Black women celebrate, network around electoral successes

Just about fifty years ago, Nina Simone released To Be Young, Gifted and Black, a powerful, majestic ode to joy written in memory of her friend, Lorraine Hansberry, author of the Broadway smash, Raisin in the Sun, who died prematurely in 1965 at the tender age of 34.

The song was aimed at young people but it quickly electrified generations of black people of every age who were in the midst of discovering, internalizing and then proclaiming that Black was beautiful. It quickly became kind of a new national anthem for black Americans, one that lifted every voice that sung it, echoing the fervent joy and fierce determination of people who had nearly exhausted themselves in the Sixties bursting holes in America’s Berlin Wall of segregation, discrimination, and humiliation.

South Euclid councilwoman Ruth Gray, president of
National Congress of Black Women Cleveland chapter,
welcomes attendees, flanked by Kim Brown of  the
Black Women's Commission of Cuyahoga County
and county councilwoman Yvonne Conwell.

That sort of energy was in the house last night as more than 150 people assembled on the first floor of an old mansion in University Circle to celebrate a wave of electoral victories by black women candidates in local municipalities this past November.

Maple Hts. Mayor Annette Blackwell and
Essence Doucet of Shaker Hts. were on
hand to congratulate new public officials

Celebrated last night for their recent successful election campaigns were new city council members Davida Russell of Cleveland Hts., Shayla Davis  of Garfield Hts., Dana Anderson of Maple Hts., Cassandra Nelson & Kim Thomas of Richmond Hts., and Juanita Gowdy of East Cleveland, along with Ashley Thomas and Nichelle Daniels, each elected to the Garfield Hts. Board of Education. 

The event was initially planned as a post-election celebration for National Congress of Black Women members. However, a second group, the Black Women’s Commission of Cuyahoga County, signed up as co-sponsor, expanding the list of honorees. Other newly elected officials celebrated were Carmella Williams of Shaker Hts. City Council, village council members Cynthia Beard and Geavona Greene of Highland Hills, and Nakeshia Nickerson and Vivian Walker of Woodmere, and Stephanie Stedmire-Walls, East Cleveland school board.

Newly elected officials honored by Cleveland chapter of National Congress of Black Women [L to R]: Front row, Cassandra Nelson (white jacket)), Cynthia Beard, and Nichelle Daniels. Back Row: Aiyana Hamilton [representing Ashley Thomas], Kim Thomas, Carmella Williams, Juanita Gowdy, Shayla Davis, Dana Henderson, Davida Russell.

Two black women — June Taylor of Beachwood and Gigi Traore of Newburgh Hts. — were elected to their respective seats for the first time, although each had been serving by appointment to this year.

Members of Cleveland chapter, National Congress of Black Women

Many of the women in attendance had never met, a reflection of the county's byzantine political subdivisions. They were coming together from several of the many suburbs that ring Cleveland from north to east to south. This seemed to contribute to the sense of excitement the gathering held. The typical barriers that work against cooperation — differences in community, occupation, generation, social status, appearance, etc. — were minimized in the evening's enthusiasm. 

Leslie White-Wilson and Ray Freeman
share networking moment. White-Wilson
was elected 11th Congressional Delegate
to Democratic National Convention earlier
this month. Freeman is a member of the
Warrnesville Hts. school board, and the
National School Boards Association.

Several of the women in attendance appeared to draw inspiration from the reception's vibe. An attorney in the room was overheard saying that she would continue to run until she was elected judge. A Shaker Hts. data analyst said that while she has always paid close attention to state and national elections, she now realized the importance of local elections, vowing to become more involved.

The NCBW was founded in 1984 by Shirley Chisholm and C. Delores Tucker and has grown to more than 100 chapters. A local NCBW officer said that the Cleveland chapter, in only its fourth year, has already become the nation’s largest chapter with 63 members. South Euclid councilwoman Ruth Gray is chapter president, and county councilwoman Yvonne Conwell of Cleveland is first vice president.

The organization has an IRS 501c(3) tax exemption that requires it to be nonpartisan, a fact Gray acknowledged even as she gave a shout out to Shontel Brown, chairwoman of the local Democratic Party.  A spokeswoman said the group’s emphasis is on empowering black women in their respective communities, voter registration and education, and scholarship aid.

Following the introduction of each newly minted public official and the scrimmage of enthusiastic picture takers as they stood a front room of what is now part of Hawken School’s urban campus, attendees continued in cordial celebration, not just of the recent ballot successes, but in their newly discovered sorority of strength.

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