The Silence Around Childhood Trauma Awareness Month in Cincinnati Speaks Volumes

June is officially Childhood Trauma Awareness Month in the city of Cincinnati—a designation that should carry weight, urgency, and city-wide conversation. But walk through any neighborhood, flip through local news channels, or scroll social media, and you’ll hear nothing but silence. No press releases. No community forums. No rallies. No recognition of the man responsible for this proclamation: Ronald Hummons.

Ronald Hummons and his team at the Childhood Trauma Emergency Group have been fighting for years to bring light to what continues to be one of the most destructive public health crises in our city: unaddressed childhood trauma, especially in Black communities. His advocacy has pushed policy conversations, helped frame trauma as a public emergency, and made Cincinnati one of the first cities in the country to recognize Childhood Trauma Awareness Month. That’s no small feat. So why is it being treated like it never happened?

Let’s be clear: Childhood trauma is not a buzzword. It's a daily reality in communities shaped by poverty, systemic neglect, violence, and generational pain. It's what keeps children up at night and out of classrooms, what grows into adult mental health crises, addiction, and incarceration. And yet, when someone like Ronald—a Black man from this very city who has survived trauma himself and lost his son to suicide—takes a stand and fights to make that pain visible, the city turns away.

You have to ask: Why?

Is it because the message is too real? Too raw? Too rooted in the parts of our city many would rather ignore? Or is it that the messenger doesn’t fit the polished mold of who gets celebrated in Cincinnati politics and press? Ronald doesn’t have a pedigree, but he has pain. He doesn’t have corporate sponsorship, but he has community. He doesn’t speak in carefully crafted soundbites, but his truth is louder than any slogan. And maybe, just maybe, that’s what makes the city uncomfortable.

The silence isn’t just disrespectful—it’s dangerous. Every day that goes by without acknowledging this month, this movement, this man’s work, is another day a child in Cincinnati suffers in silence. Another day we normalize neglect. Another day we pretend trauma doesn't shape the future of our city.

We can’t afford to be quiet. We can’t let politics, pride, or indifference drown out the voices of survivors and advocates. Ronald Hummons has turned his personal pain into public purpose. The least the city can do is stand beside him, not just on paper with a proclamation, but in practice—with action, investment, and yes, acknowledgement.

Politics, pride, or apathy should never outweigh the voices of trauma survivors and those who fight for them. Ronald Hummons has taken his personal experience with childhood trauma and turned it into a public mission for change. His advocacy has brought attention to an issue that affects thousands of families—but he can’t do it alone. He needs the city to stand beside him, not just with symbolic gestures or proclamations, but with meaningful action, investment, and above all, acknowledgment.

Childhood Trauma Awareness Month is not just a date on the calendar. It’s a call to action—a reminder that healing begins with listening, learning, and leading. This movement is about saving lives and shaping a better future for Cincinnati’s youth.

Now is the time for city leaders, media, and community members to rise above indifference and recognize the importance of this cause. The work of Ronald Hummons deserves more than silence. It deserves support.

Childhood Trauma Awareness Month deserves more than a line on a calendar. It deserves a city that listens, learns, and leads. Cincinnati, it’s time to break the silence.