Democratic congressional nominee Shontel Brown is the grand marshal for Ohio's 11th congressional district Labor Day parade and festival in Cleveland, Brown the Democratic nominee for the largely Black 11th congressional district seat vacated by former congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge, who is now U.S. secretary of HUD in President Joe Biden's administration.... By editor Kathy Wray Coleman of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black and alternative digital news leader

  

U.S. Congressional candidate  Shontel Brown, the winner of the special Democratic primary election on Tues, Aug 3 as to the open seat in Ohio's 11th congressional district, which includes most of Cleveland and its eastern suburbs of Cuyahoga County, a largely Black pocket of Akron, and staggering sections of Akron's Summit County suburbs.  

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com

By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief

CLEVELAND, OHIO – Ohio 11th Congressional District Democratic Nominee Shontel Brown, upon winning a heated primary last month, will serve as grand marshal for the 50th annual Labor Day parade festivities on Mon., Sept 6, 2021 in Cleveland sponsored by the caucus in the state's largely Black congressional district, a celebrated and historical event initiated decades ago my former congressman Louis Stokes, his younger brother Carl Stokes, and a cadre of other influential Black leaders connected to the Stokes brothers (Editor's note: The late former congressman Louis Stokes, also a lawyer, was the first Black congressman of what was eventually redistricted to become what is now the 11th congressional district, and his late brother, Carl B. Stokes, became the first Black mayor of Cleveland and of a major American city when voters elected him to lead Cleveland in 1967).

A political and community event at Luke Easter Park on the city's majority Black east side that draws mainly Democrats and state, local and even national political figures like Hillary Clinton in 2016, the parade will kick off at 11 am from East 147th Street and Kinsman Road and will end at the park at East 93rd Street and Kinsman. There, Democrats will give speeches, candidates for office will campaign, and vendors will try to make a few dollars as the coronavirus pandemic continues to threaten everyday lives in America and across the globe.   

Billed as the 11th Congressional District Community Caucus "Empowering Our People" Labor Day Parade & Festival," a Facebook parade registration page says organizers are expecting 5,000 people. Registration for the parade is still open.

The annual parade and park festival has drawn thousands to Luke Easter Park on Labor Day. Last year it was canceled because of the pandemic. All seven of this year's  Cleveland mayoral candidates competing in the Sept. 14 nonpartisan primary are expected to be there on Monday, as well  those on the ballot for one of the  17 city council seats, among suburban candidates running for office.

Notably, the event will proceed for the first time in 12 years without former congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge at the helm, Fudge now the U.S. secretary of Housing and Urban Development with the administration of President Joe Biden, the former vice president under former president Barack Obama. It is also going forward for the first time in history without a duly installed congressperson as the congressional seat has remained open since Fudge was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in early March to lead HUD, and it will stay open until after the November general election when voters will elect a new congressperson. 

A Fudge protege, Brown, 47, emerged as the winner among a crowded field of Democrats competing in a special Democratic primary election  to replace Fudge after handily defeating her 12 opponents, including the also popular Nina Turner, a well-financed front-runner and a former Ohio senator who last year co-chaired the presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Also chairwoman of the county Democratic party, she will face Republican Lavern Gore for a Nov. 2 general election, Gore winning headily over her only opponent, Felicia Washington Ross, to become the Republican nominee. No doubt, Brown is all but the congresswoman in the heavily Democratic congressional district, a 55 percent Black congressional district.

One of two of Ohio's 16 congressional districts crafted under the redistricting provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1965, Ohio's 11th congressional district includes most of Cleveland and its eastern suburbs of Cuyahoga County and a majority Black pocket of Akron and staggering sections of Akron's Summit County suburbs. 

If Brown wins the general election in November as expected, she will become the third Black woman to lead the congressional district, behind Fudge, and Fudge's friend and predecessor, the late Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a former county prosecutor and prior judge who followed Louis Stokes into office.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest, and the most read independent digital news in Ohio. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.

By Kathy Wray Coleman. Coleman is a former public school biology teacher and a Black political, legal and investigative reporter who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio.