Picture: Constituents of Ohio's 11th congressional district listen during

Congresswoman Shontel Brown's Town Hall in Cleveland, OH.

on Thurs., Feb 20, 2025

Ohio 11th Congressional District

Congresswoman Shontel Brown

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher

WATCH: Video Stream of the Town Hall

CLEVELAND, Ohio- Over 700 constituents attended Ohio Congresswoman Shontel Brown's (OH-11) 11th congressional district Town Hall held on Thursday evening at the Cleveland Metropolitan School District's Arnold Pinkney East Professional Center on Cleveland's largely Black east side.

At the event, Congresswoman Brown, a Warrensville Hts. Democrat whose congressional district includes Cleveland and much of greater Cleveland, shared an update from Washington and then answered questions from the audience for over an hour as her constituents lined up in droves to speak.

"On a bitterly cold night, we had a packed auditorium and the message was clear: Northeast Ohio does not want the Trump-Musk agenda," Brown said Friday in a statement to Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader. "My constituents are upset, worried, and outraged by the attacks on civil servants, the illegal funding freezes disrupting services, and the rollback of civil rights and equal opportunity programs that take us backwards. I am grateful to everyone who attended our Town Hall and those who asked questions and raised points of concern."

One constituent at the Town Hall asked the congresswoman how Blacks, poor people, low-income single mothers, and others similarly situated would survive Trump's efforts to cut SNAP benefits and other government services while Elon Musk uses DOGE to dismantle or limit consequential government agencies and fire government employees.

The congresswoman said, "We are going to fight Trump's agenda in Congress, in the courts, and in the community."

President Trump has said that his primary agenda is trimming government fat and ridding the country of government waste.

At the same time, critics say he is simultaneously seeking tax cuts for the rich and amenities for corporate America and his billionaire friends and associates.

At the Town Hall on Thursday in Cleveland, Rep. Brown spoke out on the latest actions by the Trump administration, her efforts to subpoena Elon Musk, Republican budget proposals to cut Medicaid, SNAP and other key programs, and her proposed legislation to restore federal anti-discrimination policies for federal contractor employees.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com are the most-read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio. Tel. 216-659-0473. Email-editor@clevelandurbannews.com

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher

CLEVELAND, Ohio- Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11), who represents Ohio's 11th congressional district, will hold a Town Hall event on Thurs., Feb. 20 at the Arnold Pinkney East Professional Center in Cleveland on the city's largely Black east side. To date, over 1000 people have RSVPed for the event, according to a press release from Brown on Tues. to Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader.

Elected officials and local community leaders will also be in attendance.

One of three Black women in Congress from Ohio, Rep. Brown will speak out on the latest actions by the Trump administration, her efforts to subpoena Elon Musk, Republican budget proposals to cut Medicaid, SNAP and other key programs, and her proposed legislation to restore federal anti-discrimination policies for federal contractor employees.

The event is open to the public and free to attend. To ensure there is enough seating, constituents are asked to register here

The congresswoman's upcoming Town Hall follows nationwide protests against the president's executive orders targeting DEI programs and USAID, including in Cleveland on Presidents Day Feb. 17 where hundreds protested on City Hall steps and at Market Square Park on the city's near west side.

Also at issue is the unchecked power of Musk, a billionaire, in using DOGE to shut down government agencies and fire working people on a whim, although Trump told reporters this week that Musk has "no formal authority or power," an indication, said sources, that he is feeling the backlash from protesters and members of Congress.

Republicans narrowly control the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, and they have governed the White House since Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration.

Congressional Democrats, led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Congresswoman Maxine "Auntie Maxine" Waters, have also taken to the streets in protests, and have successfully gotten activists to follow suit in cities across the country.

The first Black House minority leader, Jeffries has urged his fellow House Democrats to return home and engage their constituents in what he says is an unconstitutional crisis and an unprecedented fight for democracy and freedom for American people under attack by a right-winged, out-of-control, Republican-led regime.

In a one-on-one interview with Fox News personality Sean Hannity, Trump called Musk a tech genius and a good person, and he praised the work being done by DOGE.

WHO: Congresswoman Shontel Brown, local elected officials and community leaders

WHAT: OH-11 Town Hall

WHEN: Thurs., Feb. 20, 6:00 pm doors open, 6:30 pm  program begins

WHERE: Arnold Pinkney East Professional Center, 1349 East 79th Street and Superior Ave. in Cleveland

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com are the most-read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio. Tel. 216-659-0473. Email-editor@clevelandurbannews.com

Newly confirmed United States Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-WASHINGTON, D.C. - Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a member of the famed Kennedy family and an outspoken vaccine skeptic, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday as United States Health and Human Services secretary.

The U.S Senate voted 52-48 for confirmation with former minority leader Sen. Mitch Mcconnell of Kentucky the only Senate Republican to vote no, a second no vote after he opposed the nomination of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, whom the Senate confirmed on Wednesday with widespread Republican support.

An unsuccessful Democratic candidate for president in 2020, Kennedy is a son of U.S. Attorney General and Senator Robert F. Kennedy and a nephew of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Senator Ted Kennedy.

President Donald Trump tapped Kennedy, 71, to lead the nation's healthcare system amid opposition and a scathing rebuke from Senate Democrats and prominent pro-healthcare organizations from across the country. Republicans, however, control the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House, a powerful mechanism.

Democratic federal lawmakers rejected Kennedy's confirmation in unison as their clout continues to wane at the federal level.

RFK Jr. also faced scrutiny from prominent members of the Kennedy family clan, including Caroline Schlossberg Kennedy, a former U.S. ambassador to Australia and the daughter of JFK. She described her first cousin as an anti-vaccine predator who abused animals and she lobbied against his confirmation, with RFK Jr. saying upon confirmation that he is not against anybody getting a vaccine.

Dems in both the House and the Senate remain up in arms over what they say is the president's execution of a sweeping anti-democratic agenda to change Washington politics overnight by firing federal employees who oversee the government and targeting national resources for marginalized groups and foreign aid to countries of color, the Constitution and other authorities be damned.

Trump says he is merely doing what the American voters put him in office to do.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com are the most-read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio. Tel. 216-659-0473. Email-editor@clevelandurbannews.com

Newly confirmed United States Director of Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

By Kathy wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher

WASHINGTON, DC - Following contentious Senate hearings, Tulsi Gabbard was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday as United States Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

A former Honolulu councilwoman and former Democratic congresswoman representing Hawaii who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2016 and is now a Republican, Gabbard faced questions during Senate hearings about her views on Russia, ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, and Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked classified information. But in the end, she was able to sway Republicans who were holding out, winning confirmation 52-48  with all  Senate Republicans but Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky voting yes. Each and every Senate Democrat voted no.

She was sworn in shortly after winning confirmation and was among a handful of Trump nominees, most of them men, whose nomination brought heightened national media scrutiny.

President Donald Trump described Gabbard, 43,  as a committed public servant and "a woman of great common sense."

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com are the most-read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio. Tel. 216-659-0473. Email-editor@clevelandurbannews.com