Constituents of Ohio's 11th congressional district listen during Congresswoman Shontel Brown's Town Hall in Cleveland, OH. on Thurs., Feb 20, 2025

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher

WATCH: Video Stream of the Town Hall

CLEVELAND, Ohio- Nearly 1,000 constituents attended Ohio Congresswoman Shontel Brown's (OH-11) 11th congressional district Town Hall held on Thursday evening at the Cleveland Metropolitan School District's Arnold Pinkney East Professional Center on Cleveland's largely Black east side. At the event, Congresswoman Brown, a Warrensville Hts. Democrat whose congressional district includes Cleveland, shared an update from Washington and then answered questions from the audience for over an hour as her constituents lined up in droves to speak.

"On a bitterly cold night, we had a packed auditorium and the message was clear: Northeast Ohio does not want the Trump-Musk agenda, Brown said Friday to Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader. "My constituents are upset, worried, and outraged by the attacks on civil servants, the illegal funding freezes disrupting services, and the rollback of civil rights and equal opportunity programs that take us backwards. I am grateful to everyone who attended our Town Hall and those who asked questions and raised points of concern."

One constituent asked the congresswoman how Blacks, poor people and others would survive Trump's efforts to cut SNAP benefits and other government services while Elon Musk uses DOGE to dismantle or limit consequential government agencies and fire government employees.

The congresswoman said, "We are going to fight Trump's agenda in Congress, in the courts, and in the community.

Trump has said that his primary agenda includes trimming government fat and ridding the country of government waste.

At the same time, critics say he is simultaneously seeking tax cuts for the rich and amenities for corporate America and his billionaire friends and associates.

At the Town Hall on Thursday, Rep. Brown spoke out on the latest actions by the Trump administration, her efforts to subpoena Elon Musk, Republican budget proposals to cut Medicaid, SNAP and other key programs, and her proposed legislation to restore federal anti-discrimination policies for federal contractor employees.

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