The Dean's List

This is my Op-Ed originally printed in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle - May 2012 My Experience on Jury Duty by Ella Dean On Saturday, May 5th, I attended a community leaders meeting geared to improve minority participation on jury’s.  The meeting was coordinated by City Council President Lovely Warren along with local court and jury officials.  I was very happy to see this forum put together, as I recently experienced first hand the need for it. I have lived in Rochester for my entire life, minus 5 years and had never been called to serve jury duty, until last month that is.  I was called to serve on the Grand Jury, which is a month long commitment.  I never could have imagined how my time served would affect my life forever…. The first thing I noticed on my first day that included mainly orientation type activities was that I was only one of two minorities out of the 23 jurors.  During our breaks, I had done an unofficial poll of my fellow jurors, asking them w

Ruby Lockhart This is an op-ed I wrote that was published in the Democrat & Chronicle in August, 2013. I thought today would be a great time to share it again.....Mother's Day 2019 When I moved back to Rochester from Phoenix 6 years ago, I was unemployed and very scared.  I had never been without a job before and didn’t know what was ahead of me. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would be where I am right now! City Council President Loretta Scott When you turn on the television these days, most Black women are portrayed in a negative way, from the news to those horrible reality TV shows.  I literally feel embarrassed when I see it!  When I see any of these three women on TV, pride is the only thing I feel. Mayor Lovely Warren I actually work two part-time jobs.  I do PR & Marketing for Garth Fagan Dance and I am a Legislative Aide for a Rochester City Councilmember. With both jobs, I get the opportunity to work with what I consider thre