Cuyahoga
Politics Today
Cuyahoga Democrats: Change is Blowing in the Wind
Endorsement
process is tip of iceberg of roiling black political energy
It’s impossible to talk about politics in Greater Cleveland without
talking about black politics.
That fact makes some folk uncomfortable for different reasons. People want
to believe in the Kumbaya stick image that our homogenizing culture has made of
Martin King. They like to cite his Dream while omitting the realities he gave
his last full measure of devotion trying to change: a dominant military-capitalist
system that crushed poor people and people of color.
Fifty years later society celebrates a sanitized version of King’s legacy
that omits how he was cursed, vilified, asaulted, spied upon by his own
government, and thrown in jail with regularity, just for trying to make this
country a more just and humane place to live and work. When King came to Cleveland
to support the 1967 Stokes campaign, Democratic Party chairman and county
engineer Albert Porter sent out letters saying that a Stokes victory meant
turning the city over to Martin King, the tone of his message implying that
rape and pillage would soon follow.
King was one of a trio of now celebrated black men hated for their fearless
and sacrificial stance on behalf of their community and thereby on behalf of
the larger society. Muhammad Ali was another towering black figure who came to
prominence in the civil rights era. His livelihood was taken away and all
manner of hatred hurled at him for his humble, courageous and principled stand
for his religious beliefs. He died in 2016 as perhaps the most recognized and
beloved global citizen of his time.
Last year in Cleveland, establishment institutions went all in on the
golden anniversary of Carl Stokes’ election as the first black mayor of a major
US city. It seems little time was spent on how far we have and have not come in
addressing our community’s continuing racial and class inequities. Carl and his
widely respected brother Lou — the beloved Congressman aka “the Distinguished
Gentleman” are today remembered for their accomplishments, as if the demons
they wrestled against were vanquished.
The reality is quite different. Echoes of their struggles resound nationally
in the rollback of voting rights; the outright perfidy of gerrymandering in
North Carolina, Ohio and elsewhere; the open racism, crudity and unchristian
behavior of this ersatz evangelical Administration bent on destroying the
fundamentals of our democracy. Echoes of Ali’s struggles can be scene in the
honest protest of Colin Kaepernick, who is reviled and unemployed for daring to
speak out against police brutality and injustice.
Here in Cleveland, an examination of Stokes’ legacy would include fighting his
own Democratic Party for respect and a fair deal. It would involve remembering
how and why the Twenty-First Congressional District Caucus was formed, and how
it became a transcendant force for empowerment.
When I remember Carl Stokes I like to recall his love for black people, his
self-confidence, his willingness to go into hostile territory and stand on his
qualifications to serve. I remember the respect he had for the profession of politics and the disdain
he had for political pretenders. I loved that he always kept his eyes on the prize
of fair and equitable power distribution.
I wish that today we had more African American professional politicians in
our community who were, like the Stokes boys, rooted in our community and
focused on their role as public servants. They understood that the leadership
followed the service.
Each of these distingushed gentlemen — King, Ali, Carl, Lou — was guided in
their professional pursuits by principle, purpose, passion and preparation.
These were key elements in their ability to excel in their chosen fields.
Politics Today
For the past couple of days we have been writing to peel back some of the
mystery of local politics, to provide some insight into the how and why some
names appear on the ballot and some don’t. To give some understanding about the
inner workings of the endorsement process.
One of the things we have noticed in our close up look at the local
Democratic Party is how much is changing even as so much remains unchanged.
What has changed? Too often, black candidates are reluctant to campaign
across their entire jurisdictions. They self-segregate themselves.
I just paused writing this and went searching for a passage in Carl Stokes’
magnificent book, Promises of Power: Then
and Now. I re-read Chapter 3, “How to Get Elected by White People”. It’s
unbelievable how his account of his campaign for the state legislature in 1960
remains a blueprint for any candidate of color seeking countywide office today.
As I look at what’s happening in the local Democratic Party today, I think
Karrie Howard may be the only black person running countywide this year whose
campaign has internalized that chapter.
Perhaps that’s why Howard pulled the stunning feat of securing the backing
of Parma’s rank-and-file political leaders even in the face of the Mason-Fudge
alignment.
My political gut tells me that a huge shakeup in county politics may be on
the horizon. Lou Stokes and the Congressional District Caucus were part of a
strong black political tradition that connected ordinary black men and women to
their political representatives. That tradition waned over the years, and when
the Hon. Marcia L. Fudge took over from Lou’s successor, — the beloved
Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who died suddenly in 2008 — Fudge effectively dissolved
the Caucus, almost the last thread connecting the people to the process. In
some cases the thread seems to have been replaced by ministerial mercenaries.
Fudge of late has been generously endorsing candidates, including two
judicial aspirants — Deborah Monique Turner and Andrea Nelson Moore — who are
longshots to garner the financial resources necessary — generally ballparked at
$100,000 — to run successfully countywide. She is also backing Jeff Johnson in
his campaign against incumbent State Sen. Sandra Williams, which most observers
think is payback for Williams’ challenge to Fudge protégé Shontel Brown, to
become Party chair. Fudge won that battle — which may be tied to her deal with
Bill Mason — but is upset that Williams did not back down.
It is intriguing to consider what, if anything, this would-be Empress of
Black Politics will be wearing if she leaves tomorrow’s executive committee
meeting with none of her publicized candidates able to secure an endorsement.
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