CIVICS IS IN OUR DNA
JUSTICE
Stephanie Tubbs Jones
U.S. Representative
Justice is a continuous manifestation of a better world and life that involves everyone; no longer waiting for the necessities of life. It looks like our youth and communities thriving, and safety from all the things that have destroyed beautiful and imperfect, Black people. In so many ways, justice is a reaching back to all of the things that we had before this world tried to destroy us, a reckoning and battle with our present, and dreams actualized in the future. If all of us aren’t free, none of us are free. Stephanie Tubbs Jones and her life efforts are an example of justice.
Stephanie Tubbs Jones was a Cleveland trailblazer born in 1941 to working-class parents in Glenville. Her political work started during her school days; from helping with food and clothing drives at her church while attending Collinwood High School in the 60s to serving as President of the Afro-American Society and The Black American Law Student Association while studying at Case Western University. She was elected judge in the Cleveland Municipal Court in 1981, only six years after graduating from law school. Unlike many other judges, Tubbs based her judicial career on being “fair”.
Tubbs would go on to achieve many firsts - being the first African American woman to serve on the Court of Common Pleas (1983-1991), the first African American and woman to serve as Cuyahoga County Prosecutor (1991 -1999), and the first Ohio woman to be a Member of the House of Representatives (1999-2008). As a politician often described as a “trusted friend” by many, Tubbs worked to encourage Cleveland youth to become politically involved through initiatives to end child abuse. She was a staunch opposer of the 2002 Iraq War and never forgot the magic of her home city. Stephanie Tubbs Jones passed away on August 20, 2008.
PHOTO CREDIT: CHARLES JACKSON PINKNEY
SOURCE: CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY
VICTORY
Carl Stokes
51st Mayor of Cleveland & first Black mayor of a major U.S. city
We cannot allow those in power to define what victory is. The victory of the powerful is drastically different than victory for most. Victory or progress or liberating change is always most accurately defined by the masses or measured by how the oppressed are taken care of through time and space. We must measure victory by how much love children receive, how creative our world is, and how vividly we allow ourselves to meet the obstacles harming in our way.Carl Stokes and his life encompasses the pursuit of victory not only for him but for his people.
Carl Stokes was born to humble beginnings on June 21, 1927. He and his brother, Louis, grew up in a run-down home on E. 69th Street and often sold bottles to junk dealers or stole to meet their needs. Having a mother who worked as a maid for white families and being aware of the anti-Black racism of his white teachers made Stokes acutely aware of the hardships of Black Clevelanders. After ending his military service abroad, Stokes returned to Ohio, earned his GED at East Tech High School, and became involved with the NAACP while attending Case Western University.
He joined his brother’s law firm in 1957 and became a local political figure through his community work with the NAACP and Cleveland Urban League. In 1962, he became the first Black person elected to the Ohio House of Representatives and impressed Black Clevelanders with legislation that included police reform and financial aid for poor families. As the first Black mayor of a major city in 1967, Stokes focused on numerous initiatives to uplift the Black community, which notably included CLEVELAND: NOW!, a funding program for underserved neighborhoods. Both Carl and Louis Stokes remain pillars of justice in the Cleveland community.
PHOTO CREDIT: JOHN W. MOTT
SOURCE: CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY