Pictured is Black Women's Political Action Committee President Una H.R. Kennon, president of the East Cleveland Board of Education, and a retired East Cleveland judge
By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog, Ohio's Most Read Online Black Newspaper and Newspaper Blog. Tel: 216-659-0473. (Kathy Wray Coleman is a 20-year investigative and political journalist and legal reporter who trained for 17 years under five different editors at the Call and Post Newspaper, Ohio's most prominent Black press)
(www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)
LYNDHURST, Ohio- The Black Women's Political Action Committee (BWPAC) will host its annual fundraising luncheon on Saturday, Oct 18 from 11 am to 3 pm at the Acacia Reservation, 26899 Cedar Road in Lyndhurst, Ohio. Tickets are $60 and can be purchased at the door. For more information contact Dorothy Solomon (216) 229-1316.
"This is our annual fundraiser and we invite everybody to attend," said BWPAC President Una H.R. Keenon, president of the EastCleveland Board of Education, and a retired East Cleveland judge.
The BLACK WOMEN'S POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (BWPAC) was organized in the fall of 1983 at the urging of now state Rep Barbara Boyd (D-9), who at the time was not an elected official and was the manager of Keenon's unsuccessful campaign for CUYAHOGA COUNTY JUVENILE COURT judge. The nonpartisan political organization's mission is to educate Black women in the workings of the political system, to increase the number of Black women in elected office, and to politically engage the Black female voter. The group also provides financial and other support to political candidates deemed sensitive to the needs and aspirations of Black women.
In an effort to give black women more input into political decision making, the group helped qualified women obtain better paying jobs and receive local, state, and national appointments. The founding mothers of the BWPAC include, among others, Keenon, Boyd, retired Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals Judge Sara J. Harper, Eighth District Court of Appeals Judge Patricia Ann Blackmon, Dr. Denise McCray, the late Katherine Adams, Phyllis Burton-Scott, Lynn Spencer, and the late Shirley Hawk, a former Cleveland school board member.
Membership in the BWPAC is selective, requiring prospective applicants to secure the sponsorship of a current member for admission into the organization. Prospective members are evaluated on their commitment to and involvement in health and welfare, political action, education, and their concern for Black women. (www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)
