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Rep. Sykes, OLBC call on Ohio's governor to give Black Ohioans access to the COVID-19 vaccine as Gov. DeWine unveils his proposed $75 billion two-year state budget....Black state lawmakers say Black Ohioans are systematically denied access to the vaccine

02 February 2021

Kathy

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest, and the most read independent digital news in Ohio. 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.

By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor in chief. Coleman trained for 17 years as a reporter with the Call and Post Newspaper and is an investigative and political reporter with a background in legal and scientific reporting. She is also a former 15-year public school biology teacher.

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM, COLUMBUS, Ohio –The Ohio Legislative Black Caucus (OLBC), led by Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-34), an Akron Democrat and the House minority leader, is calling on GOP Gov. Mike DeWine to address disparities against Black Ohioans regarding the lack of access to the COVID-19 vaccine and the denial of adequate technological resources such as computers and the Internet as the death toll for the coronavirus pandemic continues to mount and Blacks remain at higher risk for the virus.

The group, which includes Black state lawmakers out of Cleveland of state Sen. Sandra Williams (D-21) and state Reps Stephanie Howse (D-11), Juanita Brent (D-12) and Terrence Upchurch (D-10), and Janine Boyd of neighboring Cleveland Hts (D-9), is upset over the controversy and stopped short of calling the governor a racist.

They say Blacks are being systematically denied access to the vaccine, serious words toward a governor up for reelection in 2022 who has political war chest to date of $3.6 million, more than any incumbent governor or perspective gubernatorial candidate countrywide.

Though Black Ohioans comprise 14% of the state’s population, they make up 27% of those hospitalized at one time or another with COVID-1, state data reveals, and they are dying at rates at least three to five times greater than their White counterparts in Ohio, and nationwide in some communities.

"This is the perfect opportunity for Gov. DeWine to step up, reaffirm his belief that racism is a public health crisis, and take the emergency steps to confront COVID-19 for Black Ohioans," said Rep. Sykes in a press release on Monday.

The daughter of state Sen. Dr. Vernon Sykes, and former state Rep. Barbara Sykes, both also of Akron, the younger Sykes said Black Ohioans also need greater access to the Internet, and to computers and other technology.

Ohio's fifth largest city, Akron is the native town of NBA megastar and Los Angeles Laker LeBron James, who began his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and is a city of some 200,000 people that is roughly 30 miles south of Cleveland.

It has a largely Black pocket the Sykes' reside in that is included in the largely Black 11th Congressional district that also encompasses most of Cleveland and its eastern suburbs of Cuyahoga County, and staggering sections of Akron's Summit County.

The demand by Blacks state lawmakers for fair play relative to Ohio's Black community regarding the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine comes as the governor on Monday unveiled his $75 billion two-year budget proposal and brags of "no new taxes," a proposal that state lawmakers will vote on in coming months, and that includes $1 billion slated to help the state regroup in response to the crippling pandemic.

A breakdown of the governor's budget proposal shows $460 million for small business relief, $450 million on infrastructure projects in Ohio communities, and $50 million on a marketing campaign to promote the state as a good place to live and work.

No new taxes while people in Ohio starve from a raging pandemic and while Blacks continue to disproportionately die of COVID-19 is nothing for Ohio's governor to brag about, data show.

Ohio has reported 896,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 11,178 deaths since the virus hit the U.S. with a vengeance last March.

The deadly virus has spread to all 50 states and Washington, D.C. and the nation has nearly 26.3 million reported cases and some 442,000 people dead since early March, worldwide figures showing that there are 103 million cases globally and roughly 2.24 million deaths.

And more than 40 million Americans are out of work due to the crippling pandemic.

Some seven percent of Ohioans 1.6 million people have taken the vaccine, and most of them are elderly.

It is being distributed in phases and some Blacks say Black people need their own phase with equal and greater access to the vaccine since the virus has hit America's Black community more so than any other ethic group.

A former U.S. senator and Ohio attorney general, Gov. DeWine enjoys a Republican-dominated state legislature, and Republicans hold every statewide office aside from three seats on the seven member Ohio Supreme Court, including the governor's office, and the offices of the state attorney general, auditor, treasurer, and secretary of state.

Last Updated on Friday, 05 February 2021 03:06

Pete Buttigieg becomes first openly gay U.S. transportation secretary following U.S. Senate confirmation to the post this week

03 February 2021

Kathy

Pictured if Pete Buttigieg

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM, COLUMBUS, Ohio –Former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg,one of president Joe Biden's formidable rival's for president, among many, was confirmed by the Democratically-controlled U.S. Senate on Tuesday as transportation secretary, becoming the first openly gay man to serve on a U.S. presidential cabinet in American history.

He succeeds former transportation secretary Elaine Chao, a millionaire Trump appointee who resigned from the post early last month and the wife of U.S. Sen Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former longtime Senate majority leader.

Confirmed by a vote of 86-13 and along partisan lines, the 39-year-old Buttigieg said he looks forward to bringing reforms to the Department of Transportation from reducing greenhouse gas admissions to rebuilding roads and bridges and supporting Biden's ambitious climate and infrastructure agendas.

He said in a tweet after he was confirmed that he is elated and honored to serve.

“I’m honored and humbled by today’s vote in the Senate and ready to get to work,” said Buttigieg

His supporters were exited too and called his confirmation a historic moment in American history.

“Congratulations to Secretary Pete Buttigieg on his historic confirmation,” Alphonso David, president of Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, said after the vote. “This confirmation breaks through a barrier that has existed for too long, where LGBTQ identity served as an impediment to nomination or confirmation at the highest level of government.”

Buttigieg is a graduate of Harvard College and Oxford University, who attended Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, and he is a former intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve.

He is also a Afghanistan War veteran.

He was mayor of South Bend from 2012-2018, when he decided against seeking a third term

As a 2020 candidate for the Democratic nomination for president Buttigieg narrowly won the Iowa caucuses and placed a close second in the New Hampshire primary, becoming the first openly gay candidate to win a presidential primary or caucus.

He quit the presidential race last March and endorsed Biden, who went on to become the Democratic nominee, and ultimately the nation's 46th president.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 03 February 2021 18:46

Congresswoman Marcia Fudge's Senate committee hearings for her nomination for HUD secretary to resume this week....Fudge's largely Black congressional district includes Cleveland....By Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

31 January 2021

Kathy

Pictured is Ohio 11th Congressional District Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH)

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM, WASHINGTON, D.C. –The Senate Committee on Banking Housing and Urban Affairs will resume committee hearings on Monday morning for Ohio 11th Congressional District Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge, a Warrensville Heights Democrat and former city mayor whose largely Black congressional district includes Cleveland and a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus tapped by President Joe Biden as his pick for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

If the committee approves Fudge's nomination it will then go before the full Senate for a vote

The congresswoman has bipartisan support for the secretary post, including from both of Ohio's U.S. senators, Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, and Rob Portman, a Republican federal lawmaker out of Cincinnati.

Brown lives in Fudge's congressional district and is a Fudge ally, and he is a co-chair of the hearing committee.

Portman, who announced last week that he will not seek reelection to the Senate in 2022, said Fudge is more than qualified to lead HUD.

"I don't always agree with Marcia on policy, she certainly does not always agree with me, but I can speak to her integrity, her commitment to justice and the strength of her character," said Portman.

A loyal Democrat respected and admired across partisan lines, the congresswoman discussed her goals for HUD if confirmed to lead the agency and faced no serious obstacles on the first day of confirmation hearings last Thursday but was posed questions on public comments she has made about Congressional and other Republicans.

The hearing committee, on Thursday, asked her to research those concerns and to be prepared to respond Monday, where Senate Republicans and Democrats will again grill the congresswoman relative to her nomination for HUD secretary.

HUD has had the most Black secretaries in American history with five, including Dr Ben Carson, a Republican who served under former president Donald Trump.

Last Updated on Friday, 05 February 2021 16:06

Iconic actress and Civil Rights advocate Cicely Tyson is dead at 96....The Oscar-nominated actress won Emmy, Tony and other prestigious awards, including the Presidential Metal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2016

29 January 2021

Kathy

NEW YORK-Emmy and Tony-award winning actress Cicely Tyson (pictured), a Civil Rights advocate and pioneer and pacesetter for Black women in theater, film and television who is best known for starring roles in iconic films such as “Sounder,” and “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.” died on Thursday.

She was 96.

Funeral arrangements are pending

Tyson's career spanned some 65 years.

Sounder brought her a nomination for best actress.

In addition to her Screen Actor Guild Award, her Tony Award, her Emmy Awards, and her Black Reel Awards, Tyson received several other honors, including induction into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.

In 1980, she received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement

Tyson was a recipient of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors in 2015 and was awarded the United States' highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, by President Barack Obama in November 2016

She was awarded the NAACP's 2010 Spingarn Medal for her contribution to the entertainment industry, her modeling career, and her support of Civil Rights

“I have managed Miss Tyson’s career for over 40 years, and each year was a privilege and blessing,” her manager, Larry Thompson, said in a statement on the actresses' death. “Cicely thought of her new memoir as a Christmas tree decorated with all the ornaments of her personal and professional life. Today she placed the last ornament, a Star, on top of the tree.”

An elegant and dignified actress who broke racial barriers and won and Emmy and a Tony at age 89, Tyson's memoir “Just As I Am” was published on Tuesday.

She began in movies with the 1959 Harry Belafonte film “Odds Against Tomorrow,” and later “The Comedians,” “The Last Angry Man,” “A Man Called Adam” and “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.”

As an older and seasoned actress she had roles in some of Tyler Perry's films, including "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," and "Madea's Family Reunion."

The daughter of immigrants, she was born in Harlem in 1924 to working class parents.

At 21 she was discovered by an and has a successful modeling career before taking on theater, television and film roles.

She had a daughter at 17 and at 18 she married Kenneth Franklin, whom she later divorced after he abandoned her. She later married the late jazz trumpeter Miles Davis during a ceremony conducted by Andrew Young, who was the mayor of Atlanta at the time, and at the home of Bill Cosby.

Her tumultuous marriage to Davis ended in divorce in 1989, two years before he died in 1991.

Last Updated on Friday, 29 January 2021 18:30

Senate committee hearings begin for HUD secretary nominee Marcia Fudge, a Democrat whose largely Black 11th congressional district includes Cleveland and who has support from both of Ohio's U.S. senators, namely Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman.

28 January 2021

Kathy

Ohio 11th Congressional District Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH)

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM, WASHINGTON, D.C. –The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs senate committee hearings began on Thursday for Ohio 11th Congressional District Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge, a Warrensville Heights Democrat and former city mayor whose largely Black congressional district includes Cleveland and a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus tapped by President Joe Biden as his pick for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

If the committee approves her nomination it will then go before the full Senate for a vote on possible confirmation.

Brown lives in Fudge's congressional district and is a Fudge ally, and he is one of the co-chair's of the hearing committee.

Portman, who announced earlier this week that he will not seek reelection to the Senate in 2022, said Fudge is more than qualified to lead HUD.

"I don't always agree with Marcia on policy, she certainly does not always agree with me, but I can speak to her integrity, her commitment to justice and the strength of her character," said Portman.

A loyal Democrat, the congresswoman faced no serious obstacles on the first day of hearings but was posed questions on public comments she has made about Congressional and other Republicans.

HUD has had the most Black secretaries in American history with five, including Dr Ben Carson, a Republican who served under former president Donald Trump.

Last Updated on Friday, 05 February 2021 16:15

Michelle Obama named the most admired woman in the world, ahead of Kamala Harris, Melania Trump and Oprah.... By Clevelandurbannews.com and-Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black digital news leaders

28 January 2021

Kathy

Pictured is former first lady Michelle Obama

Clevelandurbannews.com and-Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog. Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. 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.

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio-Former first lady Michelle Obama, the nation's first Black first lady who graced the White House from 2009-2017 with her husband Barack Obama, a two term former president and the nation's first Black president, is the most admired woman in the world, according to a recent Gallup poll.

She placed ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris, former first lady Melania Trump and media mogul Oprah Winfrey, who came in second, third and fourth place respectively.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. 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.

Last Updated on Thursday, 28 January 2021 22:35

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Rep. Sykes, OLBC call on Ohio's governor to give Black Ohioans access to the COVID-19 vaccine as Gov. DeWine unveils his proposed $75 billion two-year state budget....Black state lawmakers say Black Ohioans are systematically denied access to the vaccine

Pete Buttigieg becomes first openly gay U.S. transportation secretary following U.S. Senate confirmation to the post this week

Congresswoman Marcia Fudge's Senate committee hearings for her nomination for HUD secretary to resume this week....Fudge's largely Black congressional district includes Cleveland....By Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

Iconic actress and Civil Rights advocate Cicely Tyson is dead at 96....The Oscar-nominated actress won Emmy, Tony and other prestigious awards, including the Presidential Metal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2016

Senate committee hearings begin for HUD secretary nominee Marcia Fudge, a Democrat whose largely Black 11th congressional district includes Cleveland and who has support from both of Ohio's U.S. senators, namely Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman.

Michelle Obama named the most admired woman in the world, ahead of Kamala Harris, Melania Trump and Oprah.... By Clevelandurbannews.com and-Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black digital news leaders

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