuff we were going through in the ’80s and early ’90s, it was kind of like an interesting mirror image of what we’re going through now — but now it’s like on steroids.”

Whitaker pointed to parallels between the Reagan-era AIDS crisis and crack epidemic and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid crisis and rising political division. In his view, Whitaker said, the difference between then and now is in how artists responded.

“The music of that era was pushing back on all of that,” he said. “You heard the consciousness elevating. … We’re going to create something that helps us, and it also pushes back. … Where is the pushback now in the music?”

Whitaker has some skin in the game when it comes to hip-hop history: Under the moniker Bicasso, he’s a member of the California-based indie hip-hop supergroup Living Legends, which was formed in the mid-1990s in and around Oakland and made waves for, as LA Weekly reported, selling hundreds of thousands of records “all by them-damn-selves.”

It was in Oakland where, before coming to Yellow Springs with his family a year ago, Whitaker operated Spirithaus, a mixed-use warehouse gallery and performance venue that combined visual art, live music and community gathering in an underground setting. Whitaker lived in the space for a time, and for several years, it hosted regular programming that drew a steady audience, before the pandemic forced its closure in 2020.

“We did not make money,” he said with a laugh. “But we made an amazing cultural space. … It was inclusive, super safe.”

Whitaker said his experience with Spirithaus continues to shape how he approaches projects like “Rightstarter,” which knits together artists working within a variety of disciplines. Whitaker said he met many of the artists featured in “Rightstarter” through past exhibitions, including a solo show last year at Crome Gallery and a group exhibition curated by Dayton legend Willis “Bing” Davis at the Springfield Museum of Art. The show reflects what Whitaker described as a deliberate mix of styles and approaches.

“I wanted to continue the momentum — that’s really what this show is about,” he said. “Little old Ohio has some reach … and I think it’s gonna be a great show.”

Among the artists included are Davis, who has contributed sculpture and drawing; acclaimed Dayton-based artist James Pate, whose charcoal drawings made art history through his development of the “techno-cubism” style; Karen D. Brames, described by Whitaker as a “child of the Golden Era” of hip-hop, who will contribute installation and sculptural elements; local resident (and YS News publisher) Cheryl Durgans, who is creating a “hip-hop apothecary”; and Columbus textile artist Don Cee Coulten, known for detailed landscapes and portraits made from fabric, leather and other materials.

Whitaker’s own contributions to the exhibition will center on mixed-media portraiture created on wood, using a process of photo transfer and painting onto reclaimed materials; some of the materials used for the pieces he’s contributing to “Rightstarter” were collected in Dayton, and one piece incorporates 1970s-era wallpaper taken from Whitaker’s Omar Circle home.

In describing his pieces — the ones on display during the interview featured seminal artists A Tribe Called Quest, Ice Cube and De La Soul — he pointed to the tactile qualities that come from embedding an image into the material, which can leave behind traces of the original paper or reveal the grain of the wood beneath. He described those qualities as being distinctly human in their perceived imperfection.

“Look at this paper — that’s a wrinkle,” he said. “It gives you information; you can say, ‘Oh, that’s wood.’ It has a gloss on it that creates shadow and light —- and when AI can make a physical thing that can do that, then I’ll say, ‘Alright, I’m tapped out.’ But I don’t think it’s there yet.”

Like past exhibitions at the Herndon, “Rightstarter” will also engage with the gallery’s physical layout. Whitaker said he has been thinking carefully about how to use the space, from its high ceilings to its central pillars.

“This space is definitely unique,” he said, noting both its possibilities and constraints. “The pillars in the middle — I’m sure that’s for structural integrity, but you have to work with it.”

Whitaker said he envisions the opening reception incorporating live performance and communal elements alongside the visual art.

“I want to open up with a libation for the ancestors, and a little bit of drumming and maybe some spoken word, and kind of set it off with that,” he said.

The opening will also feature a live jazz set by G. Scott Jones and the Freedom Ensemble, along with Bronx-inspired food from local chef Locksley Harper and digital projection mapping from local resident Justin Herman, aka Unjust.

“That’s kind of the bells and whistles,” Whitaker said. “The jazz and the food — and then the art.”

Whitaker said he aims for additional programming tied to the exhibition throughout its run, culminating in a ticketed closing event June 12 featuring live hip-hop performances. The tentative line-up includes Living Legends, underground hip-hop collective Alien Art Gang and Cincinnati-based artist Vast Aire, of New York duo Cannibal Ox, whose album “The Cold Vein” celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

“And we’re going to keep that anniversary of ‘The Cold Vein’ as part of the narrative,” Whitaker said.

He added that both the exhibition and its accompanying events are meant to reconnect audiences with a formative cultural moment in the hope that they’ll consider its relevance today.

“The story of hip-hop has been told and told time again,” he said. “But as we come into our wisdom … we need to actually tell this story of Gen X and what that felt like, and what the golden era of rap meant.”

“Rightstarter: Resistance, Rap and the Golden Era” will open at Herndon Gallery with a reception Saturday, May 9, 2–6 p.m. Featured artists include Gawain Bartholomew, Karen D. Brame, Don Cee Coulten, Willis ‘Bing’ Davis, Cheryl Durgans, Robin Erfe, James Pate, Craig Screven, Taliaferro Sebastian and Joshua Whitaker.

More than a decade after the U.S. Supreme Court established same-sex marriage rights nationally, Ohio law still has an unenforceable same-sex marriage ban on the books, and legislators have yet to pass legislation that explicitly protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

There remain areas of the state where living with an LGBTQ+ identity means measuring where it feels safe to be yourself.

These realities, advocates say, are part of why there are still miles to travel on the road to equality.

The ongoing journey — and some directions along the way — will be the underlying theme of a Friday, May 8, event sponsored by nonprofit advocacy group Equality Ohio.

“The Roadmap Back to Equality,” an “Evening for Equality” conversation, will feature Jim Obergefell, the Ohio man whose name became synonymous with marriage equality in 2015 when he became the lead plaintiff in the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court case that established same-sex marriage rights in the U.S.

Joining Obergefell will be Equality Ohio CEO Dwayne Steward and local resident Kevin McGruder, who serves on the nonprofit’s board and spearheaded bringing the event to Yellow Springs. Speaking with the News last week, Steward said the village event is part of an ongoing effort by Equality Ohio to broaden the group’s presence beyond the Statehouse and connect its work with local communities.

“We are trying to make sure that we serve all LGBTQ communities across Ohio,” Steward said. “We were very excited that Kevin brought this idea to us, and excited that Jim Obergefell said yes.”

Steward said the group’s legal clinic has become an increasingly important part of that work. In his inaugural “State of Equality in Ohio” address this year, he said Equality Ohio provided more than 1,000 transgender Ohioans with name-change and gender-affirmation services in 2025.

The organization has also focused on local nondiscrimination protections. Steward said Ohio now has 37 municipalities with equality measures and 14 conversion-therapy bans. Equality Ohio’s long-term goal, he said, is that no LGBTQ+ Ohioan lives more than 45 minutes from a “queer haven.”

“At the local level, when you know someone who’s LGBTQ, or you love someone who’s LGBTQ, you don’t vote against them,” Steward said. “That’s really our ‘roadmap’ back — going county by county and reminding people that their teacher, their hairdresser, their mechanic, if they’re LGBTQ, it doesn’t change how you engage with them. … There can be wins, and the wins are at the local level right now.”

Steward added that last year, he traveled across the state for several months, meeting with folks in an effort to suss out needs across the state. Many with whom he spoke said they felt “dejected” about ongoing anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and harmful proposed legislation.

“So we had to create some kind of plan that allowed people to see that they could win, and that’s what this conversation really is about,” Steward said. “That’s how we’re going to build momentum, and that’s how we’re going to get the state back to equality.”

At the state level, Equality Ohio is focused on opposing anti-LGBTQ legislation, including House Bill 249, which would restrict drag performances and Pride events. The bill has already passed the House, and is currently before the Senate.

Steward said about 150 Pride festivals are held annually across Ohio. The safety and visibility of Pride festivals and drag performances, he said, can be life-affirming, particularly for young people who live in small towns.

“I really believe that visibility saves lives,” Steward said. “Those safe spaces really have historically led to decreases in suicide rates, and they create moments where youth can actually feel like they belong.”

Equality Ohio also stands in opposition to several other measures Steward described as part of a broader “slate of hate,” including House Bill 693, which supporters call the “Affirming Families First Act” and which would shield Ohio parents and guardians from being investigated for abuse or neglect when they refuse to affirm the gender identity of a child in their care.

The bill would also nullify local bans on conversion therapy, a dangerous and widely discredited practice that attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Locally, the Village Council passed a resolution in December 2025 formally opposing conversion therapy.

Steward also pointed to House Bill 798 — introduced on March 31, Transgender Day of Visibility — which aims to bolster and expand a law signed in 2024 by Gov. Mike DeWine to restrict the use of restrooms and locker rooms in schools and colleges to sex assigned at birth; HB 798 would broaden those restrictions in public spaces. The bill would also clear the path for bringing legal action against institutions that don’t enforce those restrictions. It would also prohibit public school teachers from using the chosen names and pronouns of students, and limit changes to sex designations on birth certificates and other official documents.

Steward said Equality Ohio is working with allied lawmakers on a competing “slate of love,” including renewed support for House Bill 136/Senate Bill 70, the “Ohio Fairness Act,” which would add statewide nondiscrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The Ohio Fairness Act has been introduced before the General Assembly a dozen times in the last two decades.

With all that in mind, Steward said the upcoming event is intended to keep supporters engaged, even as years of legislative fights have worn a lot of people down.

“The most important thing you can do right now is not disengage, because that’s what they want,” he said.

Steward said Yellow Springs’ reputation as an affirming community makes it a fitting place for the upcoming event — a kind of beacon for advocates as they continue down the road to equality.

“We need the pockets of the state where it’s OK for people to be who they are,” he said. “We need those groups to be fighting for areas that don’t have the ability to be who they are.”

At the same time, Kevin McGruder said the village’s reputation can serve as a reminder to local residents that, in some ways, they’re privy to an experience that not all Ohioans share — at least, not yet.

“A lot of young people, when they graduate from high school in Yellow Springs, they talk about how they’re leaving the bubble — they’re very aware that life here is different,” McGruder said. “And I think for adults, too — because we can live comfortably here, most of us — I think we may not understand how we can help people in other Ohio communities who don’t have the advantages that we have.”

McGruder pointed to the historical notion that “small town” is synonymous with “politically conservative in terms of LGBTQ issues.” He said that, in his own advocacy work, he’s been holding up Yellow Springs as an example to challenge that notion.

“I moved to New York because I didn’t think I could live the way I wanted to in Toledo, where I grew up,” he said. “And that’s what a lot of people are doing. But my vision would be that people in small towns don’t have to leave them to be who they are.”

“The Roadmap Back to Equality” with Jim Obergefell and Equality Ohio will be held Friday, May 8, in the South Gym of the Wellness Center at Antioch College. Doors open at 4:30 p.m., with the program beginning at 5:15 p.m. Light refreshments will be served, and parking is available at the Wellness Center. Admission is free.

For an educational institution that’s 105 years old, the Antioch School has had consistently few teachers over the decades.

That’s because they tend to stick around for many, many years, School Manager Nathan Summers said.

“The teachers at The Antioch School are its cornerstone,” he said. “They are the holders of the school’s philosophy that childhood should be preserved. By tending to be here for decades and learning from their predecessors, they uphold the continuity of the program and approach.”

Summers continued: “Their roles are almost sacred, so we’ll take any chance to honor their narratives.”

A new chance to do that emerged this spring, as the Antioch School honors a new slate of former teachers in the school’s only scholarship fund — the Beloved Teachers Scholarship Endowment, which provides dollars to prospective or current students in the name of some of the school’s most cherished educators.

Joining the ranks of past Antioch School teachers and local legends Kit Crawford, Pat Dell, Jeanie Felker, Bill Mullins and Bev Price are four new fund “inductees”: Brian Bogan, Shirley Mullins, Chris Powell and Ann Guthrie.

“So much of students’ experiences here are tied directly to the experiences they had with these teachers,” Summers said. “Having a fund in these teachers’ names gives people the chance to directly honor the people who had an impact in their lives — and to support students who want that same impact.”

A little about the four former teachers named in the scholarship:

Shirley Mullins was an adored music educator, who taught many generations of village and Antioch School children. She spearheaded a string-based curriculum for several decades at the school, and worked alongside her husband, Bill, who was also instrumental in students’ day-to-day experiences. “From her deep passion for music and education, we are all beneficiaries,” Summers said. Mullins died last summer.

Ann Guthrie retired from the Antioch School two years ago after 36 years leading the nursery program. In the classroom, she was known for her deep patience, calm and keen insight into children’s needs. “One of her most incredible skills was the ability to fade into the background of the classroom — to be available and present, but to be an observer like Jane Goodall or Dian Fossey,” Summers said.

Brian Bogan taught art and science at the school for about 20 years until his retirement four years ago. With a background in environmental education and experiences as a naturalist, Bogan frequently brought his children outside, and when he couldn’t, he’d bring the outside indoors. His lively storytelling would enrapture students.

Before her retirement ten years ago, Chris Powell was the older group teacher for nearly three decades after taking the reins from Bill Mullins. As Summers put it, she had “that perfect balance” of letting kids make mistakes and helping them solve problems.

Summers and the school’s development director, Chris Westhoff, said they encourage any former student or parent of a student who reaped the lessons and love from these past teachers to consider making a donation to the Beloved Teachers Scholarship Endowment, and to specify the name of the educator in whose name the donation was made.

“Elevating these individuals and simultaneously supporting students captures the real spirit of what this place is,” Westhoff said.

The Antioch School bills itself as the oldest democratic school in the country. It was founded in 1921 by then-Antioch College President Arthur Morgan as a teacher-training laboratory for the college’s students. There was to be “close, open-minded observation of the children, with a molding of the school program to suit the children’s needs, rather than forcing them to fit a rigid and artificial curriculum,” according to a school history.

The Antioch School continues to embrace this student-led model. Classes are divided into nursery, kindergarten, younger group (approximately first through third grade) and older group (typically fourth through sixth). Presently, there are 56 children enrolled.

Tuition for full-time students, regardless of age, who wish to attend the whole school year — September through May — is $11,725. Part-time tuition for nursery children or kindergartners is $7,347.

Summers noted that this tuition covers school supplies, morning and afternoon snacks, field trip costs — which are frequent, Summers said — and an occasional guest performer.

Westhoff joked that tuition also covers computer costs. (There are none at the Antioch School, he and Summer boasted.)

Scholarships, like the Beloved Teachers Endowment, help defray those costs and, in doing so, allow the Antioch School to keep its classrooms populated with children of all kinds of backgrounds.

“We don’t want finances to be a barrier,” Summers said. “We want our school to be available to everyone who thinks it’s best for their children. At the same time, so much of the education that happens here happens between peers. And when kids of different backgrounds come together, then the entire experience is enriched.”

Summers said that last year the Antioch School was able to dole out roughly $80,000 in scholarship funds. The most an individual received was $4,425, or roughly 37% of the cost of full-time tuition.

Scholarships are entirely need-based, Summers said, with families seeking funds having to provide to the school such financial information as documents detailing taxes, assets, debts, medical expenses and general family costs.

The Antioch School is currently enrolling students for the 2026-27 school year. To learn more, go to http://www.antiochschool.org

To donate to or learn more about the Beloved Teachers Scholarship Endowment, go to http://www.yscf.org/the-antioch-school-beloved-teachers-scholarship-endowment

Ed. note: One election result below — for the State Central Committee District 10 (Man) Democrat candidate — has been corrected since this report was posted on Wednesday, May 6.

Preliminary results of the Tuesday, May 5, primary election came in late election night; at press time, the Greene County Board of Elections reported that 28,194 of 118,030 registered voters came out to the polls.

At the state level, Democrats Amy Acton and David Pepper and Republicans Vivek Ramaswamy and Robert A. McColley will advance to the Nov. 3 election in the race for Governor and Lt. Governor. Democrat Sherrod Brown, Republican Jon Husted and Libertarian William B. Redpath are the candidates for U.S. Senator.

For the office of Attorney General, Democrat John J. Kulewicz and Republican Keith Faber will be on the fall ballot; for Auditor of State, Democrat Annette Blackwell and Republican Frank LaRose; for Secretary of State, Democrat Allison Russo, Republican Robert Sprague and Libertarian Tom Pruss; for Treasurer of State, Democrat Seth Walsh and Republican Jay Edwards; and for Ohio Supreme Court Justice, Democrat Marilan Zayas, Republican Daniel R. Hawkins, Democrat Jennifer Brunner and Republican Colleen O’Donnell.

Regionally, local resident Kristina Knickerbocker won the Democratic seat for Representative to Congress, 10th District; Knickerbocker will run against Republican Mike Turner and Libertarian Thomas F. McMasters in November.

Local resident Krista Magaw, the Democratic candidate for House of Representatives, 71st District, will again run against Republican incumbent Levi Dean.

Candidates for State Central Committee in District 10 (Man) are Democrat Steven Young and Republican Steve Austria; District 10 (Woman) candidates are Democrat Amana J. Koeller and Republican Laura Rosenberger; Michael Robert Lopez was the sole Libertarian candidate for State Central Committee in District 10.

Lindie Keaton is the candidate for Democratic Central Committee, Yellow Springs Precinct 440; Elaina Vimmerstedt for YS Precinct 441; Moira Laughling for YS Prcinct 442; Lori Askeland for YS Precinct 443; Martha A. Mendelsohn for Miami Township Precinct 455 and Nathan Summers for Miami Township Precinct 456.

It’s no joke: The village’s own world-famous comedian has opened the doors to a new downtown store.

On Saturday, April 25, local resident Dave Chappelle’s merch shop — dubbed The Chappelle Shop — started doing business inside his newly renovated commercial building at 221 Xenia Ave. For sale are Chappelle-branded apparel, including socks, pants and shirts, as well as thermoses, lighters, vinyl records and more.

Since late 2021, Chappelle sold these and other merchandise out of the former Oten Gallery, just a few addresses to the south.   

“It was a pop-up that ended up lasting four-and-a-half years,” store manager Joe Harworth told the News with a laugh.

The Chappelle Shop’s new space is the first usage of the newly constructed building at the address; it occupies 640 square feet in the back half of the building’s ground floor, and is now the only downtown business with a front entrance facing Kieth’s Alley.

Harworth said that orientation was intentional. The Chappelle Shop is directly visible from the comedian’s club — The Firehouse — on Corry Street, which hosts sporadically scheduled, but consistently sold-out music and comedy performances.

“This building can really work with the club — the idea is that all those people can line up, look over their shoulder and see us,” Harworth said.

The store’s hours go well beyond showtimes at the comedy club. Doors are open seven days a week, noon-6 p.m. On evenings with a show, the store will stay open well into the night. These hours are split between six employees. 

The modernist aesthetics of the store’s interior matches other Yellow Springs buildings owned by Iron Table Holdings, Chappelle’s development company. Red lights shine on exposed brick walls and the minimalist layout. Near the cash register is a DJ’s turntable — poised for the occasional party.

All of the apparel for sale follow Chappelle’s personal style — the kind of threads he sports on stage. They’re designed by Harworth and produced in his home region of Orange County, California.

“There are shirts with the classic C, but there’s also a lot of stuff that’s loud and speaks to culture,” Harworth said. “It’s not your normal, everyday clothes.”

On the back of one hoodie is the image of a lion below the stenciled word “UNSTOPPABLE,” the title of Chappelle’s 2025 TV special. Underneath is an oft-repeated quote from his mother: “Sometimes you have to be a lion so you can be the lamb you really are.” That hoodie is for sale for $75.

Near 221 Xenia Ave. are other properties owned by Iron Table Holdings that could work in tandem with the club and store, should they be utilized.

On the corner of Kieth’s Alley and Corry Street, and directly across from both the store and club’s entrances, is a residential property Chappelle purchased from local residents Bette Kelley and Wayne Gulden two years ago. Iron Table Holdings also owns the two adjoining parcels, one of which was the site of a small apartment building that was razed last week.

Chappelle purchased the property at 221 Xenia Ave. in 2021 following the death of the previous owner, Ed Oxley, who operated Earth Rose International Imports for 50 years there. At a Planning Commission meeting in 2022, Chappelle’s architect Max Crome said the ruinous Earth Rose building was entirely unsalvageable, and proposed the “mid-century modern” design that the new building displays.

The majority of this new 2,704-square-foot building in which the merch store resides is unoccupied: The Xenia Avenue-facing side of the first floor and the upstairs are presently vacant. Harworth said he wasn’t sure what Chappelle’s plans for those spaces are.

Plans are in place, however, for monthly “First Friday” events at the shop — in-store parties that feature live music, food and drinks, raffle prizes and dancing the first Friday evening, 5–8 p.m., of each month.

“We want this to be a community space,” Harworth said. “Whether you want to buy something or not, stop in and have a good time. First Fridays have such great energy. And when he’s in town, sometimes Dave stops by.”

The opening of The Chappelle Shop comes on the heels of the ribbon cutting at the Union Schoolhouse, a 19th-century structure that Iron Table Holdings renovated to accommodate local NPR affiliate 91.3 WYSO. The local radio station officially moved in last month after years of construction and rehab work at the schoolhouse.

Chappelle owns a host of other properties in the downtown business district and throughout the rest of Yellow Springs — several of which are at various stages of redevelopment for the comedian’s future enterprises. 

The Chappelle Shop is located at 221 Xenia Ave., and is open every day noon–6 p.m.

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