Dear Editor,

I was recently interviewed by a Rochelle News-leader journalist for an article that ran on Sunday, June 7. 

During the seeking of an interview I informed the journalist that I would participate only if he also included black voices of the community. I was misinformed of the angle in which the article would take, and had I known it would go that way I would not have participated, leaving space for black voices. 

I my opinion, the article did a disservice to the black community of Rochelle. I not only provided him with a black community leader to contact, I even set up the best time to contact said leader and provided the phone number. The nation’s current events are about the black community. When I checked in with this black community leader and his family about whether or not he had been contacted I was informed how disappointed they were to have a news article written without more black voices to speak on a matter that directly affects them. 

There was a great opportunity lost here to provide a platform to hear from this minority group of Rochelle. To be inclusive and to share their struggles, pain, and experiences. To give light to what is happening in our nation and why. To put faces and names to the lived experiences of the black community. 

This isn’t a time for law enforcement to pat themselves on the back. This is a time for listening, a time to mend racial relations, a time to hear and understand the black community, and a time to sympathize with the black community. I hope that future articles will be non-biased, especially when it includes BIPOC (black, indigenous and people of color). 

Thank you, 

Jodie Hart

Rochelle