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By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-Chief

CLEVELAND, Ohio- The Cuyahoga County Republican Party will be led by two women, one of them Black, a party leadership shakeup where long time party chair Rob Frost lost his  party chairmanship to Lisa Stickan per Tuesday's election, and activist Donna Walker -Brown, who is Black, beat Strongsville Mayor Thomas Perciak to win the executive committee chairman seat, both of the positions paid positions.

Stickan is the first woman elected to the powerful post.

Other officers positions filled were for vice chairman, secretary, treasurer and assistant treasurer for both the central and executive committees.

Both of the women, Stickan and Walker-Brown, an inner city Cleveland resident who also leads the Cleveland Inner City Republican Movement, join Ohio Republican Party Chair Jane Timken, who was elected in 2017, as powerful women, among others, on the move in American politics.

President of Highland Heights City Council and a staff attorney for Common Pleas General Division Judge Wanda Jones, who is Black and seeking election to the bench in November against assistant county prosecutor Rick Bell, Stickan won for party chair over Frost by a two-to-one margin, 206-113.

Peter Corrigan, who ran unsuccessfully for county executive against Democrat Armond Budish in 2018 with Walker Brown as his campaign manager, was the executive committee chair but chose not to seek reelection, though nominated,

Instead, he nominated Walker- Brown in his place.

"I wanted Donna Walker-Brown to win because she is a real leader," said Corrigan.

Walker-Brown said Corrigan stepped aside and encouraged her to run to push for diversity in key leadership roles in the county Republican party, a party at the county, state and national levels that is often criticized for a dearth of women and minorities in leadership roles.

Stickan is a delegate this year to the Republican National Convention for the Trump campaign

The voting of officers by elected officials of the party and the rank- and- file of central committee members was by mail-in ballots as the coronavirus that has killed thousands nationally and millions worldwide continues to sweep the nation.

"While I believe Rob Frost did an excellent job, I am excited to see two women lead the Cuyahoga County Republican Party in Lisa Stickan as chair of the county Republican Party, and Donna Walker-Brown chair of the executive committee, and though Donna Walker Brown's representation is unlimited, she will also be representing the minority communities," said central committee member Sally Florkiewicz.

Sources say Trump complained that Frost was not energetic enough about his candidacy.

Others say it is simply time for new leadership.

"It's about time that the Cuyahoga County Republican Party has chosen two women to lead in this day and time, including a qualified and committed Black woman and community activist in Donna Walker-Brown  as its executive committee chairwoman," said Cleveland activist Alfred Porter Jr, a Black Republican and president of Black on Black Crime Inc.

A bondsman in addition to a community activist, Walker-Brown told Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com that she will lead the county Republican party in her new role as executive committer chair with all her might.

"I will do my best to represent the Republican Party of Cuyahoga County as its executive committee chair," said Walker-Brown.

The second largest of 88 counties in Ohio, Cuyahoga County includes Cleveland and is roughly 29 percent Black.

It is a Democratic stronghold as Democratic registered voters in the county outnumber Republicans two-to-one.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog in Ohio and in the Midwest.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com

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Staff article

SELMA, Alabama-President Joe Biden marched with Civil Right leaders and activists across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Sunday, March 5, 2023 to commemorate the 58th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," the Sunday 58 years ago where activists were beaten and brutalized by police for marching across the bridge from Montgomery, Alabama to Selma, Alabama to demand passage of the Voting Rights Act.

Flanked by Civil Rights leaders the Revs Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, seasoned Congressman James Clyburn and other prominent people, Biden said that "the right to vote and to have your vote count is the threshold of democracy and liberty. "

The president also called for more voting rights protections.

Former president Barack Obama gave a historic speech before thousands at the same venue in 2015 when he was president to mark the 50th anniversary of the bridge crossing, a celebratory event that also drew select dignitaries and several members of Congress, including the late John Lewis. Then a young Civil rights activists, Lewis marched across the bridge with protesters 58-years-ago for the Civil Rights march for which "Bloody Sunday" draws its name.

Selma, said Obama when he spoke at the bottom of the bridge in 2015, "was part of a broader campaign that spanned generations, and those that crossed the infamous Edmund Pettus Bridge years ago "gave courage to millions."

"Because of what they did, the doors of opportunity swung open not just for African-Americans, but for every American," said Obama, the nation's first Black president who won election in 2008 and reelection in 2012 for another four-year term.

The attack by police on marchers in Selma 58 years ago on March 7, 1965 was a prelude to two other marches within a five day period, both of them led by the late Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the last one of which thousands crossed the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge untouched. Months later, in August of 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which is under attack today by Republican led state legislatures across the country that are adopting laws to suppress the Black vote And this is no doubt coupled with  U.S. Supreme Court decisions striking down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

The Supreme Court, in 2013, struck down the provision of the Voting Rights Act that required Southern states to get federal court approval to adopt or substantively amend state voting rights laws.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most readBlack digital newspaper and blog in Ohio and in the Midwest Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.

Staff article:

CLEVELAND, Ohio- Community activists opposing the recent deaths of jail inmates and a new multi-million dollar Cuyahoga County Jail slated for construction by county council will hold a rally and press conference on Monday, Nov 27 at 2pm in downtown Cleveland at the Justice Center outside of the jail at West Lakeside  Ave and W. 3rd Street.

In a press release, activists, both Black and White alike, said they "demand answers from County Executive Chris Ronayne, who took office this year, County Sheriff Harold Pretel, and the county council members regarding four recent deaths in the jail. "

Activists say they will also use the occasion to address the recent police shooting of a community member during a wellness check in Garfield Heights, a largely Black Cleveland suburb.

The coalition, according to the press release, includes the Cuyahoga County Jail Coalition, No New Jail Cuyahoga, Black Lives Matter Cleveland, Inter-Religious Taskforce on Central America, and REACH.

Activists said that the protest will demand transparency and accountability for the four inmate deaths,  immediate and substantive changes to the conditions in the jail, and a moratorium on the sale of the Justice Complex and building of a new $750 million jail complex until the systemic problems with leadership and staff problems are solved.

The recent inmate deaths, and a score of inmate overdoses show that jail officials are not adequately addressing medical needs of community members who are incarcerated, say activists. Furthermore, they say that two of the four deaths are under investigation due to questionable circumstances around their deaths. In the most recent case of Rogelio Latorre.

Cleveland.com wrote in an article that "It is unclear why Latorre was in the jail. Local and federal court dockets do not list him, and county spokespersons did not return messages seeking comment." This is also fueling the controversy.

Since the stunning US Marshals Report in 2018 that found inhumane conditions for inmates, there have been some 27 known deaths in the jail, say activists And in 2022 alone they say there were seven known deaths and jail activists

A new jail complex will not solve the staffing and leadership problems that these deaths allegedly expose, activists say.

No New Jail Cuyahoga and REACH say they will speak about the tragic shooting of a community member by police during a wellness check in Garfield Heights.

The new jail , say activists, was rushed, is non-transparent, and is a costly project that will not do anything to help change conditions for incarcerated people in the county.

Cuyahoga County includes Cleveland and is Ohio's second largest county out of 88 counties it is roughly 29 percent Black and is a Democratic stronghold, as is Cleveland, a majority Black major American city dealing with increased crime in the Black community and heightens unsolved murders of Black women.

Activists want more done as to the malicious prosecutions of Blacks and denial of indigent counsel to Black people by common pleas judges and the county.

The judges, say activists, are a huge part of the problem as to jail overcrowding and Blacks and others jailed illegally and they want to know what role, if any, the judges play as to heightened jail deaths since 2018.

One former jail inmate, speaking on condition of anonymity, said she has been jailed in the county at least three times for nothing by racist and wicked White judges and was allegedly told by inmates via the most recent time she was jailed that she would eventually be killed next and that police, crooked prosecutors, and some judges want her murdered to silence her when the time is right. They want to get it done without getting caught, she said.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com the most read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio and in the Midwest Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.

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Protesters rally in downtown Cleveland, Ohio on Sat., June 14, 2025 as part of "No Kings" rallies and marches, a national day of action against President Donald Trump's agenda

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Staff article

CLEVELAND, Ohio- "No Kings" rallies and marches were held in Washington, D.C. and across the country on Sat., June 14, 2025 to protest President Donald Trump's policy agenda, nationwide events that coincided with the president's $45 million military parade held in D.C. Saturday evening. It was notably the president's 79th birthday.

The president's parade is to commemorate 250 years of service by the U.S. Army and to showcase the nation's military, though his critics say he is merely grandstanding and wasting taxpayer money for unnecessary events.

Hundreds of “No Kings” demonstrations were planned in all 50 states, some 16 of them in Northeast Ohio. All of them were designed to protest what opponents say is Trump's authoritarianism and harassment of immigrants, and his overreaching executive orders that Congressional Democrats say are politically motivated, anti-democratic, and ludicrous at best.

Northeast Ohio had "No Kings" rallies in several cities Saturday, including Cleveland, Chagrin Falls, Parma, Pepper Pike, and Akron.

Thousands turned out to the "No Kings" events throughout the country, which were culminated following a series of anti-Trump protests in recent weeks or months that have drawn large crowds, including a nationwide "Unite and Resist" protest on March 8 for International Women's Day. (Note: Cleveland's March 8 "Unite and Resist" rally and march drew roughly 2,000 people to Market Square Park and was organized by Women's March Cleveland, the largest grassroots women's rights group in Northeast Ohio).

At Cleveland's "No Kings" rally and march on Saturday afternoon, which was held at the Free Stamp at Willard Park next to City Hall and organized by Cuyahoga County Democratic Party operatives, energized protesters carried anti-Trump and "No Kings" signs as speaker after speaker criticised the president on issues ranging from DEI, healthcare, education, immigration, social security and federal workers, to Medicaid, SNAP benefits, and a litany of other measures.

Kathy Wray Coleman is a longtime Cleveland journalist, blogger, digital and social media reporter, and seasoned investigative reporter

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com are the most-read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio. Tel. 216-659-0473. Email-editor@clevelandurban