Imperial Women, Grassroots To Meet With Cleveland NAACP Around Imperial Ave. Murders, Black Issues, Activist Says Judge McGinty Is Harassing Her

Attorney and Cleveland NAACP President George Forbes

From the Metro Desk of the DeterminerWeekly.Com and the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com (www.determinerweekly.com and www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)


Officers and executive committee members of the Cleveland branch NAACP have agreed to meet with members of the Imperial Women and leaders of a host of other grassroots factions for a discussion around the Imperial Avenue Murders and other matters impacting greater Cleveland's Black and other communities. Among members of the Imperial Women that will attend are family members of 11 Black women whose remains were uncovered a year ago on Imperial Avenue In Cleveland's impoverished Mt. Pleasant neighborhood.

Contacts from the grassroots venues are Kathy Wray Coleman at 216-932-3114, Don Bryant at 440-623-0492, Judy Martin at 216-990-0679, Tina Bronaugh at 216-253-6484, Marva Patterson at 216-334-7013 and Ada Averyhart at 216-645-0804.

"We are excited about meeting and we have confirmation from practically all of the affiliated grassroots leaders to attend as well as open arms from NAACP leaders, we believe," said Kathy Wray Coleman of the Imperial Women. "Mr Miller has advised that he shall contact us again to confirm the exact date of the Cleveland NAACP's regular meeting in January and that he is expecting us."

Other organizations joining the Imperial Women to meet with Cleveland NAACP President George Forbes, executive director the Rev. Stanley Miller, branch lawyers James Hardiman and Lawrence Floyd and others active with the Civil Rights organization include Survivors and Victims of Tragedy, the Carl Stokes Brigade and the People's Forum.

The Oppressed People's Nation, Stop Targeting Ohio's Poor, the Lucasville Uprising Freedom Network, and People for the Imperial Act are among others also slated for the community session, Coleman said.

Coleman went on to say that they hope to push the NAACP to become more community oriented and to raise the consciousness of its leaders on the overwhelming community issues before them, particularly relative to Black women and the unfairness of the legal system as it relates to young Black men, women and others. And, says the journalist, they want action rather than simply studies by establishment type researchers that serve primarily to remind us of the disparities against minorities in our courts since the findings, which may or may not have research validity, are merely gathering dust.

"We value the concept of the NAACP and support its existence, as well as what it brings to the community forum, and the interest in attending the meeting speaks for itself," said Coleman. "We appreciate the recent workshop by Bill of Rights Defense Committee Field Organizer George Friday as we recall the community empowerment that comes with effective community organizing and seek support from the NAACP, a community organization that belongs to the community."

Coleman said that during two coalition meetings held in the past six weeks the leaders of the participating grassroots factions decided that group members will, with permission from NAACP leaders, raise in part the following concerns to the NAACP executive committee and organizational officers at the January meeting:

-The dismissal of all criminal charges before Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Kathleen Ann Keough against Destini Bronaugh, 19, the Collinwood High School graduate subject to malicious prosecution by Cleveland Law Director Robert Triozzi and the City of Cleveland in retaliation for a peaceful student protest at the school in May around school closings and teacher layoffs. (Note: We also seek an investigation of police conduct around this issue and a report to the community).

-The immediate dismissal of all criminal charges against Rebecca Whitby, 25, and her mother, also named Rebecca Whitby, that came after an internal police complaint that the younger Whitby was called a "nigger" and beat up by Cleveland Fifth District Police without just cause, an elderly White neighbor says. (Note: We also seek an investigation of police conduct around this issue and a report to the community as to whether Rebecca Whitby was called "nigger" by police who have yet to be punished by the non-minority City of Cleveland safety director and chief of police).

-The dismissal of the erroneous guilty verdict of resisting arrest leveled against journalist Kathy Wray Coleman via prosecutorial misconduct and arbitrary behavior by Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Kathleen Ann Keough in retaliation for her community emails and articles in the Call and Post Newspaper and elsewhere, and her community activism. (Note: The illegal harassment by Keough and her Illegal attempts to sentence Coleman for allegedly resisting arrest when illegally arrested In 2008 come without even a complaint or testimony as required under the Sixth Amendment from sole White male arresting sheriff's deputy Gerald Pace. Coleman says that she has been repeatedly harassed and has been threatened and arrested since 2008 with the help of certain Black leaders that took money and prestige over fair play and compliance with state and federal law around the malicious prosecution undertaken at the hands of Cleveland Law Director Robert Triozzi, Keough's friend and attorney of record, as well as a former Cleveland Municipal Court judge).

-The request that assignments of criminal and all other cases to Cleveland Municipal Court judges be by random draw rather than personal selection of cases to judges like Judge Keough as required by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

-The assignment of a licensed mental health professional instead of Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Kathleen Ann Keough over the Cleveland Municipal Court Psychiatric Clinic per state law and an investigation of the number of people erroneously referred to the clinic for political and harassment purposes.

- The reorganizing of the City of Cleveland's top level law enforcement leadership team to reflect necessary diversity in the predominantly Black major metropolitan city where there are no Blacks or women as law director, safety director, chief of police, EMS commissioner, or chief prosecutor.

- An investigation as to the reassignment process of municipal and common pleas judges replaced in cases of bias or conflict of the sitting judge with a push for statutory legislation that requires assignments by computer generated random draw at all times.

-An immediate investigation as to the release from custody in 2008 of serial killing suspect Anthony Sowell in spite of a credible and since prosecuted complaint by Gladys Wade, who said she was subjected to an attempted rape but got away. Six of the 11 murdered women of Imperial Avenue were murdered after Sowell's release from custody in 2008. (Note: Sowell is now in custody and awaiting trial on numerous counts of murder, kidnapping and rape, among other charges).

-The necessity for a fair trial relative to the Joaquin Hicks case and other cases impacting young Black men, women and others prosecuted by the State of Ohio in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas and sentenced to prison in violation of their constitutional and statutory right to a fair trial before a fair and neutral trier of law, i. e., the judge.

-An investigation as to whether innocent Black male prisoners have been illegally sentenced to life in prison relative to the 1993 Lucasville Riots.