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Remembering Breonna Taylor on the anniversary of her death, Taylor unarmed and gunned down by Louisville-Metro police....By editor Kathy Wray Coleman of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com. Ohio's leader in Black digital news

14 March 2021

Kathy

Pictured is Breonna Taylor, whom Louisville Metro police shot and killed in March when they barged into her home unannounced via a no knock warrant, Taylor unarmed and shot eight times. Also pictured is former Louisville police detective Brett Hankison, who has been fired and charged with three felonies in her shooting death

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com.

By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor in chief. Coleman trained for 17 years as a reporter with the Call and Post Newspaper and is an investigative and political reporter with a background in legal and scientific reporting. She is also a former 15-year public school biology teacher.

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky-Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com remembers Breonna Taylor on the March 13 anniversary of her death.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of her tragic death.

Activists marched with her family members in Louisville today to remember her, and marches were also held in some other cities nationwide.

The young Black woman was gunned down by Louisville Metro police on March, 13, 2020 when three of them entered her apartment unannounced via a no knock narcotics warrant and a shoot out between the cops and her live-in boyfriend occurred.

No drugs were found on the premises.

The city of Louisville settled a wrongful death lawsuit last year with the family of the 26-year-old for $12 million, the largest excessive force settlement of its kind in Louisville's history and an even greater settlement than the $6 million handed to the family of 12-year-old Tamir Rice by the city of Cleveland in 2016.

Media mogul and billionaire Oprah Winfrey is among a host of prominent Blacks who demanded that the cops involved in Taylor's shooting death be indicted on criminal charges, only one of the police officers, detective Brett Hankinson, terminated behind the tragic killing of the young Black woman.

All three cops at issue are White, which has heightened racial tensions in the Louisville community, the city only 23 percent Black, and Jefferson County, which includes Louisville, just 19 percent Black.

Police shot off 32 bullets, and the emergency room technician was shot eight times.

Protests erupted in Louisville and across the country.

A county grand jury returned an indictment for three felony counts of wanton endangerment against former Louisville detective Brett Hankison, who shot and killed Taylor, though the charges are not for her shooting death but because he allegedly shot recklessly in her apartment.

Louisville Metro Police Chief Robert J. Schroeder fired Hankison before he was indicted, saying he violated departmental rules and procedures and deadly force standards in shooting and killing Taylor.

"When Hankison and two other plainclothes officers used a no-knock warrant to enter Taylor’s apartment March 13, he wantonly and blindly fired 10 rounds," said Chief Schroeder in firing Hankison.

The other two involved officers, Sgt, Jonathan Mattingly and officer Myles Cosgrove, were not charged.

They remain on the job.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, a Democrat, had called for swift action by the grand jury on whether criminal charges would be brought in the case.

Kentucky Attorney Daniel Cameron, a Black Republican who oversaw the grand jury process, has faced scrutiny from activists, Black leaders and Civil Rights organizations like the NAACP because none of the three officers were charged specifically for Taylor's shooting death.

The state of Kentucky, with Louisville its largest city in front of Lexington, has a Black population of a mere eight percent.

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

Last Updated on Sunday, 14 March 2021 04:41

Remembering Cleveland's George Floyd riot as his family's wrongful death lawsuit is settled for $27 million, a record breaking settlement....By editor Kathy Wray Coleman of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com,

14 March 2021

Kathy

Pictured is George Floyd, who died May 25, 2020 at the hand of Minneapolis police

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio-The city of Minneapolis has settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the family of George Floyd for $27 million, the largest of its kind in U.S. history.

"This is a message that the unjust taking of Black life will no longer be written off as trivial, unimportant or unworthy of consequences," attorney Ben Crump said during a news conference Friday afternoon shortly after the agreement was reached.

Crump said he hopes the unprecedented pretrial agreement will push policymakers across the country to institute comprehensive policing reforms.

Following an arrest on a forgery charge, Floyd died on May 25 of last year after since fired Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin, the arresting officer, held his knee on his neck during the arrest until he killed him, and before a crowd of people as Floyd pleaded for his life and cried out that he could not breathe.

The unarmed 46-year-old Black man was pronounced dead an hour later at an area hospital.

The disturbing video of the incident, taken by a bystander, has shocked the conscience.

Chauvin and the other three involved officers who were on the scene but did nothing to help Floyd, nearly all of them White, were immediately fired.

Chauvin has since been charged with second degree intentional murder and second degree manslaughter and is out of jail on a $1 million dollars bond, the other three former officers, some also out on bond are faces felony charges of aiding and abetting and second degree murder.

All of the police officers at issue have pleaded not guilty.

Chauvin's trial was set to begin Monday but has been delayed as an appeals court determine, whether a judge can add a new murder charge, a charge of third degree murder.

Protests in Minneapolis ensued behind the tragic shooting death of Floyd, and spread to over 2,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, and riots subsequently broke out in Minneapolis and in cities nationwide.

Black Lives Matter activists led Cleveland's protest last May 30 where protesters rioted and tore up downtown Cleveland.

In Cleveland rioters torched or completely destroyed some five police cars, broke out the windows of multiple businesses, including the downtown Arcade, destroyed some downtown shelters, and threw rocks and boulders at police.

They wrote messages and profanity on some government buildings, and a group of protesters clashed with police.

Police shot off tear gas repeatedly, and in some instances unnecessarily, said activists.

More than 100 protesters, most of them White, and young, were arrested with charges ranging from disorderly conduct to criminal damaging and aggravated rioting.

There were more than 50 felony arrests and practically all of those arrested were from Ohio, mainly Cleveland and its suburbs.

Cleveland's riot was something to remember.

They shouted at police as some rode on horseback along the strip between City Hall and the Justice Center and the Justice Center and Public Square where more than three thousand protesters gathered.

"Am I next"? a sign read that was held up by a young Black woman as police and their horses trotted through the streets.

Most of the protesters were under 30 and many were White as well as Black with participants across ethic lines joining in one of at least three different marches and chanting such phrases of "No Justice No Peace," Black Lives Matter," and "Dump Trump."

The rally that lead up to the riot began at 1:30 pm at the Free Stamp next to Cleveland City Hall and went on peacefully as an array of speakers took to the podium.

But by the time protesters had marched from the Free Stamp to the Justice Center and settled in, some became anxious and the once peaceful event quickly turned violent.

One protester wore a t-shirt that read "F--- the police."

Organizers begged protesters to act right.

"They expect us to misbehave," a Black Lives Matter Cleveland organizer said to no avail.

Given Cleveland's history of excessive force killings against Blacks and a pending consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice for police reforms and the climate nationally relative to police brutality, the upheaval was not at all surprising, sources said, though Cleveland's Black leaders have said for years that Cleveland is a sleepy town when standing up against police brutality.

The George Floyd riot in the city obviously proves otherwise.

City officials say that it was a small group of agitators who precipitated the violence.

Others say the unrest is deeply rooted in systemic racism and the ongoing undercurrent between police and the Black community and that it cannot be laid at the feet of protesters alone.

Last Updated on Sunday, 14 March 2021 23:29

Zack Reed leaves job with Ohio's secretary of state for a possible second run for Cleveland mayor....Reed is a former Cleveland councilman who lost a 2017 non-partisan runoff to current four-term Black mayor Frank Jackson....By editor Kathy Wray Coleman

13 March 2021

Kathy

Pictured is Zack Reed

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

By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor

CLEVELAND, Ohio-Former Cleveland City Councilman Zack Reed's final day working for Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose was March 12, the former Cleveland councilman who lost to Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson in a non-partisan mayoral runoff in 2017 setting a stage for an apparent second run for mayor this year.

A Black Democrat, Reed has worked as a minority affairs coordinator for LaRose since 2019 after foregoing a reelection bid for his Ward 2 city council seat in 2017 in hopes of unseating Jackson, a four- term Black mayor whom sources say is not seeking reelection.
"We’ll miss having him out in the field where he helped boost voter engagement and strengthen minority businesses," Frank LaRose said in a farewell statement, "but I know his heart is in Cleveland and I wish him nothing but the best.”

Reed has not formally announced a run for mayor, but sources said an announcement is forthcoming.

He served for 16 years on city council, representing Ward 2 prior to his run for mayor four years ago, a largely Black east side ward that includes the Mount Pleasant, Union-Miles and Mill Creek Falls neighborhoods.

During his first bid for mayor his campaign theme was "Safety First," where he pushed a progressive agenda, including more police on the streets to deal with heightened crime in inner city neighborhoods, improvements to Cleveland schools that the city mayor controls per state law, economic development, and better city services.

Others purportedly running for mayor include state Sen. Sandra Williams, former congressman Dennis Kucinich, Cleveland City Council President Kevin Kelley, Robert Kilo, newcomer Justin Bibb, and Edwin's entrepreneur Brandon Chrostowski.

All of them are Democrats but Kilo, a Republican.

The top two primary winners will advance to the Nov. 2 general election.

Currently, all 17 city council seats, which are also up for grabs in 2021, and the office of the mayor are held by Democrats.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest, and the most read independent digital news in Ohio. 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.

Congressional candidate Nina Turner nabs endorsement from SEIU District 1199....Turner is a Cleveland Democrat....By Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's leader in Black digital news

13 March 2021

Kathy

Pictured is Ohio 11th Congressional District Candidate Nina Turner

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest, and the most read independent digital news in Ohio. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor in chief. Coleman trained for 17 years as a reporter with the Call and Post Newspaper and is an investigative and political reporter with a background in legal and scientific reporting. She is also a former 15-year public school biology teacher.

CLEVELAND, Ohio-Former state senator Nina Turner, a front-runner for the 11th congressional seat vacated by former Ohio Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge who resigned from Congress earlier this week after the U.S. Senate confirmed her nominated to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), has received the endorsement of the Service Employees International Union District 1199 (SEIU District 1199), a local chapter union of SEIU.

Nationally SEIU consists of some 2 million members in healthcare in the public sector and property services.

“Nina Turner is a fighter, an advocate, a professor, a mother, and the leader working people need in Congress fighting for them,” said Becky Williams, President of SEIU District 1199 WV/KY/OH and a national vice president SEIU. “Nina has fought for rights, dignity, and respect of working people in the streets of Cleveland and in the halls of power in Columbus, and I know she is the leader this community needs now to lift people out of poverty and to bring about racial and economic justice for all of us.”

Williams said that Turner stood up against unjust legislation like Senate Bill 5 in 2011 and walked arm in arm with low-wage workers in the fight for a $15 minimum wage.

The union endorsement is one of a growing list of endorsements Turner has nabbed for the competitive race, including from the Amalgamated Transit Union, California Rep. Ro Khanna, Missouri Rep. Cori Bush, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Ohio Sen Kenny Yuko.

In addition to Turner, 53 and also a former Cleveland councilwoman, other declared candidates for the Democratic nomination for Fudge's seat are state Sen. Nina Turner, who co-chaired Bernie Sanders' 2020 unsuccessful campaign for president, former state representative John Barnes Jr, former state senator Shirley Smith, former former Cleveland city councilman Jeff Johnson, former state representative Bryan Flannery, and Tariq Shabazz, a U.S. Navy veteran.

All of them are Black, except Flannery, who is White.

Brown, 45, is a Fudge ally, though Turner leads in fundraising and has raised over a million dollars to date, her campaign has said.

Brown is also a front-runner in the congressional race and has the backing of Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), as well as an array of local elected officials, ministers, and building trade unions, including the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council

The candidates await the scheduling of a special primary and general election for Fudge's seat by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, and per state law.

Ohio's largely Black 11th congressional district includes most of Cleveland, a majority Black pocket of Akron, and some suburbs of Cuyahoga and Summit counties.

It is a Democratic stronghold, as is Cuyahoga County, the second largest of Ohio's 88 counties.

Hence, the candidate who wins the Democratic primary is all but assured to become Fudge's replacement in Congress.

A former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Fudge served in Congress for nearly 12 years before accepting Biden's offer to lead HUD.

Last Updated on Saturday, 13 March 2021 14:57

See photos here: Activist and organizer Kathy Wray Coleman leads International Women's Day March Cleveland 2021 - Coleman has organized the event since 2017

11 March 2021

Kathy

By Minister Dale Edwards, executive director of the Call and Post Newspaper

CLEVELAND, Ohio-Led by Cleveland activist and organizer Kathy Wray Coleman of the Imperial Women Coalition, greater Cleveland women hosted the 5th Annual International Women's Day March Cleveland rally and march on March 8 on Market Square in Cleveland.

Coleman has organized the International Women's Day rallies and marches in Cleveland since the first rally and march in 2017.

Keynote speakers for the rally were state Rep. Emilia Sykes, who is also the minority leader in the Ohio House of Representatives and leads the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus (OLBC), Dayton, Ohio Mayor Nan Whaley, and an activist/

Both Whaley and Sykes spoke on the oppression of women as comunity activists stood with them on stage wrapped in symbolic chains to bring attention to the long term oppression of women.(Editor's note: Chui was only a speaker and has never lead on organized an International Women's Day march or rally in Cleveland)

Whaley also spoke on her opposition to stand your ground legislation in Ohio and gun violence, including the high profile mass shooting in Dayton in 2019 by 24-year-old Connor Betts, who shot and killed nine people and injured 17 others.

International Women's Day was first recognized globally in 1911.

Events were held across the world on March 8 to celebrate International Women's Day, a day of civil awareness for women worldwide that is designed to combat sex and race discrimination and promote women's rights.

The purpose was also to recognize the accomplishments of women, and to push for public policies across the board for the betterment of women and girls.

The theme of this year's march in Cleveland was #ChoosetoChallenge.

The MC for the event was Elaine Gohlstein, president of the Black Women's PAC of greater Cleveland.

Other speakers included state Rep Juanita Brent of Cleveland Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Chairwoman Shontel Brown, state Sen Nickie Antonio of Lakewood, Cleveland Ward 1 Councilman Joe Jones, Greater Cleveland Association of Black Journalists Co-Vice President Rhonda Crowder, activists Carol Steiner and Cheryl Lessin of Refusefacism. org, activist Alfred Porter Jr., president of Black on Black Crime, activist Delores Gray of the Brickhouse Wellness Center, the Rev. Pamela Pinkney Butts. and Nate Simpson of Blacks Lives Matter Today.

The first Black woman to lead the county Democratic party, Brown said that the fight for equality for women is never-ending and that women will continue to be a force to recon with on public policy matters across the board.

The issues for the event were COVID-19 disparities relative to women, Blacks and people of color, women in leadership and journalism, sisterhood, mass incarceration and the legal system, stand your ground legislation in Ohio, violence against women, reproductive rights, immigration, gun violence and excessive force, LGBTQ rights, racism, sex discrimination, voting rights, and local county, state and national policies impacting women.

The women also said a prayer for all of the fallen Black and other women of Cleveland who have died because of heinous violence, including the 11 Black women murdered on Imperial Avenue on the city's east side by serial killer Anthony Sowell, who died last month in prison while on death row. 

Last Updated on Tuesday, 20 April 2021 03:11

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Example of Section Blog layout (FAQ section)

Remembering Breonna Taylor on the anniversary of her death, Taylor unarmed and gunned down by Louisville-Metro police....By editor Kathy Wray Coleman of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com. Ohio's leader in Black digital news

Remembering Cleveland's George Floyd riot as his family's wrongful death lawsuit is settled for $27 million, a record breaking settlement....By editor Kathy Wray Coleman of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com,

Zack Reed leaves job with Ohio's secretary of state for a possible second run for Cleveland mayor....Reed is a former Cleveland councilman who lost a 2017 non-partisan runoff to current four-term Black mayor Frank Jackson....By editor Kathy Wray Coleman

Congressional candidate Nina Turner nabs endorsement from SEIU District 1199....Turner is a Cleveland Democrat....By Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's leader in Black digital news

See photos here: Activist and organizer Kathy Wray Coleman leads International Women's Day March Cleveland 2021 - Coleman has organized the event since 2017

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