U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge, Cleveland NAACP call for FBI and U.S. Justice Department investigation around Trayvon Martin murder case at rally Sun at 2nd New Hope Baptist Church that drew some 500 people including keynote speakers State Sen Turner and State Rep. Bill Patmon, Cleveland SCLC, NAACP, and United Pastor's in Missions officials, Vision of Angels praise dance team, elected officials, grassroots, The Imperial Women Coalition, Black on Black Crime, the Black Panthers, the Carl Stokes Brigade, The Oppressed People's Nation, Stop Targeting Ohio's Poor, The Committee to Bring Home Jamela and Jamyla, The Joaquin Hicks Real People's Movement, Survivors/Victims of Tragedy, Occupy Cleveland, Cleveland Jobs With Justice, The Family Connection Center, United Pator's in Mission want investigation on mistreatment of Blacks by the legal system in Cleveland
The Vision of Angels Dance Troop (top left picture) and community activists (top right picture) at the Travon Martin rally in Cleveland, Oh. on April 15.
Nancy Ruiz, the mother of missing teen Gina De Jesus, and Peter Schanz of Occupy Cleveland.
East Cleveland Councilman Nate Martin (left picture) and Trayvon Martin supporter Eric Wyatt (right picture). with Vision of Angels Dance Troop Leader Sears Mitchell, who is blind, on the left next to Wyatt
U.S. Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH) Ohio State Sen. Nina Turner (D-25)
Ohio State Rep. Bill Patmon (D-10) Cleveland Ward 6 Councilwoman Mamie Mitchell
Cleveland Ward 4 Councilman Kenneth Johnson Community Activist Art McKoy
The Rev. Tony Minor Charles E. Bibb Sr.
CLEVELAND, Ohio- U.S. Rep. Marcia L. Fudge and the Cleveland Chapter of the NAACP announced a call for the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the Sandford, FL. police department and its chief of police surrounding the murder of slain teenager Travon Martin and the failure of law enforcement authorities to initially charge volunteer neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman at a rally and remembrance program for Martin held Sun afternoon at Second New Hope Baptist Church in Cleveland that drew over 500 people.
"Condolences from the congresswoman go out to Trayvon Martin's family and the congresswoman has asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the FBI to lodge a full investigation," said Linda Matthews, an administrator in the Cleveland area office of Fudge, a Warrensville Hts. Democrat and Ohio's only Black congressperson.
We want four things," said Dr. Eugene Jordan, vice president of the Cleveland Chapter of the NAACP. "We want the arrest and charging of George Zimmerman, which has already occurred, the firing of the Sandford, Fl police chief and others in the department, an impartial investigation by the FBI and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, and the repeal of the Stand Your Ground law."
Dignitaries, grassroots activists, clergy, youth dance groups, and the sponsoring group of the Vision of Angels Dance Troop, packed Second New Hope Baptist Church Sun. for a "Justice for Trayvon Martin" ceremony, an event that followed an outside rally and march held moments earlier that was led by Community Activist Art McKoy.
Organized by Vision of Angels leader Sears Mitchell, who is blind, in cooperation with grassroots groups such as the Imperial Women Coalition, Black on Black Crime, the Carl Stokes Brigade, Occupy Cleveland, Cleveland Jobs with Justice, the Cleveland Chapter of the New Black Panther Party, the Family Connection Center, the Oppressed People's Nation, Goddesses Blessing Goddesses, Survivors/Victims of Tragedy, the Committee to Bring Home Jamela and Jamyla, the Joaquin Hicks Real People's Movement, the Cleveland African-American Museum, Stop Targeting Ohio's Poor and a host of other community affiliates, the program opened with the lighting of candles for Martin and other fallen youth, and a salute to the teen, who was gunned down last month by Zimmerman in a Florida suburb.
Other speakers include Second New Hope Baptist Church Pastor Frank Young, State Sen. Nina Turner (D-25), State Rep. Bill Patmon (D-10), area ministers, Cleveland Ward 6 Councilwoman Mamie Mitchell, Maple Hts District 5 Councilman Charles Crews Jr., East Cleveland Councilman Nate Martin, East Cleveland Coalition Leader Charles E. Bibb Sr. and Imperial Women Coalition Leader Kathy Wray Coleman.
Turner was a keynote for the event as was Patmon. She spoke on the Travon Martin tragedy and reminded the children in the audience that youth violence is also tearing at the fabric of the community and said that young people should take her mother's advice and always "act with some sense." The lawmaker then handed the grassroots factions and the Vision of Angels a resolution on behalf of the Ohio State Legislature that she sponsored.
"We gather here to stand together in honor of a life lost too young," the resolution reads in part. "We must also take care to remember that the lost of every innocent life is a tragedy___ not merely when the race of the killer is different than the victim."
A former Cleveland councilman who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2009, Patmon spoke on the dangers of the Florida Stand Your Ground legislation and the impact it might have during the upcoming trial of Zimmerman, who was charged with second degree murder last week and remains in custody.
'"I am six feet tall and over 250 pounds and am I intimidating?'' Patmon said, making reference to what he deems is irresponsible legislation on Stand Your Ground statutes in Florida and similar laws in some two dozen states across the nation, though Ohio is not among the states.
Others in attendance were Cleveland Defense Attorney and 100 Black Men Member Michael Nelson Sr, Cleveland Ward 4 Councilman Kenneth Johnson, Missing Teen Gina De Jesus Parents Felix De Jesus and Nancy Ruiz,.and Community Activists Debbie Kline, Genevieve Mitchell, Marva and David Patterson, the Rev. Dr LaDonna Blalock, Valerie and Stewart Robinson, Priscilla Cooper, Peter Schanz, Donnie Pastard, Bret Jackson, Judy Martin, Ernest Smith, Patricia Rowell, Donna Walker Brown and Denise Taylor.
Crews, who was just appointed as a councilman in Maple Hts earlier this year, told the audience that violence against Black males plagues the suburbs as well as the inner city.
A Morehouse College graduate who is expected to seek the presidency of the Cleveland NAACP this year,
the Rev Tony Minor, a Cleveland SCLC Member and United Pastor's in Mission Executive Director, gave a motivational speech like Turner did but under the theme that all Black youth are in a position to become Trayvon Martin if the Black community gets silent on the issue simply because Zimmerman has been charged.
"All of you are Trayvon's" said Minor, who also called for an investigation on behalf of the United Pastor's in Mission into what is happening to Blacks disenfranchised by the legal system in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. .
In addition to the Vision of Angels other performers include the Young Heirs and songstress Lisa Bosik, who sang tunes made famous by the late Whitney Houston.
Reach Journalist Kathy Wray Coleman at editor@clevelandurbannews.com and phone number: 216-932-3114.
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