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 community activist, educator, and 21-year investigative journalist who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio.
/ (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)
CLEVELAND, Ohio- The community will celebrate retired Cleveland Municipal Court judge Jean Murrell Capers (pictured) turning 102-years-old during a birthday celebration at 5 pm on Saturday, January 17 in the party room at the Judson Manor in Cleveland, 1922 East 107th Street.
Capers is the longest living former or current Black elected official in Ohio and is the first Black woman elected to Cleveland City Council, an office she won in 1949. After losing her seat some decade later she later ran and won a seat on the Cleveland Municipal Court bench, after she was appointed to the post.
The event that invites activists and Black and other leaders will feature speakers that include former Cuyahoga County commissioner Peter Lawson Jones, retired Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals Judge Sara Harper, 88, Cleveland City Councilman Jeff Johnson, and community activists such as Genevieve Mitchell of the Carl Stokes Brigade.
Capers turned 102 on January 11 and will attend the party, organizers said.
"We are celebrating the judge turning 102 and her contributions to the community,"said Charlie Mae Guest, 81, an organizer of the gathering along with Rhoda Cantrell, and local dentist Dr. Eugene Jordan.
A Cleveland probation officer, Cantrell said that the birthday party is not a political event, but that a few people will speak, including Black elected officials and community activists.
"This is a party, but we want some people to speak," said Cantrell.
A longtime Republican, the outspoken and highly respected Capers is also a community activist and remains active in the community. She is an assistant commentator on the weekly WJMO 1490 am radio show in Cleveland dubbed the Art McKoy University Show of Common Sense, a broadcast that features community activists Art McKoy and Al Porter of Black on Crime Inc and addresses urban issues across the spectrum from police brutality to racism, and political corruption.
"I'll be at the celebration for the judge," said McKoy, a longtime community activist who founded the greater Cleveland grassroots group Black on Black Crime Inc.
(www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)
