Keynote speakers for International Women's Day March Cleveland on March 8, 2022 are U.S Senate candidate Morgan Harper, lieutenant governor candidate Cheryl Stephens, who is a Cuyahoga County councilwoman and former Cleveland Heights mayor, and longtime grassroots activist Cheryl Lessin....Head organizer Kathy Wray Coleman said that "we are pleased to have two Black women, one a superior candidate for the U.S. Senate in Morgan Harper, and the other a worthy lieutenant governor candidate and county elected official in Cheryl Stephens, as well as longtime activist fighter Cheryl Lessin as our keynote speakers in Cleveland on March 8 for International Women's Day March Cleveland as we fight for the reproductive and Civil and other rights for women internationally".....By Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader

Pictured from left: 2020 International Women's Day March Cleveland keynote speakers U.S. Senate candidate Morgan Harper, a Columbus-based attorney and progressive activist who worked under then D.C. consumer watch dog Richard Cordray when Barack Obama was president, and Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Cheryl Stephens, a former Cleveland Heights mayor and the lieutenant governor candidate on the gubernatorial ticket of former Democratic Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, and longtime grassroots activist Cheryl Lessin

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, 2021 The women will march against on March 8, 2022 for the annual event.

Keynote speaker, then Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, (third from left in front row), poses with  some of the other  speakers of the fifth annual International Women's festivities in Cleveland on March 8, 2021 at Market Square in Ohio City were honored with flowers from Mattie Hayes floral shop. Front row from left: Then Ohio House Minority Leader Rep. Emilia Sykes, who was also a keynote speaker, state Rep. Juanita Brent of Cleveland,  Cleveland activist and organizer Kathy Wray Coleman, who was the head organizer of the event and has organized each annual event since 2017, the Rev. Pamela Pinkney-Butts, and Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Chairperson and Councilwoman Shontel Brown

clevelandurbannews.com and  www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio-U.S. Senate candidate Morgan Harper, a Columbus-based attorney and progressive activist who worked under then D.C. consumer watch dog Richard Cordray when Barack Obama was president, and Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Cheryl Stephens, a former Cleveland Heights Mayor and the lieutenant governor candidate on the gubernatorial ticket of former Democratic Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, are keynote speakers along with seasoned greater Cleveland activist Cheryl Lessin of Refuse Fascism for the 6th annual International Women's Day March Cleveland Rally & March. The march will follow a rally with speakers. (For more info contact event organizers at (216) 659-0473).

The theme of this year's march in Cleveland, the 6th annual march, and for International Women's Day internationally, is #Stand Against Bias. The event will be held on Tues, March 8 beginning at 4:45 pm in the Ohio City neighborhood at Market Square Park across from the Westside Market at 1979 W. 25th Street and Lorain Avenue near downtown Cleveland.

Last year's keynote speakers for the rally were Whaley and state Rep. Emilia Sykes, who is a former minority leader in the Ohio House of Representatives out of Akron who is running for Congress this year in Ohio's 13th congressional district. Ohio 11th Congressional District  Congresswoman Shontel Brown,  , then a candidate for the seat in a crowded primary that includes former Ohio senator Nina Turner, was also among the speakers last year. 

Head organizer Kathy Wray Coleman, who leads the Imperial Women Coalition and is also head organizer of Women's March Cleveland a larger venue with an annual march each January and intermittently during the year, said that it is time for greater Cleveland women to march again and that activists welcome a cadre of talented speakers to the event on Tuesday, and a host of activists who seek public policy changes across the board for the betterment of women and their families.

"We are pleased to have two Black women, one a superior candidate for the U.S. Senate in Morgan Harper, and the other a worthy lieutenant governor candidate and county elected official in Cheryl Stephens, as well as longtime activist fighter Cheryl Lessin as our keynote speakers in Cleveland on March 8 for International Women's Day March Cleveland as we fight for the reproductive and Civil and other rights for women internationally," said Coleman." Also at issue is violence against women and racism, sexism, the denial of reproductive and and voting rights, and the unnecessary war on women in Ukraine and other places in the world like Ethiopia."

Coleman, who has been head organizer of the International Women's Day rallies and marches in Cleveland since the first rally and march in Cleveland in 2017, added that Cheryl Stephens is from Cleveland Heights and is home grown.

Other event speakers include Black Women's PAC President Elaine Gohlstin, Cuyahoga County executive candidate Tariq Shabazz, activists Dorothy Walwyn of Father's Live Matter, Delores Gray of Brickhouse Wellness Center, and Laura Cowan of the Laura Cowan Foundation, and a representative from the greater Cleveland immigrant support community. Activist Mixchael Nwlso will perform a song for the women.

The women said that they will also address a pending bill in the Republican-dominated Ohio state legislature that is designed to chill free speech and arbitrarily criminalize protesters in Ohio for peacefully speaking out on issues of public concern. And event organizers say that they remain concerned as to anti-abortion bills and laws nationally, and in Ohio in particular that wreak havoc on women and violate the tenants of Roe v Wade. the 1973 landmark U.S., Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal nationwide.

Led by activist Alfred Porter Jr of Black on Black Crime Inc., the women will also say 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 in prison last year while on death row.

Events are being 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 is also to recognize the accomplishments of women, and to push for public policies across the board for women and girls, organizers said.

clevelandurbannews.com and  www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog in Ohio and in the Midwest. 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.