See photos here: Activist and organizer Kathy Wray Coleman leads International Women's Day March Cleveland 2021 march and rally as the women stand unified in symbolic chains that represent years of oppression of women....Photos by Eugene Miller.....Article by Call and Post....Coleman has organized International Women's Day March Cleveland since Cleveland's first march in 2017

Women's rights activists wrapped themselves in symbolic chains to call for the oppression of women to cease worldwide during the fifth annual International Women's Day rally and march on Market Square in Cleveland on March 8

Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Chairwomen Shontel Brown (third from left), Dayton mayor Nan Whaley (fourth from left), and Ohio House Minority Leader Rep Emilia Sykes (fifth from left) march with women in Cleveland on March 8 for the fifth annual International Women's Day event held on Market Square

Keynote speaker Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley speaks to participants during the 5th annual International Women's Day rally in Cleveland on March 8. Behind her is Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Chairwoman Shontel Brown and Cleveland Ward 1 Councilman Joe Jones 

Keynote speaker Ohio House Minority Leader Rep. Emilia Sykes speaks to participants during the 5th annual International Women's Day rally in Cleveland on March 8.    

Some speakers of the fifth annual International Women's festivities in Cleveland on march 8 at Market Square were honored with flowers from Mattie Hayes floral shop. From left: Ohio House Minority Leader Rep. Emilia Sykes, state Rep. Juanita Brent of Cleveland, Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, Cleveland activist and organizer Kathy Wray Coleman of the Imperial Women Coalition, the Rev. Pamela Pinkney-Butts, and Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Chairperson Shontel Brown

 Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Chairperson Shontel Brown (speaking) introduces Ohio House Minority Leader Rep. Emilia Sykes (far right) at the fifth annual International Women's Day March rally in Cleveland on March 8 as Elaine Gohlstin (second from right) of the Black Women's PAC looks on 

Activist and organizer Kathy Wray Coleman of the Imperial Women Coalition leads women in a march at the fifth annual International Women's Day festivities held in Cleveland on March 8. Coleman has organized every International Women's Day rally and march in Cleveland since the first march and rally in 2017

Cleveland Ward 1 Councilman Joe Jones speaks in support of women at the fifth annual International Women's Day festivities held in Cleveland on March 8. Behind Jones is activist Al Porter Jr., president of Black on Black Crime Inc.
 

From left: The Rev. Pamela Pinkney Butts, Nate Simpson of Black Lives Matter Today, Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Chairwoman Shontel Brown, Cleveland Ward 1 Councilman Joe Jones, and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley

Photos by Eugene Miller

By Minister Dale Edwards, executive director of the Call and Post Newspaper

CLEVELAND, Ohio-Led by Cleveland activist and organizer Kathy Wray Coleman of the Imperial Women Coalition, greater Cleveland women hosted the 5th Annual International Women's Day March Cleveland rally and march on March 8 on Market Square in Cleveland.

Coleman has organized the International Women's Day rallies marches in Cleveland since the first rally and march in 2017 in the largely Black major American city.

Keynote speakers for the rally were state Rep. Emilia Sykes, who is also the minority leader in the Ohio House of Representatives and leads the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus (OLBC), Dayton, Ohio Mayor Nan Whaley, and an activist.

Both Whaley and Sykes spoke on the oppression of women as comunity activists stood with them on stage wrapped in symbolic chains to bring attention to  the long term oppression of women. 

Whaley also spoke on her opposition to stand your ground legislation in Ohio and gun violence, including the high profile mass shooting in Dayton in  2019 by 24-year-old Connor Betts, who shot and killed nine people and injured 17 others.

International Women's Day was first recognized globally in 1911.

Events were held across the world on March 8 to celebrate International Women's Day, a day of civil awareness for women worldwide that is designed to combat sex and race discrimination and promote women's rights.

The purpose was also to recognize the accomplishments of women, and to push for public policies across the board for the betterment of women and girls.

The theme of this year's march in Cleveland was #ChoosetoChallenge.

The MC for the event was Elaine Gohlstein, president of the Black Women's PAC of greater Cleveland.

Other speakers included state Rep Juanita Brent of Cleveland Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Chairwoman Shontel Brown,  state Sen Nickie Antonio of Lakewood,  Cleveland Ward 1 Councilman Joe Jones,  Greater Cleveland Association of Black Journalists Co-Vice President Rhonda Crowder, activists Carol Steiner and Cheryl Lessin of Refusefacism. org,  activist Alfred Porter Jr., president of Black on Black Crime, activist Delores Gray of the Brickhouse Wellness Center, the Rev. Pamela Pinkney Butts. and Nate Simpson of Blacks Lives Matter Today.  

The first Black woman to lead the county Democratic party, Brown said that the fight for equality for women is never-ending and that women will continue to be a force  to recon with on public policy matters across the board. 

The issues for the event were COVID-19 disparities relative to women, Blacks and people of color, women in leadership and journalism, sisterhood, mass incarceration and the legal system, stand your ground legislation in Ohio, violence against women, reproductive rights, immigration, gun violence and excessive force, LGBTQ rights, racism, sex discrimination, voting rights, and local county, state and national policies impacting women.

The women also said a prayer for all of the fallen Black and other women of Cleveland who have died because of heinous violence, including the 11 Black women murdered on Imperial Avenue on the city's east side by serial killer Anthony Sowell, who died last month in prison while on death row.