The Howard A. Mims African American Cultural Center in the Cleveland State University College of Arts and Sciences hosted an Umoja Roundtable on Nov. 20, focusing on public policy, community needs and the role of civic engagement in shaping Northeast Ohio’s future.

"Umoja" is a Swahili word meaning "unity." The event was moderated by Daylun Armstrong, a senior at CSU, staff member in the Africana Studies Department and president of the Sankofa Society. The roundtable connected students with professionals working in city government and public administration, offering a direct look at career paths shaped by activism, service and community-grounded leadership.

Panelists included Ben Holbert III, mayor of the Village of Woodmere; Daphne Evans, mayor’s special assistant for Woodmere; Dr. Natoya Walker-Minor, deputy general manager for administrative and external affairs at the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority; Manuel Roderick, environmental health specialist at the City of Cleveland; and Arnold Lockett, neighborhood development specialist for Cleveland.

Speakers shared the experiences that drew them towards government, their motivations for continued service and how public leadership has changed in today’s political climate. Their reflections touched on the increasing demands of public service, the need for resilient leadership, and the connection between community concerns and daily policy decisions. 

“Don’t wait for somebody else to do it.” Holbert said. “You take it in your own hands and you do it.” 

Participants also described civic engagement as a sustained process shaped by lived experiences and grounded in the needs of residents. 

Affordable housing and access to reliable and safe public transportation were highlighted as ongoing challenges in Cleveland, with panelists emphasizing how issues of mobility, housing stability and access to opportunity remain tied to larger systems of inequality. 

Some shared that their earliest organizing work took place in social justice movements, including activism around international liberation struggles such as the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, where students mobilized in support of Nelson Mandela.

The event also reinforced the significance of the Howard A. Mims African American Cultural Center, which served as the host site. 

The center was established in 1970 as the Afro-American Cultural Center and has been a cornerstone of Black student life, academic enrichment and community engagement at CSU. It was renamed in 2004 to honor Howard A. Mims, a longtime professor and former director of the Black Studies Program. 

Under Mims’ leadership, the center expanded cultural programming, academic support and community partnerships that emphasized African and African American heritage, civic awareness and student empowerment.

The center continues that legacy through lectures, arts programming, mentoring initiatives and collaborations with campus and city partners such as the Umoja Roundtable. The event reflected the center’s longstanding mission of connecting scholarship with real-world advocacy and preparing students to participate in shaping the social and political landscape of the region.

The roundtable concluded with a call for students to recognize their role in community change and to view civic participation not as a single act but as an ongoing responsibility, reflecting the values that have guided the center’s work for more than five decades.