Cincinnati

Dear Donald Trump,

It was great to hear you talk about black people and your concern for our well-being. And as your busy schedule continues to unfold, I look with wonder at the many times you have missed coming to visit. Please know that we would welcome you with open arms and not open contempt.

We would love to show you that ours is not a community replete with violence, mayhem and poverty. Instead, there you will find an amazing collection of hard-working, family-centered, spiritually-connected people who can only be called the heart and soul of America.

These people, although of moderate means, are not impoverished, although with fewer advantages are not overly discouraged, and although lacking many of the luxuries you have grown accustomed to are nevertheless not without grace, humility and pride. We invite you to come, and share in our wealth.

Listen to our songs of hope, our sermons of love and our testimonies of overcoming. Sit with our elders and hear of how they made it over, how they raised generation after generation of children with character.

Come, let us show you of our art that flows from the bounty of our faith that “A change is gonna come.” Listen to our children as they dream, and hear the chant of our young men and women as they forge a new path where black lives indeed matter.

When you are ready to experience the reality of our existence, feel free to call or better yet, stop by and visit.

Rodney D. Coates, director of Black World Studies, Miami University