75 CENTS
Omaha Star
The
Proudly Serving Our Community for Over 80 Years
Dedicated to the Service of the People that NO Good Cause Shall Lack a Champion and that Evil Shall Not Go Unopposed
Nebraska’s Only Black Owned Newspaper Vol. 84 - No. 3 Omaha, Nebraska
Friday, February 4, 2022
75 cents
2022 National DEI Champion
Family of the Week: The Burrells
Damita Byrd
Damita Byrd, Director of Culture, Diversity & Inclusion @ BCT, has been named a 2022 “DEI Champion” by the National Diversity & Leadership Conference. The DEI Champions Award honors professionals who are passionate about creating an impact in the field of diversity and inclusion. Diversity champions continue to put DiversityFIRST™ through visionary leadership and commitment to fostering change
for ages to come. Damita will be formally recognized at the 18th annual virtual conference, which will take place later this year on April 4-7, 2022 in Houston TX.
Starting My Dream Company From left to right: Jayden, Bobby C, Maria, Bobby, Francisca, and Kashya Bobby and Maria have been in Omaha since the late 90s, married for 27 years in April and have three children together: Kashya, Bobby C and Jayden. Kashya and Jayden are in Omaha while Bobby C is in Alaska. Francisca loves to garden and is definitely looking forward to the warmer weather. Bobby and Maria love to spend movie nights together. Jayden and Kashya love driving around town looking for the best ice ceam and sweet treat spots. The Burrell’s love to spend time together at dinner’s, (competitive) game nights, and occasionally a road trip.The Burrell’s are a rowdy bunch when they’re in a room, cracking jokes, making each other smile and most of all loving each other.
Congratulations to the 2022 Class of Firefighters
All baseball players eventually face the inevitable fact that their years of commitment to the game might be coming to an end. For Curt Smith, this question arose after the COVID-19 pandemic left the Lincoln Saltdog’s 2020 baseball season in shambles. Ultimately, Curt decided that the 2021 season would be his last, and in the spirit of Curtis Smith his final season, he planned to treat himself to a new high quality customized ball glove. He was shocked to find out how expensive and unreasonable the glove market had become. Curt decided to take matters into his own hands, and Dream Glove Co. was born. Dream Glove Co. is a local sporting goods company based right here in Lincoln, that is focused on providing athletes with quality baseball gloves that won’t break the bank. However, building a brand is no small feat. Curt quickly realized the benefits of social media tools and advertising and found success by shaping his business model around Facebook and Instagram. These tools help customers fully customize their equip-
Welcome these African American gentlemen to the firehouse.
Douglas County Assessor/ Register of Deeds Will Not Run for Reelection
Douglas County Assessor/Register of Deeds Diane Battiato announced today that she will retire, effective January 2023. Battiato, who has been in county government more than 25 years, would have been up for reelection this year. Battiato has 36 years as a real estate broker, as well as extensive government experience. Initially, she worked as an employee in the Douglas County Register of Deeds office since the early 1990s. She also served for five years as councilwoman for the city of Papillion. In 2004, she was elected as DougDiane Battiato las County’s first woman to hold the Register of Deeds office. Later in her career she was elected to consecutive terms as the leader of the then newly-combined Assessor/Register of Deeds office—again, the first woman to hold that office. Battiato said that her decision to retire was not an easy one. “Twentyfive years as a public servant is a long time, a huge commitment that I never took lightly. I love my job and what I do. That, combined with the confident, knowledgeable staff that supported me throughout the years, enabled us to achieve outstanding success together. I am pleased with my accomplishments during my time in office. But after some serious deliberation, I am convinced that it’s time to move on. I want to spend more time with my family and, eventually, pursue other interests and opportunities.” Battiato also thanked the community for the confidence it has shown in her ability to serve all of Douglas County’s property owners.
“Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to the error that counts.” ~Nikki Giovanni
Smith continued on page 2
Publisher’s Pen
By Terri D. Sanders
Welcome to February 2022! The COVID-19 Variant is still with us and seems to continue to mutate producing yet more opportunities to wear masks and the pharmaceutical companies to continue to produce Dotcom Studios additional vaccinations. This seems to be a cycle and the question is when will it end if ever? It is Black History Month…The shortest month of the year when we celebrate the LONG history of African Americans and our many contributions to the world. There continues to be disturbing acts by others in this world toward African Americans and our relatives. Bomb threats at HBCU institutions and students sheltering in place. Puts me in the mind of the awful 16th Street Baptist Church bombing on September 15, 1963, in Birmingham, Alabama. We do not need an incident of this magnitude to propel the movement of this generation forward. I am just going to say it DEI—Diversity, Equity and Inclusion—there needs to be concrete
actions behind these departments created corporately to see that equality is not a buzz word and inclusion is not a closed door without a window but just a sign that is hanging indicating support. I do not have all the answers, but I think there should be evidence that diversity is occurring, and that peoples are being included in a measurable way, and that there is equitable money being distributed in a fair system. A tall order but an impactful idea that we should see fleshed out before the sunset of our lives. I have seen changes in our lives to the positive, and there should be more to come. In order for this to work we must also work together as a community. All pulling in the same direction for changes and not looking to light a fire in a personal corner of the world that only warms you and yours. EQUALITY and JUSTICE for ALL. We have to think about more than our block, but it must begin on our block and spread. In the Bible, it says that every man is to build in front of his own house and at the end of the day the whole wall will be built. Get it right in your house first. I am referring to our own community. How are you insuring or promoting DEI within your world? Do you speak up or sit and murmur about situations? Do you acknowledge when right is going on and condemn that which is wrong just as loudly as you criticize the who? Do you sit idly by or do you stand for right? As Arsenio Hall used to say HMMMMMM.
Next Issue:
February 18, 2022 Information submission by February 11, 2022