YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Tracey Winbush, a radio broadcaster, says if the Mahoning Valley is going to improve, it needs to start with the education system.
“Right now Youngstown’s biggest problem, the Mahoning Valley’s biggest problem, is the educational system here and no one wanting to attain anything better than what they have,” Winbush says.
A degree doesn’t mean its holder is educated, she says. “And if we want to change the Valley, we have to change the information and the mentality of the Valley when it comes to education.”
That has ramifications throughout someone’s life. A young person may get beaten down by his peers if he’s educated and speaks properly, Winbush says. That leads to feelings of insecurity.
“And when you feel insecure then you have to dumb yourself down,” she explains.
That carries into the workplace. “So instead of hiring up, we hire down,” Winbush contends. “Instead of leveling up, we level down. And we wonder what’s wrong with our community.”
Winbush grew up in Hubbard and relocated to Los Angeles. She attended Hubbard, Mount Calvary, East and Rayen high schools but spent much of her school day at Youngstown State University. She didn’t earn sufficient credits to graduate, but secured a proficiency certificate while in Los Angeles.
“I was in a bad place because Youngstown wasn’t evolving, but I was,” Winbush says. “I needed to get out of here.”
She returned to the Mahoning Valley in 1994.
As an African-American woman, she’s seen some progress but not enough.
“The culture has changed but the advancement has stayed the same,” Winbush says. “We’re advancing in titles and we’re advancing in wealth. But we’re not advancing in power and influence.”
That makes her question if that amounts to advancement.
“In Youngstown, as a Black female, more doors are open and you can walk through them. But if you can’t bring people up behind you and you can’t bring legacy into it, then you really haven’t accomplished anything,” she says.
Winbush ran unsuccessfully for Youngstown mayor as a Republican and also formerly served on the Mahoning County Board of Elections. The political leanings of the Valley, once a Democratic stronghold, have moved with most local state legislators now Republicans, she notes. But in Mahoning County, Democrats still hold most of the local offices.
“Youngstown has some of the most amazing people,” she says, pointing to the response from the community following the explosion at Realty Tower where Winbush and her mother resided.
“The people in Youngstown just want someone to do the right thing and lead. And if they do, they get behind them,” she says.