Najae Jackson interview, 10 September 2025

Abstract

In this 2025 interview, educator and community advocate Ms. Najae Jackson discusses her lifelong connection to East Cleveland and the experiences that shaped her path as a teacher, civic leader, entrepreneur. She reflects on her K–12 schooling, Morgan State University, and the impact of attending an historically black college. Jackson describes the turning point that led her into urban planning and community development, emphasizing the influence of local mentors and personal experiences. Jackson also explores family history, neighborhood culture, the Shaw Reunion tradition, and East Cleveland’s challenges and strengths.

Interviewee

Jackson, Najae (interviewee)

Interviewer

Mays, Nicholas S. (interviewer)

Project

East Cleveland

Date

9-10-2025

Document Type

Oral History

Duration

60 minutes

Recommended Citation

"Najae Jackson interview, 10 September 2025" (2025). Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection. Interview 757002.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/crohc000/1402

Related Resources

East Cleveland @ Cleveland Voices

Transcript

Nick Mays [00:00:00] My name is Dr. Nicholas S. Mays, and today is September 10, 2025. We are here at the Mickey’s Building, located in East Cleveland, conducting an official oral history interview for the East Cleveland Oral History Project. I’m joined by Ms. Najae Jackson, a lifelong East Clevelander, educator, entrepreneur and community advocate. This interview will become part of our Historical Archives initiative to preserve the stories and contributions of past and present East Clevelanders, as well as it will serve as a historical source that will inform the production of a scholarly historical article and digital documentary.

Najae Jackson [00:00:53] Exciting.

Nick Mays [00:00:55] Can you briefly introduce yourself, Ms. Najae Jackson. For the record, can you state your age, the year you were born, and your name?

Najae Jackson [00:01:07] I’m a woman. I can’t say my age. No, I’m just kidding. My name is Najee Jackson. I am a lifelong East Cleveland resident. I would consider myself to be an advocate, a property owner, just a die hard East Clevelander. I’m 26 years old and I was born in 1999.

Nick Mays [00:01:26] Can you share your educational path, including your more recent graduate school endeavors?

Najae Jackson [00:01:34] Okay, should I go from kindergarten? I can make it quick. Or should I just go up first?

Nick Mays [00:01:38] Whatever you like.

Najae Jackson [00:01:40] So K through 5, I was at Citizens Academy, so that’s why we did our tour. I was talking about the drive thru where I used to get my KFC. Sixth grade, I was at Monticello Middle School. Seventh grade, I was at Heritage, which is East Cleveland. So shout out to the East Cleveland city School District. [00:01:53] 8th grade, Adelaide Stevenson. That was a Cleveland school. High School 9 through 12 was Cleveland Central Catholic. Then I went to the illustrious HBCU, Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. I love my HBCU and I am currently pursuing my master’s of Urban Planning and Development at Cleveland State University.

Nick Mays [00:02:12] Can you briefly talk about your time in undergrad?

Najae Jackson [00:02:17] Oh, my goodness, briefly. I can try. No, I’m just kidding. It was amazing. It was an amazing experience. For those four years, I was the majority and not the minority. I felt just home, love, familiarity. Everywhere I went. Black Queen, do this. Be this amazing person. I was just uplifted in any room I was in. [00:02:39] Everywhere I turned, it was just a sister or brother. Like, I’m almost getting literally chills talking about it. Like, Morgan State was the basis of so much for me. And I loved my experience. I did tours. I got my first apartment there. I met people that looked like me, that were nothing like me. [00:02:53] And it was such an amazing matriculation. Like, if it wasn’t for Covid, I would have got my full four years. But I Had an amazing experience at Morgan State University. It was amazing.

Nick Mays [00:03:03] So what happened because of COVID.

Najae Jackson [00:03:06] You know, like, junior senior year, you get all acclimated. And in 2020, that was the end of my junior year. And we went on spring break, and we never came back. So we took classes online. And for me, I was good. I was set. I had my apartment so, you know, I could have my little parties, have my friends come over. [00:03:23] But it became online learning. And all of my friends who lived in the area, who lived in Philly, New York, Jersey, D.C. they went home. And I was in my apartment that last six months. You know, obviously, the ones who stayed around, we kind of kicked it with each other, made meals, and we were still together, so we still made that little sense of community on campus. [00:03:39] But a lot of stuff left, and a lot of stuff dried up. Obviously, for Covid, you know, the city was shut down. I ended school in December of 2020. I was done a semester early. You know, I’m in academia. We don’t play around. And then I had the opportunity to walk in May of 2021. [00:03:58] So I came home in August, September of 2021. Cause I was tired of being by myself. Covid just sucked all the life out of college for me. But before that, Morgan State was amazing experience. Amazing.

Nick Mays [00:04:14] How would you say attending an HBCU Informs who you are?

Najae Jackson [00:04:18] In every aspect?

Nick Mays As a.

Najae Jackson What? I’m sorry.

Nick Mays [00:04:24] No, I was gonna say just, you know, as an individual, as a person, as a entrepreneur, or as a, you know, as a professional.

Najae Jackson [00:04:33] It shaped me in all different forms because it would be crazy. You know, we have our college parties. I would see people on Friday, Saturday listening to music, having a ball. And then Monday morning, suits and ties. So I saw the duality of a person that looked just like me. I saw where I could go. [00:04:47] I saw people that came back from graduate like, that graduated and came back and would bring life into us. Come to the, like, the entrepreneur fairs or just people from different organizations. We had, like, the. We had, like, an African American association for people from. Or can I say, like a Caribbean association. [00:05:03] Excuse me. It was that. And then we would have people from, like, Baltimore with the slang or people showing me what type of food to eat or just meeting so many different people. Like, it was just. It was just any way I could be influenced. I would. But in all the right ways. [00:05:19] Like, there was so much positivity. Okay. Freshman year, I was crying. I wanted to go home. Homesick. Okay. Everybody does this. I was so homesick. I Was crying, ready to go home. A senior grabbed me and said, just give it time till January. Come back second semester, I got you. So just, that was what made me want to be there. [00:05:36] So I ended up doing tours and bringing in all the freshmen. Like, come on, little babies, you gotta stay. You gonna love it here. So just those full circle moments that people treated me right, just made me want to get back to my college community. So I loved it.

Nick Mays [00:05:48] And just for the record, where is this school?

Najae Jackson [00:05:53] Baltimore, Maryland. Yes.

Nick Mays [00:05:55] Okay, good. Can you. I want to pivot a little bit and get to graduate school. What inspired your graduate work at CSU [Cleveland State University]? And this is a tool. Two part question. We’ll start with question A.

Najae Jackson [00:06:12] What inspire the reason why I’m in grad school? Or what inspired me to get a degree in urban planning or development? Might sound cliche, but. East Cleveland, Ohio, before I met this lovely, amazing woman from the Cuyahoga County Land bank at a community meeting, I had no interest in ever going back to grad school. [00:06:29] I did my four years, I got my A’s. I said, oh, I’m good. But I was connected to this amazing woman. Instead of talking at me, she talked to me. Because I came home fresh from an amazing experience and saw all the blight, all the craziness. My father had an incident where he was pulled out of his car by police officers and saying he did all these crazy things. [00:06:49] And they were like, oh, my apologies. And I was like, wait, this can’t be okay. Like, this is my city, East Cleveland. Then I saw all the blight going on, and it just made me want to go to a community meeting. So. So I found myself, every first and third Tuesday, 22, 23 years old, going to council meetings, which was crazy. [00:07:06] My friends thought I was insane. Or going to local meetings at the library. Or I would do something. I would call it my drive. And I would just drive around, and I had a list of properties and houses. So when I finally met this woman from the Land Bank, we sat. We had a conversation at the Starbucks over here in University Circle. [00:07:23] And we just talked and communicated. And she connected me with so many other people. And I said, this is what I want to do. So I ended up buying my first property here in January of 2023. I was 23 years old. Found it on Facebook and happened to buy this property from. It was so crazy. [00:07:41] The guy who sold the property happened to be my little brother’s, his first girlfriend’s dad. So just saw how small the community was. He was like, wait, that’s your brother. And just seeing that I could buy a house, and I was like, what else can I do? Like, how else can I do this? [00:07:54] So I went to. To diversify my palate. And every semester since then, anytime that I could aim my studies towards East Cleveland, I did it. I have projects, I have data, all driven around East Cleveland and how I can do better. So East Cleveland is what prompted me to go ahead and get that degree. [00:08:10] And now I’m taking over the world.

Nick Mays [00:08:15] Thank you for your response. And you sort of answered. Responded to the the second question, but I think we could get more out of it. So I’m gonna. I’m gonna ask you. I’m gonna go ahead and ask the second part of the question. How has your graduate work at CSU shaped your vision for East Cleveland and your aspirations to contribute to the future development or revitalization?

Najae Jackson [00:08:48] Connections, connections, connections. Anywhere I’m going, I’m screaming from the mountaintop. East Cleveland, East Cleveland, East Cleveland. I’m asking questions. I’m asking people. What do you think? What would you do? How can you help? Do you have any input? Like I was saying earlier, all of my studies, like, my professors, we know when Najae comes in the room, it’s East Cleveland. [00:09:08] Like, it was a point. We had instructors coming in, and I was like, hey, if you could make this example for maybe a city like East Cleveland. And my whole class turned around and laughed because they were like, we knew that that question was coming. But I just ask questions. I try to make connections. [00:09:22] I’m asking people, okay, you see the blight, you see all the problems. We got a thousand problems, zero solutions. What will be a solution? How would you help? And whenever I can study. So I found out stuff about the median income here or what type of jobs we have or what jobs we don’t have. [00:09:37] What type of jobs do we need here? Those are things I looked up. I’m talking about the homeowner rate. Well, excuse me, the owner occupancy rate or renter occupancy rate. So I’ve just been able to study a lot about East Cleveland because it’s one thing to feel a certain type of way, because I was. [00:09:51] They hate us. Look at our streets. The police never come. Which, okay, those things can be true. But to have research and knowledge, so to have my educational background and then still my personal ability, because I’m a person, I’ve lived here, I’ve seen changes. So just kind of being able to mesh the real lived experiences with the educational background. [00:10:10] And kind of picking the brains of other people. Because of East Cleveland, I’ve been able to do that. So super exciting.

Nick Mays [00:10:17] Ms. Jackson, can you articulate this passion that you have for being a positive force for your city?

Najae Jackson [00:10:32] I think I look at it like, if not meeting who, because some people are like, oh, I’m over that. East Cleveland is never going to do anything, but I feel like it’s. It was home for me. It was places where I was just here as a baby a lot. And when I think about it, it’s like. [00:10:46] My mother worked at the old Huron Road Hospital, so I tell people I’m a Huron Road baby. My cousin was. She worked in the kitchen. So I would be all in the back getting snacks and stuff and then going back up to my mom with X rays. Well, she worked in the X ray booth or whatever. [00:10:58] I would go play with her, or I would again go to Peter Pan’s, or I could go to the street and see my family. So to me, East Cleveland was always home. So. So even now, when it’s kind of, like, scarier, I guess it’s still home to me. I’m not going too crazy. [00:11:12] Obviously, there’s blight and there’s discomfort, but beyond that, it’s so much beauty. Honest to God, there is not a day that I don’t drive down Euclid Avenue and see somebody or something or get a hunk or get a hey or even me just smiling at somebody else. Because to me, East Cleveland is home. [00:11:28] And I know for a fact East Cleveland is already low enough. It can’t go nowhere else. The only thing we could do was elevate, redevelop, revitalize. And I want to be at the heart of that. Like, this is home to me. So I want to be at the forefront being one of those people making these steps to really just push and elevate East Cleveland. [00:11:45] So it’s home. So that’s why home.

Nick Mays [00:11:47] What are some things that you’re doing now or you’ve been doing recently to be a part of making that change.

Najae Jackson [00:11:54] Recently, as in, like, this year? I could go back a little bit and talk about Circle East.

Nick Mays [00:11:59] Yeah, a couple years.

Najae Jackson [00:12:00] Yeah. Okay. So it was in 2023. I did some outreach and engagement within this area of East Cleveland. So this is Circle East. It’s a new development coming on from about. I tell people about a third of East Cleveland. And my thing is, I want us to get engaged. I wanted us to know what’s happening. [00:12:16] I wanted us to be involved. So I was the one door knocking saying, hey, this is happening. Please be at this event. We want your opinions, we want your perspective. We want to see what people like us want because the development is here. Cuyahoga County Land bank is here. They’re making stride. But development has to be people oriented. [00:12:34] If we’re not happy and you make this big change, only us people will have to live for either the greatness that comes or the detriment of these different things that happen or, excuse me, these different developments that emerge from us. So I wanted it to be people centered. I want our people to be able to come out. [00:12:50] So it was hot and sweaty, and I had these nice floor, these nice bright colored flyers, and I had me and my little sister racing to put doors, I mean, put stuff in people mailbox, going up all of these streets. And then once we hit the target area, then I went down there because people are saying, hey, this is all. [00:13:07] No, it’s gonna come eventually. Somebody’s gonna come along, some great developers gonna push to continue to rise with East Cleveland. So I just wanted to make sure the stuff is going on now. People like me, residents had a genuine input and were involved so that we don’t look and it’s like, oh, yeah, this is this big divide. [00:13:24] Like, I want all of East Cleveland to be together, all of East Cleveland to be one. So I wanted to make sure that with this new development, it was people centered. So get the people here, get them knowing about what’s going on. So that’s what I’ve been doing more recently, and then buying properties. [00:13:38] I own two properties of my own here in East Cleveland. So that’s amazing for me. And one happens to be like, on, like the old. Near the old block where my family used to live at and own property. So that was really. That was like a full circle moment for me. So I have two properties of my own here. [00:13:54] And then just being an activist.

Nick Mays [00:13:58] What informed that decision and then I’ll get back to that. What does that mean to you? But what informed the entrepreneurship and purchasing property?

Najae Jackson [00:14:07] Crazy enough Sometimes it’s just that dog and you. It’s in me. There was no way that I was paying thousands of dollars for somebody else when I know I can get it on my own. My family owned properties when I was younger, so just home ownership was just something that was really important to me, really young. [00:14:21] And some people were like, so who did that? Who told you I was like, me? My mother and father would tell you, like, I don’t know why Najae is doing this. I Don’t know what she’s doing. She’s doing something. But me just wanting to be independent, wanting to own property in a place that I felt like was home and is what kind of drove me. [00:14:38] And also the price, the price of living is crazy. I was like, hold on, I can pay that to myself and on my own house. So I would stay up in the middle of the night because, believe it or not, I bought both of my properties on Facebook. I did the first deed three times wrong before I did it right. [00:14:54] But then that second time, it was like clockwork. So just having it in me to want to have independence and just wanting to make East Cleveland home is kind of what motivated me to buy these houses.

Nick Mays [00:15:06] Clearly, you are an entrepreneur. Talk about entrepreneurship, why it’s important for you to be entrepreneurship, and why is entrepreneurship significant?

Najae Jackson [00:15:23] So my degree is business administration. My undergrad is a business admin. So I kind of always have that underlying business thing or business mindset in the back of my brain, like, how can I make this lucrative for me? So for me, entrepreneurship is just seeing a way to make some money when nobody else can, or just finding a way to just say, hey, I gotta hustle. [00:15:42] Like, some stuff is just what they say is in you, not on you. And some stuff is just in me to want to go out there and go get it. So I teach now. I own properties, I’m in school. Some of the other entrepreneurial things I did when I was in college, I was waxing. [00:15:55] I was doing hair more recently. Not this year, but for the past three years, Shaw reunion. Oh, my God, I wish you would have been able to see it this year. But I didn’t do it. Sell Mexican cornbread, walking tacos, chips, drinks, pops, whatever. And I was probably out there from 10:00pm to like 4:00 clock in the morning because people saw a party, which I did too. [00:16:16] It was a community party, but I also saw Cha Ching, Cha Ching, Cha Ching. And I was like, okay, come on here and make you some money. So just seeing opportunities and just wanting to just be comfortable and have ideas. Like, I’m a really creative person. So if I have an idea and they make me some money, I’m gonna do it.

Nick Mays [00:16:52] So in discussing entrepreneurship, you mentioned that you are a teacher.

Najae Jackson [00:16:58] Yes.

Nick Mays [00:16:58] What do you teach and talk about your career as a teacher?

Najae Jackson [00:17:02] So I am A teacher. This will be my second year teaching. I teach at John Adams College and Career Academy. Last year I did 11th grade algebra two. This year I’m working with a freshman doing algebra one. So it’s a community that’s really similar to mine. Not as large scale, but the same demographic of students, you know, the same struggles, just a different area. [00:17:23] So it was kind of like I just kind of fit right in. But I love teaching, although it’s a little struggle. I got the babies this year, but once you get them in shape and they just, you make them want to learn, you get a classroom dynamic, you shape the way you want to shape things and you just get, you know, a good rapport with your students. [00:17:40] And then they’re, we’re good. So we’re on week four and they love me now and I make them do this thing. I say, I’m sorry, who? And they say, I’m sorry, Ms. Jackson, who? So that’s our little thing. Like, they love it. I can show you a video record later. But I love teaching.

Nick Mays [00:17:54] Talk a little bit about your teaching philosophy. I know some practitioners and teachers bring obviously their skill sets and their training and their, themselves, their personality, their lived experience as a part of the teaching process. Some others are really more rigid and that they’re just going to come in and, you know, use their skill sets, their training to do to the job. [00:18:28] To do the job. Can you talk about how you approach it and your philosophy?

Najae Jackson [00:18:33] So the way I approach, like the classroom or the way I get a good rapport, I. I let my students know at the beginning because sometimes school can be a little intimidating. I let them know it’s okay to be loud and wrong. I want you to be able to be humble here. I want you to be able to laugh at yourself. [00:18:47] I want you to be able to learn. I want you to be able to be comfortable. And sometimes when we’re working in these urban communities, sometimes there’s a disconnect. Maybe they’re not on grade level, but my job is just to instill confidence. That’s my biggest thing. Some people don’t know how hard it is for a student to just come up to the board. [00:19:01] So I’m instilling confidence. I’m instilling humility. I tell them all the time, hey, I’m not perfect. If I put a negative on a board and it’s a positive, correct me. And I’m commending them. Thank you so much for paying attention. Thank you for catching that. Or look at you, baby genius. Like I’m that type of person. [00:19:14] Like, I’m encouraging and inspiring in the classroom. I asked them, you can ask me the question 100 times. That’s one of the things I get at the beginning of the year. I say, I don’t care if Billy, Bobby, and Suzy ask me. If you have the same question, ask it. Like, that’s what I’m here for. [00:19:28] Or just embracing that culture of learning together. Because some people are like, oh, I don’t want to say the answer wrong. I’m encouraging it. Like, give me something. Or I always tell them, give me something. Help me help you. Like, I can’t. Because sometimes they give this stuff. I don’t know. I don’t know. [00:19:43] No, you know something. You know what? You don’t know. So what is not working for you? How can I help you? So just embracing humility, walking with grace, and just being confident. So those would be the two things. Confidence and humility is one of those themes in my class.

Nick Mays [00:19:57] Thank you. Thank you for sharing. Please. Moving on. Please share some of the recognitions you received in and outside of East Cleveland, as well as competitions or projects in which you were involved.

Najae Jackson [00:20:15] Oh, yeah. Okay. So two things. This year, in January, I did the Urban Land Institute Heinz competition, which was like, this crazy development where me and a couple architects got together from where did they go–to Kent State. And we were downtown at the collaborative studio, and it was like, two weeks. We had to quickly come up with this entire development project from start to finish, about, like, the phases of how we would do it, the money, the contracts, what we would put there, all of this. [00:20:43] And it was amazing. We didn’t win the money, but we did amazing. We had to do this marginal development near Fox 8 and all Horizon near Bratenahl. It was this hypothetical development of maybe, don’t quote me, like, 40 acres or something. And we just had to go through this entire process in two weeks. [00:21:02] And I did this while I was teaching and while it would be my third semester of grad school was rolling in, so I was like, oh, my goodness. But that was an amazing experience because the Urban Land Institute, connecting you with so many people, because I had never worked with these individuals. There were three teams in Ohio, and then we had to come together and then present. [00:21:20] So that led me to other connections. So that was amazing. And that was in January and then May. I had the opportunity of speaking at the American Planning Association. There was, like, a conference, and I was actually there talking about East Cleveland. So I talked about my perspective as a resident, as an Advocate as a die hard East Clevelander. [00:21:43] That was actually the first time somebody called me a champion in East Cleveland at that conference. And I was like, huh? I’m a what? She’s like, I would say you’re a champion of East Cleveland. I was like, I’m just a resident property owner, investor, whatever you like. But that was amazing to go in there and talk on, just to have the platform to speak about East Cleveland on a, you know, like a state level, because people were everywhere there at the planning association. [00:22:07] So to be able to and be recognized at a place like that, it was kind of like, okay, you’re doing good. It felt really good.

Nick Mays [00:22:15] Have you taken the time to unpack that statement of recognition by the individual who called you a champion of East Cleveland? Have you taken time to think about what that meant or what it means to you?

Najae Jackson [00:22:35] I think in that moment it was like shocking. And I was like, oh, that’s what people consider me to be. But I don’t think I’ve ever just sat in it and thought, like, what does this mean to you? I guess if I was to sit in now, it felt good. If I was to think about it, I was like, okay, so she sees that I’m working to do something for East Cleveland. [00:22:52] So for her to say, you’re a champion of East Cleveland, I never sat down and just thought about that. But now thinking about it, for me, it’s like I’m kind of doing small things that I was already doing. Like, I was already advocating for my city, I was already buying properties. I was already doing these things. [00:23:06] So just to see it and what some would say in such a short amount of time, it just felt good to feel recognized and understand, like, okay, we’re only at the very beginning, but you’re doing something right. So that’s how I felt.

Nick Mays [00:23:18] Before we pivot, can you, can you tell me about Teach for America? Is it Teach for America?

Najae Jackson [00:23:27] It’s Teach for America. What did they do? They kind of like prepped me to be a teacher because I wasn’t teaching prior. I subbed for and I was multi district sub in. I did Cleveland Heights, East Cleveland, Richmond and Euclid. And my uncle, he works for them on like a bigger, like admin level. [00:23:45] And he was like, well, hey, if you’re already subbing, you might as well roll in a classroom for teaching. And I kind of love subbing. So I was like, okay, let me try it. So they kind of prepped us over for the summer and then placed you within a school Based upon your testing and whatever you wanted to teach or your specialization. [00:24:01] So they kind of just prepped me to teach, and then I rolled in. So they kind of just bridged the gap of where I was and where I came. Because if you was telling me, like, 10 years ago, you’d be a teacher, I’d be like, who? I’m gonna be a what? But it just happened, and I’m like, okay, I like it. [00:24:16] I could do this. So. And I love math. So when people are like, you teach algebra? I’m like, yeah, I like it. So I don’t know.

Nick Mays [00:24:23] Do you think you’re making a difference?

Najae Jackson [00:24:26] 100%. One of my students literally asked me. She was like, why are you teaching? You got houses. You’re doing all of this. How can you do all of this? And just knowing that they saw that I’m doing all of these things that I’m teaching, I know for a fact, seeing me as a young black woman in a school, that I’m making an impact on my students. [00:24:43] I know for a fact. And even when they talk about me and they’re saying, oh, you’re from East Cleveland. It’s almost unbelievable. Or when I tell them, hey, I’m in school, they’re like, Ms. Jackson, you’re in grad school and you teach us. It’s like they know the potential of what they can do. [00:24:56] And by me being so much. Well, not so young, but by me being, you know, close in age with them, not too far from high school, they can see the future. They’re like, oh, wait, Ms. Jackson, you doing that? Or I write with them. I know the first day of school last year, I didn’t have the opportunity to do it this year, but I said, how can I help you beyond education? [00:25:13] And some would be like, help me get a credit card. How can I do this? How can I do that? And I’m like, you want somebody to really help you evolve as a person? So just beyond education, I know for a fact I make impact. Like, one of my seniors, she messaged me, hey, Ms. [00:25:28] Jackson, can I use you for a reference? Yes. Yes, you can. And they’re in college, or one of them called me. She works at Young or. Excuse me, goes to Youngstown. She was like, I just passed my math test. It was some of the stuff you taught me. And I was like, good job. [00:25:40] So having those babies look back, and in college or reaching out to me, it lets me know that I’m doing something right.

Nick Mays [00:25:46] Thank you. Thank you for that. Your story is so. It’s profound. Okay, so now I want to talk a little bit about your history. I’m going to pivot, talk about history, your history with East Cleveland, your family. We want to go back, you know, a little bit. Right. And talk about your connection and personal history to East Cleveland. [00:26:13] Can you talk about your family growing up in East Cleveland? But before we go there, like, yeah, where did your family come from in Ohio? Or kind of going back to Great migration? Like, where is your family, your ancestors, from in the South?

Najae Jackson [00:26:33] So to kind of go back and give you, like, a brief history about my family, where we came from. So, yes, from down south. Yes. Alabama, I would say. And it’s actually a small town. Wedowee, Alabama. That would be where my great grandmother, her name was Velma, and she had, like, three last names. [00:26:49] Velma Maribel o’ Neal Jackson. So that was her name. And she did move up here from Atlanta. Excuse me. Not Atlanta, Alabama. Excuse me. But we do have some family back in Alabama. Atlanta, like, probably six generations back. Oddly enough, I was able to go, like six generations back, and I can kind of name them, which is so sick. [00:27:07] But just to start with my great grandmother, her name was Velma. She migrated up here with two of her sisters. She is like, one of eight. She moved up with my aunt Ann and my aunt Pearl, and they started off on 117th in St. Clair, and then she lived here, Euclid Avenue, with my grandfather. [00:27:24] That was my great grandfather’s schoolboy. So I didn’t have the opportunity to meet either of them. But they are still here, resting in East Cleveland. They’re in Lakeview Cemetery. They had my grandmother, which is Princess. My grandmother’s name was Princess Jackson, hence my middle name. I also did not get to meet her either. [00:27:40] She died at the age of 36. And then my father. So I will say that’s how we got here. My father grew up here in East Cleveland, and my mother, they met at Heritage and moved on to Shaw. We’re high school sweethearts. And then I came along. So I would definitely say it started with us being in Alabama. [00:28:00] I keep saying that. Alabama. And they migrated up here, my grandmother and her two sisters. She met Schoolboy, which is like the East Haven biker legend. I’ll say his name in a room full of people that are like 50 plus, and they’re like, who? And I’m like, that’s my grandfather. But then my parents met at Shaw, and then me.

Nick Mays [00:28:19] Were you born in East Cleveland?

Najae Jackson [00:28:21] I was born at Rainbows Babies and Children. So right down the street as close as East Cleveland as it got. Yep.

Nick Mays [00:28:27] Can you talk about growing up in East Cleveland?

Najae Jackson [00:28:33] Family, people, beautiful houses, beautiful homes. People cared about curb appeal. Like, grass is cut, like, looks like they used a blaze. So if I was to talk about what East Cleveland used to look like or what I saw when I was a baby, it was beautiful. It was nice to me. Like, it wasn’t anything bad. [00:28:53] We had all the nice little pool spots around. And then years to come, and it just. It just slowly but surely changed. But one thing that always remained the same to me about East Cleveland, it’s always been home. Like, whether you move across town and come back, East Cleveland has always been home for me. [00:29:09] There’s always at least one family member who lives here, still stays there. Like that house, My great grandfather, at one point, all of his children’s names were on the house. So that’s the family’s house. So East Cleveland has always been home to me. I saw it go from

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