Pictured are Ohio Senator Nickie Antonio of Lakewood (D-OH) (wearing black), state Representative Bride Rose Sweeney (D-OH) of Cleveland (wearing maroon), and Cleveland activist Genevieve Mitchell (wearing scarf)

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com-CLEVELAND, Ohio-State Sen Nickie Antonio, state Rep Bride Rose Sweeney and longtime Cleveland activist Genevieve Mitchell are the keynote speakers for Women's March Cleveland and Imperial Women Coalition's "Bans Off Our Bodies Seymour Avenue Anniversary Rally & March" at 5:30 pm at 2207 Seymour Avenue in Cleveland in front of the late serial rapist Ariel Castro's since demolished home on Fri, May 6. It is the ninth year anniversary since Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight got away from Castro after a neighbor, upon hearing Berry's cry for help, broke down the home door and rescued her. (Contact organizers Kathy Wray Coleman at (216) 659-0473 and Alfred Porter Jr at (216) 804-7462 for

more information).

Organizers said that activists will also rally for the reproductive rights of women as to public policy changes in Ohio's state legislature and as the U.S. Supreme Court is set to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal nationwide.

A local guitar player, divorced father of two, and former Cleveland schools bus driver, Castro hanged himself at 53-years-old in prison in September of 2013, a month into his life sentence without the possibility of parole. He was a sad character and a serial rapist of children and women.

Knight was a young woman when Castro abducted her, and DeJesus and Berry were teenagers. The kidnappings caught international attention and highlight the dangers women and girls face in Cleveland Ohio, which has been dubbed one of the most dangerous major American cities for Black women via data compiled by CityLab

Led by activist groups Women's Mrch Cleveland, Imperial Women Coalition, the Laura Cowan Foundation and Black on Black Crime Inc,  Clevelanders rally annually on the anniversary date of the escape of the Seymour Avenue  kidnapping victims, who were raped repeatedly by Castro. He even had the nerve to father a child by Berry during the ordeal, and would come to missings persons rallies sponsored by community activists and famly members of the captive woman and teens.

His since demolished home on Seymour Avenue, where he initially kept his three enslaved victims chained in the basement, would later come to be known in Hollywood terms as "the House of Horrors."

Activists, elected officials and community members and mothers of women and girls who have been raped and/or murdered in Cleveland are among the speakers at Friday's anniversray rally, and supporters of the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center and the Journey Center for Safety and Healing are also slated to attend the event, organizers said.

"Activists  will rally for the reproductive rights of women and we invite city and county officials to the event to come tell us what has been done to find missing women and children and to minimize violence against women in the largely Black city of Cleveland as crimes against women and girls, including rape and murder, continue to escalate," said activist Kathy Wray Coleman, who has been the head organizer of all but one of the Seymour Avenue anniversary rallies and is a former high school biology teacher who leads Women's March Cleveland and the Imperial Women Coalition (Editor's note: The Imperial Women Coalition was formed following the murders of 11 Black women by the late serial killer Anthony Sowell on Imperial Avenue on Cleveland's largely Black east side).

Activist Laura Cowan, a CNN Hero and domestic violence survivor, said that "while we are pleased that the Ariel Castro victims got to safety we still have so many more missing women who are not getting the attention they got, particularly women of color."

Cleveland activist women in particular say the anniversary event will also address the Violence Against Women Act, local, county, statewide and national public policy changes sought, and a demand for resources as to violence against women and children, human trafficking, and the epidemic of missing persons.
Statistics on nationwide violence against women and girls include the following:
-Violence against women and girls, including rape and murder, remains an epidemic, as does human trafficking
-Women and girls ages 12-34 are at the highest risk for sexual assault
-Poor women are 12 times more likely to get raped
-One out of every six American women has experience an attempted or completed rape and 22 percent of African-American women and 14 percent of Hispanic-American women experience at least one rape or attempted rape in a lifetime.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and Black 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.