Remembering The Late Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Ohio's First Black Congresswoman

The late Stephanie Tubbs Jones, then Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Ohio Governor Ted Strickland during Clinton's unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic nomination for President in 2008














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

The Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com remembers the late Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Ohio's first Black Congresswoman who died in August of 2008 shortly before Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for President of the United States of America.

Below is the last major interview with Tubbs Jones by Journalist Kathy Wray Coleman that was featured in the Cleveland Call and Post Newspaper, Ohio's Black Press.

"I remember calling the Congresswoman right after then Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton lost the Democratic nomination for President of the United States of America," said Coleman. "And at that time tensions were still underway because she was Clinton's national co-chairperson and several Blacks in the predominately Black 11th Congressional District that she represented were either uncomfortable or angry because she was supporting Clinton, including the Call and Post Newspaper."

Though taken right after Clinton lost the nomination Coleman says that the Call and Post would not print it saying that "Stephanie and Hillary need to settle down and support Obama." It was after her death on August 20, 2008 that Coleman says she reminded Call and Post officials that she had the last major interview.

Coleman says that Tubbs Jones' absence is felt, particularly by Black women political hopefuls who won seats, including judgeship's, because she would often buck the status quo and some sexist Black men and endorse them.

The one-on-one interview is reprinted as follows:


By Kathy Wray Coleman
(National and Cleveland, Oh. Area News)

Posted September 6, 2009
(Originally published on September 24, 2008 in the Call & Post Newspaper, Ohio's Black Press with distributions in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio, where Kathy Wray Coleman interviewed the late Tubbs Jones in her capacity as a freelance journalist)

This is an exclusive interview with the late U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones held shortly before her untimely death where the beloved congresswoman of the 11th Congressional District spoke on various issues including her tenure as the national campaign chairperson for New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton relative to Clinton's failed pursuit of the Democratic nomination for President of the United States of America. Such audio-taped interview, which occurred with Tubbs Jones' on record approval, was undertaken three days after Clinton gave her historic concession speech in New York City. There she urged her supporters and others to rally behind Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the first Black presidential nominee of a major American political party.

The one-on-one interview with Tubbs Jones highlights the complicated concepts of race and gender in American politics. As Clinton's national campaign chairperson, Tubbs Jones did not waiver in her support of Clinton, even after an overwhelming number of Blacks from across the country and in her own congressional district rallied behind Obama. Though Clinton won Ohio's Democratic primary by some 200,000 votes, 70 percent of Tubbs' Jones constituents in the majority Black 11th Congressional District voted for Obama where tensions ran high with no holds barred. Still, Tubbs Jones remained loyal saying that she came aboard for Clinton long before Obama revealed his intentions to seek the Democratic nomination for president and that her word was her bond.

In this in depth yet spontaneous interview Tubbs Jones talks about the congressional legislation and other activities she sought on behalf of the Black community. She also gives her perspective as to the ups and downs that ambitious women encounter when they seek to positively manipulate the status quo. She says that men are typically in and women must still struggle for acceptance at all levels of the continuum, in politics, in corporate America, and otherwise. The interview further reveals a loss to the Black community as Tubbs Jones speaks of the Blacks in public office in Cleveland and in Cuyahoga County that she helped to get elected.

CALL & POST FREELANCE REPORTER KATHY WRAY COLEMAN:
Can McCain beat Barack?

Tubbs Jones:
I think that Barack can beat McCain but we have a lot of work to do for him to beat John McCain.

Ohio is so very important isn't it?

Tubbs Jones:
I think Ohio is very important. No [Republican] president has won the presidency without winning Ohio.

C&P:
Would you be as responsive to Obama as you were to Hillary?

Tubbs Jones:
Absolutely. At this juncture Hillary says it and I'm saying the same thing, that that's history and we're moving forward and the only thing we can do now is get Sen. Obama elected.

C&P:
Can he win if you don't help him?

Tubbs Jones:
I'm willing to help, but I don't predispose that I am that important.

C&P:
Did Hillary hurt you in your district?

Tubbs Jones:
I believe that there were many people who did not like the fact that I supported Hillary, but I don't believe it hurt my ability to represent the district or my record of support for other candidates. And you know what is so amazing Kathy, where were all these people when I was trying to help Raymond Pierce get elected mayor of the City of Cleveland? And where were all these people when there were other African-American elected officials that have been running for public office and we couldn't find them to support us? The list goes on.

C&P:
So what you are saying is that you supported a whole lot of African-American candidates, right?

Tubbs Jones:
Of course.

C&P:
Name a few

Tubbs Jones:
[Cleveland Mayor] Frank Jackson, Ramond Pierce, all the municipal court judges in Cleveland, Peter Lawson Jones for county commissioner, and upcoming Lillian Greene to be the county recorder.

C&P:
I guess if you said put Hillary on the ticket that would be a another thing wouldn't it?

Tubbs Jones:
[laughter].. I think she'd be a great vice president but I don't know whether that's what she wants or whether that's what he [Obama] wants, and I'm not pressed.

C&P
Did you see any racism or sexism in this Democratic campaign?

Tubbs Jones:
Absolutely. I want to send you this article from the New York Times about sexism in the city and sexism in the campaign.

C&P:
Do you believe that this time sexism was more prevalent than racism?

Tubbs Jones:
Yes, absolutely.

C&P:
Men still like to run things, don't they?

Tubbs Jones:
Yes, absolutely. Men like to run things, and its alright. Men like to run things and women like to
run things, and that's a competition.

C&P:
Sexism can be stronger than racism in some arenas?

Tubbs Jones:
Absolutely. All you have to do is look at how many women there are in the Senate, how many women there are in the House compared to the number of men, how many women governor's there are, women elected officials, women in the board rooms, and CEOs in large companies. We have come a long way, but we've got a long way to go. I felt blessed to have had the opportunity to advise a presidential candidate in 2008 having come from a father who was a sky cap and a mother who was a factory worker. I will always remember the experience I had and I am thankful for it. Sen. Clinton has thrown her wholehearted support behind Barack Obama and I throw mine as well.

C&P:
What are some of the [bills] that you have sponsored or co-sponsored on behalf of the Black
community?

Tubbs Jones:
The fugitive safe surrender and the uterine fibroid tumor [bills], and The Second Chance Act. It [The Second Chance Act] passed [into legislation] in the last 60 days. The Second Chance Act focuses on giving ex-offenders the opportunity for jobs, on housing, drug treatment, family counseling and job training.

C&P:
Are Black women disproportionately affected by fibroids?

Tubbs Jones:
Absolutely, and no one knows the cause. They say that the highest incidence of hysterectomy is the result of uterine fibroids. I have been working on legislation around instate renal disease and kidney failure that predominates in African-Americans. So you know, people called in about she hasn't done anything for veterans and I created a veterans advisory committee, that I hadn't done anything for Black men, and the list went on. And as I said, I stand on my record for support for my community and my constituents.

C&P:
Is there anything else that you want me to get across to the Black community?

Tubbs Jones:
[Get across] how much I love and support them. And I say to them that you may not have liked my decision or you may not have supported my decision for Hillary Clinton, but look at my record and support of the community and the work that I have done in the past 26 years.

C&P:
Thank you.

Tubbs Jones:
You're welcome.

Tubbs Jones, 58 at her death, was the first Black congresswoman from Ohio. She died of a brain aneurysm Aug 20, just nine days before Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Her death took the state of Ohio and the nation by storm where thousands attended her memorial service in Cleveland including Sen. Obama, Michelle Obama, vice presidential Democratic Nominee Sen. Joe Biden, Sen. Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, Congressional Black Caucus Chairperson Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, retired U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes, and many of her constituents from the 11th Congressional District, which encompasses the City of Cleveland and parts of its eastern suburbs