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Consuela Lee By Monica Moorehead (Contributing Writer) Published Jan 10, 2010 (National News) Consuela Lee, an African-American jazz pianist, composer, arranger and music educator, passed away Dec. 26 in Atlanta, Ga. She was 83 years old. Lee had dedicated her life to helping to preserve the integrity of African-American culture, which she consistently traced to the resistance to slavery, for future generations. She was the founder of Springtree/Snow Hill Institute for the Performing Arts in Snow Hill, Ala., and its artistic director for almost 25 years. Snow Hill Normal and Industrial Institute was originally founded in 1893 by William James Edwards, Lee’s grandfather, to provide an education in vocational trades to impoverished rural Black people, 30 years after the legal end of slavery. Today, Wilcox County remains one of the poorest counties in Alabama. SHI permanently closed its doors in 1973 due to a desegregation edict. In 1979, Lee went door to door in the Snow Hill communi

Cleveland Public Schools CEO Dr. Eugene Sanders Cleveland, Ohio Mayor Frank G. Jackson Posted, Thursday January 7, 2010 (Cleveland, Ohio Area News) From the Metro Desk of The Determiner Weekly.com and The Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network The Imperial Women object to the entire Cleveland Metropolitan School District School Closings Plan until such time that Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, who by virtue of state law controls the schools, CEO Dr. Eugene Sanders and the Cleveland Board of Education go back to the drawing board and allow substantive community input, including that of the Black community. This would also include Ward 7 Councilman T.J. Dow who says he was not consulted and where his East High School is slated to close along with South High, which is in Councilman Anthony Brancatelli's Ward 12. Both are predominantly Black schools and both are on the predominantly Black East side of Cleveland. No other high schools are slated to close and Cleveland is

U.S. President Barack Obama January 6, 2010 (National and Cleveland, Ohio Area News) From the Metro Desk of The Determiner Weekly.com and The Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network WASHINGTON, DC - The White House yesterday told the Determinerweekly.com and the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network that President Obama will travel to Lorain County in Ohio, which is about 41 minutes from the city of Cleveland, on Friday, January 22, 2010 for the next stop on the White House to Main Street Tour. During the visit, President Obama will meet with Ohio workers, local CEOs, small business owners, and local leaders about ideas for continuing to grow the economy and put Americans back to work. President Obama will spend the day in the Lorain County area speaking to Ohioans about the challenges they are facing and listening to their ideas for how we will continue to work together to turn the economy around. Additional details about the visit, including locations

Cleveland Police Union President Stephen Loomis Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson Posted Friday, January 1, 2010 (Cleveland, Ohio Area News) By Kathy Wray Coleman Editor of The Determiner Weekly.com and The Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network Cleveland Police Union President Stephen Loomis has given Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson a “D plus” grade in the category of leadership ability following the layoffs last week of 67 police officers, 52 of whom completed the police academy with accolades from Jackson days before voters gave him a second term on Nov. 3. The layoffs become effective Jan. 11. “He was a “B” in October but after the layoffs its a D plus,” said Loomis, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolman's Association since 2006. “He knew in June when he started the police academy of the financial issues and he went ahead so that he could pose for the cameras when they graduated only to layoff these babies who have families where some are single

U.S. President Barack Obama Posted Thursday, December 31, 2009 (National News) By Kathy Wray Coleman Editor of The Determiner Weekly.com and The Kathy Wray Coleman On line News Blog and Media Network The Senate on Christmas Eve morning passed a health care reform bill backed by the Obama administration 60 to 39. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was supported by a majority of Senate Democrats, follows a similar health care reform bill dubbed America's Health Care Reform Act that passed the House Nov. 7. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Oh) was among the Democrats that backed the initiative in the House. In response to the Senate's unprecendented passage of the bill President Barack Obama said in a press release to the Determiner Weekly.com the following: “Good morning, everybody.  In a historic vote that took place this morning members of the Senate joined their colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass a landmark health insurance reform package -- le

Cleveland, Ohio Mayor Frank G. Jackson Posted Saturday, December 19, 2009 (National and Cleveland, Ohio Area News) From the Metro Desk of The Determiner Weekly and The Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network Some 43 protesters rallied at the home of Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson on Saturday, in spite of snow and inclement weather. With four to five police cars in view the protesters demanded that Jackson speak up relative to numerous instances of mistreatment of Black women by city officials, including the murders of 11 Black women on Imperial Ave. They also demanded the firings of Cleveland Chief of Police Michael McGrath, Law Director Robert Triozzi, Safety Director Martin Flask, Chief Prosecutor Victor Perez and Public Health Director Matthew Carroll, none of whom are Black and all of whom are accused of alleged malfeasance or negligence around the Imperial Ave. tragedies. “There are no Blacks or women in top leadership roles in law enforcement in spite of a Black mayo

Accused Rapist And Murderer Of 11 Black Cleveland, Ohio Women Anthony Sowell Cuyahoga County Court Of Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold Cuyahoga County Court Of Common Pleas Judge John O'Donnell Cuyahoga County Court Of Common Pleas Judge Timothy McGinty U.S Rep. Marcia Fudge Of Ohio's 11th Congressional District Cuyahoga County Prosecutor And Issue 6 Crafter Bill Mason Cleveland, Ohio Mayor Frank G. Jackson Cleveland NAACP President And Call And Post General Counsel George Forbes Ohio State Senator Nina Turner (D-25) Cleveland Plain Dealer Newspaper Editor Susan Goldberg Cleveland Call And Post Newspaper Executive Vice President, Associate Publisher and Editor Connie Harper, Center, With Current And Former Call And Post Staff Journalist And Editor Kathy Wray Coleman Posted Thursday, December 17, 2009 (National and Cleveland, Ohio Area News) From the Metro Desk of The Determiner Weekly and The Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog And Media Network According to a Plai