CLEVELAND, Ohio-A mass rally for justice for seventeen-year old Trayvon Martin will be held on Sun., April 15 from 3:00 to 6 pm at The Second New Hope Baptist Church, 2917 E. 116th St. at Buckeye Ave. in Cleveland., Oh., telephone number 216- 229-2022.
Contacts for the rally are Sears Mitchell at 216-548-4478, the office of the Vision of Angels Youth Foundation at 216-543-5330, Imperial Women Leader Kathy Wray Coleman at 216-932-3114, Peace in the Hood Leader Khalid Samad at 216-538-4043, and Black on Black Crime Founder Art McKoy at 216-253-4070.
The event is supported by Cleveland area grassroots organizations, Cleveland NAACP and SCLC officials and elected officials and is sponsored by the Vision of Angels Youth Foundation and its 40- member youth dance troop, which is led by Sears Mitchell, 46.
A blind man who says he is handi-capable and not handicapped, Mitchell said that he can see through the injustice of the Florida legal system in refusing to charge White neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman for killing the unarmed Black Travon in Feb. in Sandford, FL.
The refusal of Florida law enforcement authorities to charge Zimmerman with Trayvon's murder for following him, stalking him and then gunning the teen down has sparked nationwide protests led by Civil Rights activists such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton, and National NAACP President Ben Jealous. (Editor's note: Zimmerman has since been charged by a special prosecutor with second degree murder and a host of other charges, though Mitchell said that Sunday's rally will go forward as the community demands a fair trial for justice for Trayvon).
"I can see through a lot of things and the injustice in the Trayvon Martin case is just one of them," said Mitchell." We invite everybody to the mass rally and urge people to wear hoodies because Trayvon was killed wearing a hoodie. This rally will be well attended and will include people of all ages and backgrounds coming together."
Sears said that his group will rally from 3:00 to 4 pm outside of the church and then gather inside for a praise dance session by his dance troop and others, and another rally with speakers that will include himself, State Sen Nina Turner (D-25), SCLC Member and United Pator's in Mission Executive Director The Rev. Tony Minor, the Lucasville Uprising Freedom Network and Cleveland Chapter of the New Black Panther Party Leader Abdul Qahhar, Missing Persons Advocate Albert Hudson, area clergy, Linda Matthews of the Office of Congresswoman Marcia L.Fudge, East Cleveland City Councilman Nate Martin, East Cleveland Coalition Leader Charles E. Bibb Sr., Asst. Pastor Mike Oliver, youth participants, Carl Stokes Brigade President and Group Members David Patterson, Marva Patterson and Genevieve Mitchell, Underground Railroad Leader and Cleveland NAACP Vice President Dr. Eugene Jordan, Peace in the Hood Founder Khalid Samad, Empowerment of Women and Goddesses Blessing Goddesses Leader The Rev. Dr. LaDonna Blalock, Occupy Cleveland Members Leatrice Tolls and Peter Schanz, Criminal Defense Attorney and 100 Black Mem Member Michael Nelson, Cleveland Councilpersons Kenneth Johnson, Mamie Mitchell, Jeff Johnson and Zach Reed, State Reps. Bill Patmon (D-10) and John Barnes Jr. (D12), Survivor/Victims of Tragedy Founder Judy Martin, Imperial Women Leader Kathy Wray Coleman, Community Activist Donna Walker Brown, Cleveland Jobs With Justice Executive Director Debbie Kline, Black on Black Crime Founder Art McKoy, Committee to Bring Home Jamela and Jamyla Leaders Angelique Cunningham, Black on Black Crime Youth Rappers Leader Al Porter, Oppressed People's Nation Leader Ernest Smith, and a host of others.
Other participating organizations and people include 100 Black Men of Cleveland, the Cleveland Chapter of the New Black Panther Party, the East Cleveland Coalition, the Call and Post Newspaper, the Moses Sisters, Peace in the Hood, Cleveland Urban News.Com and the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog. Com, the Cleveland African American Museum, the United Pastor's in Mission, Occupy Cleveland, Cleveland Jobs With Justice, the Task Force for Community Mobilization, Cleveland NAACP Officials, the National Institute For Restorative Justice, the Greater Cleveland Shurah Council, the United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the International Council for Urban Peace, Justice and Empowerment, V.O.I.C.E.S., the Northeastern Ohio Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, Cleveland F.I.S.T, Workers's World, the Imperial Women, Divine Mind Grind Organization, Enlightened Jewels, Spirit of Sankofa Center for Women, The Social Justice Committee of Greater Cleveland, The Urban Justice Society, Organize Ohio, Henley Consultants, the Oppressed People's Nation, the Carl Stokes Brigade, the Greater Cleveland Immigrant Support Network, the People's Forum, the Empowerment of Women, Goddesses Blessing Goddesses the People's Fight Back Center, the Joaquin Hicks Real People's Movement, People for the Imperial Act, the Bronaugh Sisters Committee, the People's Forum, the Greater Cleveland Immigrant Support Network, the Committee to Bring Home Jamela and Jamyla, the Cleveland African-American Museum, the People's Fight Back Center, the Lucasville Uprising Freedom Network, Occupy the Hood Cleveland, Stop Targeting Ohio's Poor, Women Speak Out For Peace and Justice, the Baptist Ministry Conference, the Family Connection, the Spot Youth Empowerment Organization, Revolution Books, In Touch, the Audacity of Hope Foundation, the Knowledge Youth Group Committee, Survivors/Victims of Tragedy, 11 Congressional District Representatives, Ohio State Legislatosr and Cleveland City Council members.
Reach Journalist Kathy Wray Coleman at editor@clevelandurbannews.com and phone number: 216-932-3114.
