Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

CLEVELAND, OHIO-Led by Women's March Cleveland, more than a thousand women and community activists took to the streets in mass on Sat., March 8, 2025 to march on International Women's Day as part of a national day of action promoted by the National Women's March. It was the eighth anniversary of Cleveland's first International Women's Day march in 2017.

The event, dubbed the Unite and Resist in Cleveland march, began at Market Square Park near downtown Cleveland with a rally and speeches, followed by a 30-minute march before marchers returned to Market Square. Cleveland's march was a sister march to marches held in cities nationwide and one of the largest in the Midwest.

Organizers said that while women's rights remain paramount, the main premise of Cleveland's march, and marches countrywide, was standing against the divisive, illegal, and unconstitutional policies of President Donald Trump and his administration.

Cleveland's mainstream media swarmed the event, including Cleveland. com and the Plain Dealer, Ohio's largest newspaper, WKYC Channel 3 News, and WOIO 19 News. And the Plain Dealer covered the event in it's Sun., March 9 print edition.

Event organizers were Women's March Cleveland head organizer Kathy Wray Coleman, Alysa Cooper Moskey, Siera Mason, and Alfred Porter Jr. of Black on Black Crime Inc. and the Black Man's Army.

"Wow," said Women's March Cleveland head organizer Kathy Wray Coleman in responding after the success of the event. "This was, no doubt, a coming together of the community in rare form, and we thank everybody who helped to make our march a success. And it ain't over."

Speakers included Ohio Congresswoman Shontel Brown, Cleveland Ward 1 Councilman Joe Jones, activists Al Porter, Don Bryant, and Tanisha Glass, and advocates for women's rights, immigrant rights, and LGBTQ rights.

Rep. Brown gave a rousing speech and told the crowd that she had just returned home from "dysfunctional D.C." She repeatedly referred to President Trump as "the maniac from Mar-a-Lago," and she said that she will continue to fight for her constituents with the aid of the community, no matter how long it takes.

" I'm tired," the congresswoman said to applause from protesters, before citing a litany of things she says Trump has done to hurt Americans and constituents of her 11th congressional district, from targeting SNAP benefits and federal workers, to increasing inflation, creating undue chaos, and attempting to roll back Civil Rights gains.

Councilman Jones also fired up the crowd with chants, and said that Trump's actions represent the "undoing of America." He complimented the marchers for their tenacity and commitment to the cause, and said activism can start as early as childhood.

"We have been picketing since we were kids," he said.

Organizers said the march was the largest women's march in Cleveland since Oct. 2, 2021 when nearly 2,500 people gathered with Women's March Cleveland at Market Square to protest for abortion rights and reproductive freedoms, Civil Rights, immigrant rights, and worker's rights, and against what later became the June 22, 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Saturday's march also followed a Market Square protest held by Women's March Cleveland on Nov. 2, days before the Nov. 5 general election for president, and a women's march held there on Jan 18, the weekend before President Donald Trump's Jan. 20 Capitol Hill inauguration. The marches on Nov. 2 and Jan. 18 were also part of a national day of action promoted by Women's March National.

Coleman said that community activists and women's rights advocates of greater Cleveland and Northeast Ohio will remain resilient and vigilant in their consistent fight for justice and are ready for the long haul.

"This is a movement, not a moment," she said."And community activists will continue to fight in the trenches as grassroots activists until justice prevails."

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