Ohio State Senator Nina Turner (D-25), State Representative Sandra Williams (D-11), State Representative Armond Budish (D-9) and State Senator Shirley Smith (D-21)

Print By Sabrina Eaton, Plain Dealer Washington Reporter The Plain Dealer

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on July 30, 2013 at 6:25 PM, updated July 30, 2013 at 7:12 PM

Even though they don't control the House of Representatives this term, Democrats can still make points by booking meeting rooms and inviting witnesses to testify at unofficial hearings on Capitol Hill.

On Tuesday, the Congressional Black Caucus led by Marcia Fudge of Warrensville Heights, used that prerogative to convene a "conversation on race and justice in America" where they expressed displeasure with events like the Supreme Court's decision to strike down portions of the federal Voting Rights Act and the acquittal of Florida neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who fatally shot unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin last year.

She said members of her group are working on legislation to address racial profiling, overturn "stand your ground" laws, and restore parts of the Voting Rights Act that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned.

"We must get serious about acknowledging the impact racial profiling, violence and inequitable treatment under the law is having on our communities, and of particular concern to me, on our young people," Fudge said. "We must be vocal and honest about the impact of attacks on our civil, constitutional and economic rights that thousands of people of all races fought and died to protect."

CLEVELAND, Ohio- Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Russo sentenced Ariel Castro to life in prison without the possibility of parole on August 1 for kidnapping and raping Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight and holding the three women captive for 10 years at his west side home on Seymour Ave in Cleveland, Oh., a celebrated case that has captured the nation's attention.

"Nobody should have to go through what I went through," said Knight in a prepared statement.

Knight said that her bond with DeJesus helped her make it through the unprecedented ordeal that she dubbed "11 years in hell."

Addressing Castro in the packed courtroom, Knight said that "I will live on, you will die a little every day."

By Kathy Wray Coleman, Editor, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com, Ohio's No 1 and No 2 online Black newspapers (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com) and (www.clevelandurbannews.com). Kathy Wray Coleman is a former biology teacher and a 20-year investigative Black journalist who trained for some 15 years at the Call and Post Newspaper. Reach Coleman by phone at 216-659-0473 and by email at editor@clevelandurbannews.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio-East side Cleveland Councilman Jeff Johnson (pictured in gold tie) has won the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party endorsement for the new ward 10,  a ward drawn earlier this year through redistricting to reduce city council from 19 to 17 seats effective next year and after the upcoming November election.

The victory for Johnson from the Democratic party's executive committee comes after the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections deemed an endorsement vote by Councilman Eugene Miller (pictured in brown tie) that denied Johnson the 60 percent support required for the endorsement invalid  because Miller changed his address in June and Johnson successfully complained that it violated the city charter.