Cleveland – The Oberlin Review

Surprisingly, Cleveland Has a Wine Scene — And it’s Thriving

December 13, 2019

Cleveland is not a wine town. Not historically, anyway. Recently, though, the city has given rise to a thriving, albeit small, wine scene — for those who know how to find it. Although beer still reigns king in Northeast Ohio, the wine industry has a larger presence than one might think. Ohio, despite being the 34th largest state, was the sixth-largest wine producer in the United States in 2016, according to an Ohio Grape Industries Committee economic impact report. “The Cleveland wine scene is getting bigger and better,” Elan Hoenig, general manager of The Wine Spot, a wine retailer in Cleveland Heights, said. “I think there’s definitely more interest coming to the city in all aspects of wine.” T...

Off The Cuff: Greggor Mattson, Cleveland Immersion Program Professor

November 1, 2019

Associate Professor of Sociology Greggor Mattson teaches the Cleveland Immersion Program, a two-credit module course offered over fall break which educates students on the greater Cleveland area. Students learn about the history, challenges, and opportunities that Cleveland has to offer and visit the city for a day. Mattson is an urban sociologist who has written about gentrification and LGBTQ+ communities. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Can you tell us a little bit ab...

Retribution, Restitution, and Race in Ohio

Ava Zuschlag, Contributing Writer

September 20, 2019

Five years ago, Tamir Rice is shot and killed. In the aftermath, several things happen. The two officers who responded to the call, who fired the shots, are temporarily reassigned to more menial positions. Tamir’s family files a wrongful death suit against the officers and the city of Cleveland. Almost a year and a half later, “in an effort to reduce taxpayer liabilities,” the city agrees to pay the Rice family a six million dollar settlement. This year, a thirty-minute drive away from Cleveland, Gibson’s Bakery wins damages for defamation. After a shoplifting incident ended in violence, student accusations of the shop owner’s racism negatively affected the business. In the judgement, the jury awards ...

Connect Cleveland Expands Programming

March 8, 2019

Oberlin students visited Cleveland’s University Circle neighborhood last weekend to engage with the city through a free bus trip provided by the College. This trip was an expansion of the new Connect Cleveland initiative, founded in fall 2018 as part of Oberlin’s first-year orientation. “We created Connect Cleveland in response to the desire among current and prospective students to have internships, work opportunities, and recreational possibilities in a more urban environment,” President...

“Sunset Baby” Captivates Oberlin Audiences

September 28, 2018

A group of Oberlin students and faculty traveled to the Dobama Theatre in Cleveland to see the premiere of Sunset Baby Friday, Sept. 7. The play, which will continue to run through this weekend, was directed by Associate Professor of Theater and Africana Studies Justin Emeka, OC ’95. Emeka worked alongside College juniors Miyah Byers and Jaris Owens, along with other Oberlin affiliates. Sunset Baby follows the story of Nina, a fiercely independent woman who is caught in a moment of contention...

Graduate School Connections Vital for Student Development

Editorial Board

September 14, 2018

We must turn our gaze outward. That was President Carmen Ambar’s message as she prepared to ship a group of nearly 1,000 people — including first-years, Peer Advising Leaders, staff members, and volunteers — to Cleveland for the inaugural Connect Cleveland trip during New Student Orientation. The pilgrimage was part of Ambar’s initiative to build stronger ties with the Northeast Ohio community. In a massive 20-bus caravan, students connected with local organizations and alumni all over the city, visiting a total of 39 different sites, including the public radio and television broadcaster Ideastream, the Cleveland Museum of Art, an urban farm, and a Cleveland food bank, to name a few. The goal was to help st...

“FRONT International” Brings Site-Specific Art Exhibitions to Oberlin

September 14, 2018

FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art presented its first group of internationally acclaimed artists and their equally diverse art earlier this summer. From July 14 to Sept. 30, over 100 chosen artists will display their works at selected locations around Cleveland. Exhibition venues are not confined to spaces dedicated to the presentation of art alone, but rather transcend the traditional walls of galleries and museums into the streets of Cleveland and beyond. For instan...

Chief Wahoo Logo Overhaul Long Overdue, Despite Fan Disappointment

Alexis Dill, Sports Editor

February 9, 2018

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Jan. 29 that Cleveland baseball will stop sporting the Chief Wahoo logo on uniforms after the 2018 season. The cartoon caricature, first featured on players’ caps and jersey sleeves in 1948, has sparked controversy since the 1970s. The statement, which read, “the logo is no longer appropriate for on-field use in Major League Baseball,” appeared to have split baseball fans and others into two categories: “racists” bummed by the news and “soft liberals” offended by the fact that the logo ever existed in the first place. Neither side is more correct than the other, and being able to understand and appreciate both sides of an argument is a skill that most of us need...

Baseball Revitalizes Cleveland

Darren Zaslau, Sports Editor

September 9, 2016

For 52 years, Cleveland sports fans have agonized over the “Cleveland sports curse,” the city’s inexplicable inability to win a championship in any professional sport. From 1964 to 2016, Cleveland’s baseball, basketball and football teams had never reigned supreme in their respective leagues. As a result, a combined 147-season championship drought diminished hope for the city to return to its winning ways that dazzled the sports world in the 1950s. But on June 19, that all changed. The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals to win the team’s first title in franchise history, ending Cleveland’s championship drought in an unbelievable fashion. Inside Quicken...

Alumnus’ Cleveland Music Organization Achieves Nonprofit Status

Lillian White

September 11, 2015

The IRS recently granted nonprofit status to The Syndicate for the New Arts, an organization devoted to transforming the way contemporary music gets presented and experienced in Cleveland and throughout the Rust Belt. Founded by Joshua Rosner, OC ’14, the nonprofit builds connections in the Cleveland music scene by hosting touring artists and initiating collaborations with existing institutions such as restaurants, museums and schools. Syndicate musicians also highlight work by local modern composers and Cleveland and Rust Belt artists whose careers have gone unrecognized. The Syndicate’s new nonprofit status qualifies it for key grants to support free programming. Additionally, as collaborator double-degree fifth-year...

The Epicurean: The Greenhouse Tavern Jewel of Cleveland Culinary Scene

Matt Segall, Columnist

February 27, 2015

I can often be heard saying, “The Greenhouse Tavern is the best restaurant I’ve ever been to,” and I’m not a liar. Local hero Jonathan Sawyer’s flagship establishment tops many locals lists, and after many visits, it remains on the top of mine too. Yes, its food is some of the best I’ve had. Yes, its service is refined. It hit all the marks. But GHT is more than the food on the plate and the attentive people who bring it to you; it is the crown jewel of Cleveland’s celebrated restaurant scene. One of The Greenhouse Tavern’s main focuses is sourcing ingredients from local producers, at which they succeed wherever they can. While not the first spot to catch wind of the farm-to-table movement in Cleveland...

Devoted Crowd Flocks to Mick Jenkins’s Raucous Underground Concert

Jake Frankenfield

February 13, 2015

Content warning: This article contains a racial slur printed in full. The word is part of an artist’s stage name. Mick Jenkins’ most recent record, the widely acclaimed The Waters, is known for its submerged, atmospheric production and intricate wordplay. Hailed as one of the best mixtapes of 2014, The Waters established Jenkins as a preeminent Chicago MC. Jenkins is currently touring with Saba Pivot, Noname Gypsy and a budding rapper affiliated with the Joey Bada$$-helmed Pro Era collective, Kirk Knight. Chicago has been central to the development of hip-hop as a genre since the early 1990s. In the ’90s, Chicago offered Twista; in the early 2000s, the city produced Kanye West and Common. Today, as hip-...