Deandre Radcliffe has responded to adverse media coverage of black men following a shooting and an alleged hazing.
His efforts to educate Youngstown’s black youth are admirable. Founding a black student union was long overdue.
His efforts also made us reflect on our coverage.
So we’d like to tell you why we won’t let these events rest until a jury reaches a verdict and the guilty are identified.
Radcliffe hosted a dinner on Friday commemorating Malcolm X. The YSU junior said it’s important to never forget.
Malcolm X was admittedly a drug addict, criminal and a womanizer. But he has inspired us to never cower from what makes us who we are — black or white, right or wrong.
His rebirth during incarceration has inspired us to never turn a blind eye to injustice — whether committed by black or white society.
“And if I can die having brought any light, having exposed any meaningful truth that will help to destroy the racist cancer that is malignant in the body of America,” Alex Haley wrote in “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” “then all of the credit is due to Allah. Only the mistakes have been mine.”
While our editorial staff is white, we understand these words, and while we may never fully empathize, we share a common creed as journalists.
It is our duty to expose the truth.
It is our duty to ensure that students stay informed.
We couldn’t imagine letting the memory of Jamail Johnson fade away.
That is why we continually cover all updates in the ongoing shooting trial, the alleged hazing trial and any other act made against one of our Penguin brothers or sisters.
We agree with Malcolm X when we say — as Radcliffe does — that “the problems are ours. They belong to all of us.”