LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Devine Carama grew up with an up-close perspective of the darker side of Black history, a view of the racism that permeated our society and limited opportunities for our ancestors.
“My mother remembers when the schools were segregated, when they desegregated, and when she was bussed to the other side of town,” Devine recalls. “My dad talked about coming home from Vietnam fighting for his country, but then he goes to a bar outside Atlanta. They serve his Army buddies, but they refuse to serve him."
“I had several books, as young as five and six years old, reading and learning about the layered history of our people. So, when I went to school, I found myself in elementary school almost combative about what we were learning, because it didn’t feel full, it didn’t feel authentic.”
Those stories of his parents’ experiences and the knowledge gained on his own helped shape Devine’s thinking growing up and propelled him to take a leadership position of his own.
“I think 20, 30 years ago, it was the Black faith leaders who were leading the movement. But I think now, with the explosion of hip-hop, which is where I come from, you look at social media influencers, you look at the way we consume media now, leadership looks different.”
“Different” is what Lexington looks like since Mayor Linda Gorton hired him to take over the One Lexington initiative in the summer of 2021.
“Coming out of the pandemic, we saw a huge spike in gun violence nationally, but definitely here in Lexington,” Devine says. “We had been trying to couple some evidence-based strategies with a Lexington-centered approach. We’ve pulled in community partners from all sectors – school system, faith community…all together to form a comprehensive plan to address youth gun violence and we’ve seen progress.”
The change has been astonishing. Devine says in 2023, Lexington saw a 50 percent decrease in homicides in a year that was under 100 shootings for the first time in six years.
“That’s encouraging moving forward. But the work is far from over. So we’re really focusing on the root causes. A lot of what we protested about in 2020 are those root causes and so how can we go from that continuum of services and programs to a continuum of opportunity? A more equitable city and I think we’re making the right steps towards that.”
