By Ronda Watson Barber
OhioMBE Publisher
As Columbus City Schools (CCS) prepares for its upcoming board meeting, one question remains unanswered: Who is stepping up to advocate for Black businesses?
For years, Nana Watson, the former Columbus NAACP president, stood as a vocal advocate, ensuring that CCS followed its own equity policies and that Black-owned businesses were included in the district’s procurement process. Now, with her forced removal—led by Ohio NAACP State President Tom Roberts—the local NAACP is silent. Meanwhile, Black businesses are still left out of contracting opportunities, and CCS continues to drag its feet in supporting the Local Economically Disadvantaged Enterprise (LEDE) program.
Where Is the Leadership?
Columbus City Schools has to be forced by the community to follow its own equity policies. This administration is failing Black businesses—plain and simple. They let an entire year pass before hiring a new LEDE coordinator after the retirement of the previous coordinator who served for over 20 years and didn’t get an exit interview or retirement party. Now, the new coordinator has been in place since January 2025, yet CCS has failed to introduce him to the community or provide clear guidance for businesses that want to participate.
The problems don’t stop there:
- Who is monitoring CCS’s purchasing goals?
- Who is introducing Black businesses to contracting opportunities?
- Who is ensuring that CCS departments actively engage Black-owned businesses?
If the Columbus NAACP is no longer leading the charge, what civil rights organization or civil rights attorney will hold CCS accountable?
The State NAACP Is Failing Black Businesses
Instead of addressing these urgent economic issues, Ohio NAACP President Tom Roberts and others are caught up in personal vendettas and internal power struggles. Rather than fighting for Black business inclusion, they are busy undermining Nana Watson—the very person who fought for supplier diversity and challenged CCS to do the right thing.
If the Ohio NAACP and the Columbus NAACP are not fighting for Black businesses at the CCS board meetings, then who will? The silence from these organizations is deafening. If they won’t act, Black businesses must mobilize and demand representation.
Who Will Step Up?
With no clear advocacy from the NAACP, it’s time for other civil rights groups, legal advocates, and community leaders to take action. What Black group will step up? Will a local civil rights attorney hold CCS accountable for its failure to follow its own equity policies? Will elected officials speak up on behalf of the Black business community?
The CCS Board of Education meeting is coming up, and Black businesses must demand answers. Our tax dollars fund this district, yet CCS refuses to reinvest in the very communities that are burdened with rising property taxes.
Columbus City Schools must be held accountable—and if the NAACP won’t do it, someone else must.
Ronda Watson Barber
Publisher, OhioMBE
