Glenville: Bullets and Artists

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CORRECTION: today’s event @ MLK LIBRARY IS NOON-4:30pm. 

THEN and NOW: Glenville at the hub

Two nights ago, at that place of joyful gathering known as Karamu House, the only white person in a room full of mostly elderly but extraordinarily alert African Americans, spoke an obvious but too little appreciated truth when he said, “Black History is American history.”

Nine days from now will be the 50th anniversary of one of the most epic days in the history of a neighborhood, a community, and a city. As darkness enveloped a few tightly woven streets on the outskirts of Cleveland’s sprawling yet overcrowded Glenville neighborhood, a small but heavily armed band of black men and boys opened fire upon several unsuspecting isolated white policemen on nighttime patrol.

What happened next has perhaps never been told as grippingly in minute by minute detail as in Ballots and Bullets, a book published only days ago. While our review will be published here tomorrow, may it suffice to say now that the Glenville shootout still reverberates today, from Lake Erie to Kinsman, from the East Cleveland schoolyard to Cudell Recreation Center to West Park. Beyond its tragic human toll, it trumpeted the end of the Honeymoon of Carl Stokes administration’s honeymoon, the death of Cleveland NOW, and gave birth to the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association.[1]

Today and tomorrow, several generations of activists will share memories and perspectives of what some describe as the Glenville Uprising. Presenters will represent many disciplines and perspectives. Among them will be Dr. Raymond Winbush, Don and Norma Freeman, Mississippi Charles Bevel, Joan Southgate, Khalid Samad, Sherrie Tolliver, Christin Farmer, and many more.

Today’s program runs from noon until 4:30pm at the Martin Luther King Jr. branch of the Cleveland Public Library, 1962 Stokes Blvd. tomorrow’s event will occur from 2pm-5pm in Case Western University’s Harkness Chapel, 11200 Bellflower Rd.

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Glenville will perhaps be undergoing a uniquely double collective Sankofa moment this weekend. Even as people address what happened fifty years ago in a spirit of “Where do we Go from here — Community or Chaos?”, another event will be taking place within walking distance of MLK Library and Harkness Chapel, celebrating what some interpret as harbinger of a New Glenville.

Today is the inaugural edition of “FRONT, An American City”, which is comprised of artist commissions, films, and public performances. FRONT will showcase the work of local, national and international artists from today through September 30, radiating out from a hub on East 105 Street just north of Wade Park Avenue to collaborating museums, civic institutions and public spaces throughout Northeast Ohio.

Details can be found here and here.

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[1] The 2012 murderous 137-bullet rampage by Cleveland police officers that took the lives of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams ended on an East Cleveland public school playground. The November 2014 killing of Tamir Rice occurred on the playground of Cudell Rec Center. Carl Stokes’ plan to rebuild Cleveland through the multi-million dollar Cleveland NOW program went up in flames the instant it was discovered that a small portion of NOW proceeds had been misdirected towards the purchase of weapons used in the shootout. The CPPA was born in the wake of Stokes’ decision to withdraw white policemen from patrolling Glenville in the immediate aftermath of the Glenville shooting until the area had been pacified, owing to Stokes’ concern, supported by evidence, that some police officers were bent on exacting revenge for the murder of three of their colleagues.  

Police endorsement not critical issue in Jackson-Reed contest for Cleveland mayor

As Mayor Frank Jackson and Councilman Zack Reed make final preparations for what is likely to be their only debate before Nov. 5, when voters will decide who will be Cleveland’s mayor for the next four years, the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association endorsement of Reed has suddenly become a campaign issue.

What have we come to 50 years after the election of Carl Stokes as the city’s black first mayor? The CPPA was created in opposition to Carl Stokes’ authority following the Glenville shootout in 1968.  The CPPA’s current leader is Steve Loomis — a spiritual descendant of Bull Connor. Loomis is contemptuous of the city’s consent decree with the US Department of Justice and the findings of police misconduct upon which it is based. In his eyes, it was “good police work” when 100 cops in sixty police cars chased two unarmed citizens at high speeds throughout the city and across municipal lines — in open defiance of police procedures and the direct orders of their superiors — cornered the “suspects” in a schoolyard and then fired 137 shots at close range into their defenseless bodies.

Likewise, Loomis found nothing inappropriate when a cop so intemperate and so incompetent he was unsuitable as a crossing guard, to say nothing of an armed officer of the law, shot and killed 12 year old Tamir Rice within two seconds of the cop’s reckless approach.

Loomis not only defends every instance of excessive and/or deadly use of police force; he exults in smearing any citizen or attorney who questions police behavior. A grandstander of the first degree, he was only too delighted to show his contempt for the First Amendment by announcing his men would not provide security at Cleveland Browns football games because some team members choose to kneel in silent protest of injustice during the playing of the national anthem.

Who would want the endorsement of such a man?

Well, what if a candidate’s opponent was the incumbent mayor at the time Tamir Rice was killed and the 137-bullet chase took place? What if that mayor promoted the police chief at the time of that chase to safety director? What if that mayor appointed the safety director at the time of that chase to some sort of special adviser? And what if the mayor refused to explain either promotion?

It is simpleminded to tar and feather Reed for accepting the CPPA’s endorsement when his opponent, the incumbent mayor, has been unable to bring any significant reform to the department that regulates CPPA members.

The plain fact is that relations between Cleveland police and city hall and between the police and the community have been troubled for more than half a century. 

The dynamics of those relationships need to change. In They Can't Kill Us All: The Story of the Struggle for Black Lives, a book by former Clevelander Wesley Lowery, now a Washington Post reporter, Reed described the situation this way:

“[Violence] is in the DNA of not only the residents but also the police. If we don’t change that mindset, that it’s us against them, then we’re never going to fix this problem.”

Loomis’ single-minded defense of his ranks irrespective of the behavior of the roguish behavior of some of them, together with his efforts to undermine implementation of the consent decree between the City and the US Department of Justice, are undeniable obstacles to improving police-community relations and the quality of policing in our city.

But a far larger question than who the CPPA endorses in this race is this: who or what can lead to a reform of Cleveland’s police culture? 



Today's mayoral debate can be livestreamed here, starting at 12:30PM.

Chaotic Killing of Two Suspects? Why, it's a 'Perfect Chase'

“In politics, absurdity is not a handicap.” — Napoleon Bonaparte

I have been so absorbed with gleaning the details of Attorney General Mike DeWine’s report on the Kirk Middle Schoool Police Shooting that I have neglected to post a couple of items for Non Profit Thursday. Before I get to them I must give thanks that Jeff Follmer, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, did not choose to become a fireman, because he apparently likes to throw kerosene cans onto house fires.

Yesterday we reported on the CPPA press conference where Follmer and others fiercely defended the actions of each of the scores of police officers involved in the 25 minute chase that eventually found Russell and Malissa Williams cornered in an East Cleveland school parking lot and met death in such a hailstorm of police fire that DeWine was moved to say “it’s a miracle that many police officer were not killed.”

What we did not know at the time of yesterday’s post was that Follmer also described the police pursuit as “the perfect chase”.

“Seek first to understand,” said the guru Stephen Covey. We will return to Follmer's quote in a couple of days, after we have fully digested the Attorney General’s work. We will also discuss why we think there should be no rush to judgment on the deliberate pace of Police Chief Michael McGrath and the Jackson administration. For right now, we will let Napoleon’s quote above resonate awhile.

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Nonprofit Thursdays

Cleveland Men of Song

Amidst all the mayhem in our community runs a seemingly unquenchable spirit of charity and service. While sometimes it may be a cloak for rapaciousness, we deal on Nonprofit Thursdays with the real kind, as exemplified by Cleveland Men of Song.

This sonorous band of brothers presents its Fourth Annual Concert in celebration of Black History tomorrow evening, Friday, February 8^th, at 7:30PM at the Plymouth Church, 2860 Coventry Road, Shaker Heights.

The program will blend anthems, spirituals and other traditional music as well as contemporary gospel selecitons. The group’s founder and artistic director is Carlton Fellows, who has performed many places overseas and around the country.

This year’s concert will feature composer and pianist Daniel Mario Cason as special guest conductor for the evening. Cason is a Cleveland native who currently pastors in Birmingham, Alabama.

Tickets for the concert are $10 and may be purchased at the door.

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The news of virtually any day could serve as a reminder that it is not too early to register our young men, ages 6 to 18+, for the annual Call to Action Young Men’s Conference. 

Sponsored by Working in Progress, this year’s conference will be held Saturday, March 30 from 9AM to 3:30PM at the University of Akron Student Center.

Topics to be addressed at the conference include career planning, bullying and cyber-bullying, social media, breaking the fatherless cycle, under-age drinking, what to do when stopped by the police, and more.

Working in Progress is a nonprofit social service agency that seeks to support the transition of African American youth into adulthood.

A similar conference for girls is scheduled for May 4.

More information on the group, as well as how to register for the conference, can be found by visiting the group’s website, workinginprogress.org, calling 330.474.9472, or by emailing tmonroe@workinginprogress.org.

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