Weekend Roundup: Black Preachers & Politics, Area Ballot Levies

Longtime Cleveland pastor returns to area pulpit tomorrow

Dr. Marvin A. McMickle, who served as Senior Pastor of Antioch Baptist Church from 1987 until 2011, will preach at the 10AM Church of the Covenant worship service tomorrow. 

Following the service, McMickle will lead an adult forum on the intersection of religion and politics. The discussion is expected to look at the way conservative Christians use the political process to advance a social agenda.

McMickle, a prolific author, will no doubt reference his forthcoming book on the black preacher and politics. He left Antioch and Cleveland in 2011 to become President of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in Rochester, NY, where he is also Professor of Church Leadership and Director of the Program of Black Church Studies.

The Church of the Covenant is located at 11205 Euclid Avenue in University Circle.

Looking for info on all those levies on the ballot this year?

You can hear representatives of the Cuyahoga County Health & Human Services Department, the county Port Authority, and Metroparks on today’s “It’s About Justice”. The public affairs program hosted by retired Cleveland educator Meryl Johnson airs on WRUW-FM/91.1 Saturday afternoons from 2:30-3:30PM*. You can also hear it online at wruw.org/guide/.

A Cleveland Public Library levy is also on this year’s ballot. A campaign spokesman for that issue will also be on today’s program. If you miss it, I believe the programs can be accessed online for about a week after the show.

* new time slot.

Kaleidoscopic Creative Cohort Convenes in Cleveland; Trayvon trial aftermath on local airwaves this weekend

A healthy segment of Cleveland’s African American creative class convened in University Circle last night to network and glean insight and inspiration from some of our town’s under the radar professional talent.

Jacinda Walker, right, chats with videographer Aaron Clement and his daughter

The occasion was a well-conceived DesigNation networking event sponsored by the Organization of Black Designers [OBD], a national group of design professionals from across a spectrum of intellectual workers: graphic artists, industrial designers, videographers, fashion designers, video gamers, product designers, architectural, interior, and multi-media designers, etc.

 

OBD national president David Rice, swaps ideas
with Scott "Spike" Radway, of Richmond Heights-
based Team Spike Consulting LLC

OBD is a national organization whose local presence is represented by the yearlong effort of Jacinda Walker to develop a regional chapter.

The group’s national leader, David Rice, was at last night’s event, which was held at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Rice encouraged attendees to toot their own horns, to lift each other up, and to work collectively to strengthen the network of black designers.

Drue Thompson
Dru Christine Fabrics & Design

After an extended networking period built around a thematic game of Pantene Bingo, the crowd of roughly seventy professionals heard briefly from several standout designers, including fashion designer Drue Thompson of Dru Christine Fabrics and Design, Tamar Medina of J-Lynn Entertainment, Marshall L. Shorts Jr. of Soulo Theory [Columbus], and Eric Mathews of Madwerkz.

Tamar Medina, J-Lynn Entertainment

Medina, whose company designs video games, talked about the serendipitous discovery that his products were of special utility for the cognitive development of autism sufferers.

Marshall L. Shorts Jr., Soulo Theory

Eric Mathews described his nine-person company as the leading digital effects company in the Midwest. He wowed the audience after he modestly sketched his prior work with LL Cool J, NWA, his tenure with National Geographic magazine, his work in place as varied as Bosnia and Sierra Leone, and his association with a variety of well-known Hollywood films. He encouraged talented artists to contact his company for possible employment.*

Maurice Wingfield of Tiny Giant Studio was singled out for special acknowledgement for his contributions to OBD’s work here.

[L-R] CIA interior design student Jaliah Johnson and graphic designer
Amber Albergottie, a CIA graduate,served as hostesses for the event.

[L-R] Cleveland Institute of Art faculty members
Kidist Getachew, Mari Hulick, and David Hart, Ph.D.

Event organizer Jacinda Walker had many reasons to be smiling all evening. On top of the positive vibe she was instrumental in creating, she was sharing the news that the local OBD chapter would be participating for the first time in next month’s Weapons of Mass Creation FEST 4, which bills itself as the premier art, design and music event in the Midwest.

The event draws creative professionals, entrepreneurs, artists and musicians from around the country.

This year’s festival will be August 16-18 at the Cleveland Public Theatre in the city’s Gordon Square Arts District. [Visit wmcfest.com for more information and tickets. Use OBD for a discount code to save $10.]

Walker’s smile was a little bittersweet when she announced that Walker would be leaving town at the end of the month to enter a master’s of design program at Ohio State University.

* An earlier version of this post misidentified the photo of Marshall L. Shorts Jr.

Anatomy of a Tragedy

I continue to shake my head how anyone could have thought, even in the immediate glow of Barack Obama’s 2008 electoral victory, that this country was entering a post-racial era. The tragic case of Trayvon Martin, where George Zimmerman got off scot-free after profiling, stalking and killing an unarmed teenager who was minding his own business, should put a halt to all such nonsensical thinking for a long time. But of course it won’t.

The case will be the centerpiece of two local community radio programs this week. Former NAACP president and current ACLU Ohio legal director James Hardiman will be discussing the case with Meryl Johnson on “It’s About Justice”, which airs tomorrow on WRUW-FM/91.1 from 1:30-2:30PM. You can hear it online at wruw.org/.

On Sunday night, Mansfield Frazier will be discussing the Trayvon-Zimmerman case with C. Ellen Connally, president of Cuyahoga County Council and a retired judge, and Sheila Wright, executive director of the Cleveland NAACP. Mansfield’s show, “The Forum”, airs Sundays from 7-10PM on WTAM-AM/1100.

The Politics of Justice

The political scientist Richard Fenno, after following Cleveland’s legendary Lou Stokes around our town, noted with astonishment the red-carpet treatment and near hero worship the retired Congressman received from his former constituents. Fenno, considered the dean of Congressional scholars, remarked that he had never seen anything like it.

There is no doubt that Lou Stokes is a walking, breathing political giant in our midst. Still, it does not detract one whit from his stature to wonder whether the adulation he — and to a lesser degree, his beloved successor, the late Stephanie Tubbs Jones — continues to receive, says as much or more about the peculiar makeup of identity politics in Cleveland than it does about him.

In any event, it remains our good fortune to have his continued presence on the scene. Today, he appears as the special guest on “It’s About Justice”, the public affairs radio show hosted by retired Cleveland educator and activist Meryl Johnson.

Stokes was an outstanding trial attorney who won landmark cases before the US Supreme Court before beginning his thirty-year political career in the late 1960s. He likely will share his legal and political perspective on this week’s decisions regarding the Court’s savaging of the Voting Rights Act as well as its latest decision on affirmative action. I hope Meryl finds time to ask him about the Court’s DOMA decision as well.

“It’s About Justice” airs on WRUW-FM/91.1 Saturday afternoons from 1:30-2:30PM. You can hear it online at wruw.org/.

• • •

Justice will remain the theme of the week on Mansfield Frazier’s radio show, “The Forum”, which airs tomorrow night from 7-10PM on WTAM-AM/1100.  The show will be dealing with addiction and our country’s phony but devastating “war on drugs”.

Guests will include Cleveland Municipal Court judges Anita Laster Mays and Marilyn B. Cassidy; Debora A. Rodriguez, president and CEO of Recovery Resources; and Peter Christ, co-founder of LEAP [Law Enforcement Against Prohibition]. LEAP’s website says the nonprofit organization is comprised of “criminal justice professionals who bear personal witness to the wasteful futility and harms of our current drug policies.”

“The Forum”, known colloquially to wags as “Negro Night on WTAM”, is a call-in show, so listeners can interact with the show’s host and guests.

The program is also streamed at http://www.wtam.com/main.html.

 • • •

Finally, in keeping with our justice theme, I came across this compelling audio recording of George Zimmerman’s interrogation by the police after he was brought in for questioning following his killing of Trayvon Martin. His attitude is chilling, and begs the question of why it took a national campaign to arrest this menace to society.

More on Steubenville rape case

Steubenville rape case today’s topic on “It’s About Justice”

It would be convenient to say that now that the two teenage boys have been properly adjudicated as delinquents for their abominable treatment of a defenseless girl that we can file away the episode. But what happened in Steubenville likely takes place on a regular basis in these United States, even in far tonier places.

This afternoon Megan O’Bryan, CEO of the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, will be on “It’s About Justice” to offer perspective on the Steubenville case.

Also on the show will be Annisha Jeffries, youth services director for the Cleveland Public Library, talking about the library’s “My Place My Card” campaign for children under five. It’s never too early to learn!

“It’s About Justice”, hosted by Cleveland schoolteacher Meryl Johnson airs on WRUW-FM/91.1 Saturday afternoons from 1:30-2:30PM. You can hear it online at wruw.org/

Retaining and Attracting Cleveland's Best and Brightest is conference focus

More than 100 people are expected to attend tomorrow’s Young Professional Civic Leadership and Empowerment conference. The event runs from 9AM to 1PM at the Ariel International Center, 1163 East 40 Street, just north of Lakeside Ave.

The Cleveland Young Professional Senate (CYPS) is the event’s prime sponsor. The goal is to generate positive ideas that will help shape the city as a top destination for young adults.

Attendees may participate in two workshops. The first session workshop topics are urban planning and government, retail and economic development, and public transportation. The second session will feature workshops on business development and entrepreneurship, residential and housing trends, and public safety.

Conference partners include Engage Cleveland, The Cleveland 20/30 Club, Young Latino Network, Young Nonprofit Professional Network, Next Generation Council and many others.

There is no cost to attend; attire is business casual. To register: http://ypcle.eventbrite.com/

• • •

Cleveland Radio this Weekend

We know that what happens in East Cleveland or Richmond Heights schools impacts the quality of life for all of Cuyahoga County. By the same token it is important to take note of what is happening in Strongsville, where the teachers strike enters its third week on Monday. A federal mediator has called a meeting between the StrongsvilleEducation Association [teachers union] and the Strongsville School Board forthis Sunday.

SEA President Tracy Linscott will be on Meryl Johnson’s radio show, “It’s About Justice” tomorrow to talk about the strike issues.

Johnson’s show will also feature speeches by two American pioneers: former Congresswomen Shirley Chisholm and Barbara Jordan. The lives and careers of these African American women are fitting topics during this observance of Women’s History Month.

“It’s About Justice” airs on WRUW-FM/91.1 Saturday afternoons from 1:30-2:30PM. Hear it online at wruw.org/guide/.