Jesse Owens Mural Unveiling

A beautiful "I Am Jesse Owens" mural, created by Danny Carver with help from his students at the Cleveland School of the Arts, was unveiled in a ceremony Thursday, July 30, 2015 at the Lonnie Burten Recreation Center in Cleveland.

Carver spoke passionately about the struggles and triumphs of Cleveland-born Olympic gold medalist Owens. "He affirmed that individual excellence, rather than race or nation, distinguishes an individual. His legacy remains strong not only throughout Ohio but across the nation." Carver urged young people to elarn about history and "make a difference. Leave some kind of legacy." (Photos by Pamela Zoslov)

Proud To Be in Cleveland

Cleveland, my hometown, is a strange place. The recent discovery of three long-missing girls kept captive in a West Side house for a decade, a ghastly serial killer not long ago on the East Side, crumbling infrastructure alongside gentrification efforts based on drinking (breweries, wine bars and distilleries), overeating (Food Network-inspired pork restaurants), and gambling (a casino at the heart of downtown). At the same time, there are genuine improvements -- renovations of long-neglected low-income neighborhoods and a growing urban agriculture movement. It's a battle between Nice and Vice.

This picture, for me, exemplifies Nice -- regular people living life in the best way they can, sometimes carrying a little puppy.