March 15, 2020

Powerful Drawing Illustrates Dr. George Fraser’s Words on Why We Must “Connect the Dots”

#ohioblackexpo – Motivational speaker, Dr. George Fraser. participated in the Ohio Black Expo back in 1993. Since then this Brooklyn native, who currently resides in Ohio (Cleveland), has continued to inspire Black people to unite for economic empowerment. At the State of Black of America Conference, he shared the African proverb “When spider webs unite they can tie up a lion.” Dr. Fraser also said “There is no power in disconnection. When we connect, we prevent interlopers from coming into our communities and taking and destroying at will. We must connect the dots, that must be our movement in the 21st century. We need a lot of us doing a little, instead of a few of us doing a lot. We need to get together, to get ahead.”

Ohio Black Expo is a statewide humanitarian organization, originally formed in 1988, that is dedicated to improving the quality of life for Ohio’s African American citizens, by establishing and encouraging an independent self-help approach to problem solving.

The founder of The Ohio Black Expo, Rhonda D. Robinson, was initially inspired to create the Columbus Black Expo after successfully registering 70 plus vendors for the Columbus Black Convention in 1980. The Columbus Black Expo was held at the Focal Point of Mt. Vernon Plaza from 1981 – 1987. After seven (7) years, realizing that the event was drawing people and vendors from around the state and beyond, she changed the name to the Ohio Black Expo to reflect what was happening.

The first Ohio Black Expo (OBE) event took place at Veterans Memorial downtown. It was held there from 1988 through 1991, peaking at almost 300 exhibitors and over 30,000 attendees.