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PRESS RELEASE — On  Aug. 13, 2021, Dan and Dona Brady and Brian Mooney, Ward 11 Councilman, announced their endorsement of Kevin J. Kelley for Mayor of Cleveland. All three leaders cited Kevin Kelley’s experience, ability to get things done and his vision for the future of Cleveland as some of the reasons they have endorsed him to be Cleveland’s next mayor.

“As public servants for many years, Dan, Dona and Brian know what it takes to fight for the best interests of the people,” said Kevin Kelley, regarding the Bradys’ and Mooney’s endorsements. “They know what it takes to lead, especially in challenging times, and I appreciate their willingness to vouch for me, my character, my work ethic, and my ability to get things done on behalf of the people of Cleveland.

In discussing his support for Kevin Kelley, Dan Brady focused on the importance of this election and electing the right person for the job. “It’s time for those of us who live in Cleveland to get serious about the mayor’s election,” said Dan Brady, former Cuyahoga County Council President, State Senator, State Representative, and Cleveland City Council Member. “There is not a question that we have the most talented and experienced candidate in Kevin. He’s ready to do this job.”

As Cleveland City Council President for the last seven years, Kevin Kelley has worked side-by-side with his colleagues to help bring investment to neighborhoods across the city, improve city services for all Cleveland residents and tackle challenging issues like infant mortality and racism as a public health crisis.

Dona Brady, who also represented Ward 11 on Cleveland City Council, called out Kevin Kelley’s willingness to work with his colleagues on behalf of the people of Cleveland. “I worked with Kevin for 15 years on Council. I was able to get things done in my ward because Kevin would help me fight for it,” said Dona Brady. “Kevin’s experience at City Hall makes him the clear choice. He is not walking in and having to learn on the job.”

In his role as Finance Committee Chair, Kelley is responsible for ensuring City Council passes a balanced budget, which requires deep knowledge of how all city departments operate. This knowledge and experience gained over the past 16 years as a member of council have helped shape Kelley’s vision for the future and a blueprint for achieving that vision.

Current Ward 11 Council Member Brian Mooney pointed to Kelley’s plans for the future, including efforts to improve public safety and reduce crime, as a key reason he is endorsing Kelley for Mayor of Cleveland. “I’m supporting Kevin because of his vision for strong neighborhood policing,” said Mooney. “Kevin’s plan to implement Neighborhood Safety Centers will help address our residents’ concerns and help build trust in our community. We believe in Cleveland, and we believe in Kevin.”

Dan and Dona Brady and Brian Mooney join Kevin Kelley’s growing list of supporters:

• Mayor Frank G. Jackson
• Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley
• Cuyahoga County Council Member Yvonne Conwell
• Cleveland City Council Member Kevin Conwell
• The Association of Cleveland Firefighters IAFF Local 93
• Plumbers Union Local 55
• Pipefitters Local Union 120
• Cleveland Building & Construction Trades Council and their affiliated unions:
  • Boilermakers Local 744
  • Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 5
  • Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 16
  • Carpenters Local 373
  • Carpenters Local 435
  • Cement Masons Local 404
  • Electrical Workers Local 38
  • Electrical Workers Local 673
  • Elevator Constructors Local 17
  • Glaziers Local 181
  • Heat & Frost Insulators Local 3
  • Iron Workers Local 17
  • Laborers Local 245
  • Laborers Local 310
  • Millwright Pile Driver Local 1090
  • Plasterers Local 526 (formerly Plasterers Local 31)
  • Roofers & Waterproofers Local 44
  • Sheet Metal Workers Local 33
  • Sign, Display & Allied Trades Local 639
  • Teamsters Local 407
  • Teamsters Local 436
  • Tile Layers Local 36

For more information about Kevin J. Kelley’s Cleveland Jobs Now plan and position on supporting working families, ending the digital divide, educating and training residents for careers that pay well enough to support their families and ensuring every neighborhood is healthy, strong and safe, visit kevinforCLE.com and follow @kevinkelleyCLE on Twitter.

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Justin Bibb receives statewide endorsement expanding grassroots coalition 

The Ohio Young Democrats today announced their endorsement of 34-year-old Justin Bibb for Mayor of Cleveland.

“We’re proud to endorse and fully support Justin Bibb as Cleveland’s next Mayor. Justin Bibb brings new energy, leadership, and experience to spark real change in Cleveland, Northeast Ohio and across the state,” said Ohio Young Democrats’ President Chris Anderson.

“As a young Democrat, I’m focused on building a new grassroots coalition in Cleveland centered on putting people and neighborhoods first. Since the campaign’s launch in January, we have recruited nearly 1,500 volunteers and 100 students from across the region to join Students For Bibb, a youth-led coalition born right here in Cleveland to bring real change,” said Justin Bibb.

“I’m proud to receive the endorsement of the Ohio Young Democrats. Young people have powered our campaign, mobilized new voters and ignited an uprising of civic activism in local politics,” said Bibb.

“I want to be a mayor that excites the next generation of young people to stay in Cleveland and build a life here and getting involved in this election is the best way to shape the future we all deserve,” he added. 

COURTESY CMSD NEWS BUREAU

86^th class of winners to be featured in documentary-style production

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The Cleveland Foundation today announced the schedule for the sixth annual Cleveland Book Week. This year’s showcase – expanded beyond its usual timeframe – will celebrate present and past Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (AWBA) winners over the distinguished 86-year history of the award. The week’s far-ranging programs will all have virtual options and nearly all are free to the community.

Anchoring the events is “The 86th Annual Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards,” a crisp, beautiful documentary hosted by AWBA Chair Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. It debuts at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 14, on WVIZ/PBS and throughout Ohio’s public television network. The book awards remain the only national juried prize for literature that confronts racism and explores human diversity. The 2021 honorees are:

Vincent Brown, “Tacky’s Revolt: The Story of An Atlantic Slave War,” co-winner, Nonfiction
Victoria Chang, “Obit,” Poetry
Samuel R. Delany, Lifetime Achievement
James McBride, “Deacon King Kong,” Fiction
Natasha Trethewey, “Memorial Drive,” co-winner, Nonfiction

“We are thrilled to renew our partnership with Ideastream Public Media to give lovers of the written word this fresh and timely documentary,” said Karen R. Long, who manages the awards for the Cleveland Foundation. “It gives viewers entree into the insights of five unparalleled writers, who, in this era of global racial awakening, can spark our humanity and help reforge our civic purpose.”

The Cleveland Foundation and Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards are presenting Cleveland Book Week in partnership with the Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF), Cleveland Public Library, the Cleveland State University Poetry Center, The City Club of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County Public Library, the Great Lakes African American Writers Conference and Ursuline College.

For more information on Cleveland Book Week (#CBW2021) and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards (#AWBA2021), visit anisfield-wolf.org.

Events scheduled for Cleveland Book Week 2021 include (visit the website for the latest updates):

Tuesday, Sept. 14

Ideastream Public Media PBS documentary: “The 86th Annual Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards”
9 p.m. on WVIZ/PBS, concurrent with website streaming and other PBS broadcasts
The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards recognize books that have made important contributions to our understanding of racism and human diversity. It remains the only American book prize focusing on works that address racism and equity. For more than 80 years, the distinguished books earning Anisfield-Wolf prizes have opened and challenged our minds.
For more information: https://www.ideastream.org/

Monday, Sept. 27

A conversation with Mira Jacob
7 p.m., Cuyahoga County Public Library (virtual conversation)
Presented as part of the “Beyond the Book Jacket” series, Jacob is the author of “Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations” and the critically acclaimed novel “The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing.”
For more information: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_J0qMJJOSSDCrhxWWkBz5nQ?fbclid=IwAR0glCTZJR8nchN71_rOxAB4bsZdQFqcBF8NIuxsEAzONFJ5TB_72C07Okg

CIFF Streams + AWBA
11 a.m.-11 p.m., “End of the Line: The Women of Standing Rock” (virtual viewing)
A group of indigenous women risk their lives to stop the Dakota Access oil pipeline construction that desecrated their ancient burial and prayer sites and threatens their land, water, and very existence.
For more information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/end-of-the-line-the-women-of-standing-rock-online-film-screening-registration-169904072655

Tuesday, Sept. 28

CIFF Streams + AWBA
11 a.m.-11 p.m., “Down a Dark Stairwell” (virtual viewing)
A Chinese American cop shoots and kills an innocent Black man; suddenly two marginalized communities must navigate an uneven criminal justice system together.
For more information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/down-a-dark-stairwell-online-film-screening-tickets-170082911567

Wednesday, Sept. 29

CIFF Streams + AWBA
11 a.m.-11 p.m., “Voodoo Macbeth” (virtual viewing)
In 1936 Harlem, the first all-Black cast production of “Macbeth” struggles to make it to opening night amid the downward spiral of their young and untested director – Orson Welles. Feature film.
For more information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/voodoo-macbeth-online-film-screening-tickets-170086959675

Ayana Gray presented by the Cleveland Public Library
6:30 p.m., Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (39000 Wildlife Way, Cleveland, OH 44109; virtual option also available)
Gray, the author of highly acclaimed Young Adult novel “Beasts of Prey,” discusses her work in the breathtaking Rainforest at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. “Beasts of Prey” is the much-anticipated series opener revealing the fate which binds two Black teenagers as they strike a dangerous alliance to hunt down the ancient creature menacing their home—and discover much more than they bargained for.
For more information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ayana-gray-presented-by-the-cleveland-public-library-tickets-168148399389

Richard Powers: The William N. Skirball Writers Center Stage Series
7:30 p.m., Maltz Performing Arts Center (1855 Ansel Rd., Cleveland, OH 44106, virtual option also available)
The Writers Center Stage Series is presented by the Cuyahoga County Public Library Foundation and Case Western Reserve University. Richard Powers, the prolific writer and award-winning author of 12 novels, is known for his exploration of modern science and technology. Power’s “The Overstory” won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. His new novel is “Bewildered.” For more information: https://case.edu/maltzcenter/WCS1

Thursday, Sept. 30

CIFF Streams + AWBA
11 a.m.-11 p.m., “The 86th Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards” (virtual viewing)
The 86th Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards is a crisp, beautiful documentary hosted by AWBA Chair Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. It features the recipients of the only national juried prize for literature that confronts racism and explores human diversity. Sample the insights, and exquisite writing, of the five 2021 winners, delivered in their own voices.
For more information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-86th-annual-anisfield-wolf-book-awards-online-film-screening-tickets-170094034837

Friday, Oct. 1

CIFF Streams + AWBA
11 a.m.-11 p.m., “Apart” (virtual viewing)
In the Midwest, against the backdrop of the opioid epidemic and rising incarceration rates, three women face the challenges of mothering their children from prison and preparing to reunite with their families and rebuild after years of separation.
For more information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/apart-online-film-screening-tickets-170178936781

CIFF Streams + AWBA Shorts Program 1
11 a.m.-11 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 3, Eight different shorts (virtual viewing)
For more information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ciff-streams-awba-shorts-program-1-online-film-screening-tickets-170202944589

CIFF Streams + AWBA Shorts Program 2
11 a.m.-11 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 3, Eight different shorts (virtual viewing)
For more information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ciff-streams-awba-shorts-program-2-online-film-screening-tickets-170203572467

Saturday, Oct. 2

CIFF Streams + AWBA
11 a.m.-11 p.m., “Best Summer Ever” (virtual viewing)
A fresh and exhilarating take on the beloved teen musical genre featuring eight original songs and a fully integrated cast and crew of people with and without disabilities. Feature film.
For more information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/best-summer-ever-online-film-screening-tickets-170201389939
For a version of “Best Summer Ever” that contains an audio description for the visually impaired: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/best-summer-ever-online-film-screening-with-audio-description-tickets-170201779103

Deesha Philyaw Langston Hughes Literary Keynote
11 a.m., Great Lakes African American Writers Conference (virtual conversation)
Philyaw’s debut short story collection, “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies,” won the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the 2020/2021 Story Prize, and a 2020 LA Times Book Prize: The Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction; the collection was also a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction. Join the three-day GLAAW conference, where literary creatives from throughout the Great Lakes region will gather virtually to learn from and network with influential publishing industry professionals from hubs including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
For more information: https://www.glaawc.us/glaawc2021-home/

Sunday, Oct. 3

CIFF Streams + AWBA
11 a.m.-11 p.m., “Landfall” (virtual viewing)
After the landfall of Hurricane María in 2017, Puerto Rico grapples with a devastated infrastructure and multi-billion-dollar debt as outside investors descend—not to bail out communities, but to cash in. Set against the backdrop of protests that toppled the US colony’s governor in 2019, “Landfall” shares kaleidoscopic glimpses of collective trauma and resistance.
For more information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/landfall-online-film-screening-tickets-170202429047

Friday, Oct. 15

NEOMFA Reading Series: Victoria Chang (2021 AWBA Poetry Winner) & Shane McCrae (2018 AWBA Poetry Winner)
7 p.m., Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts Reading Series (virtual conversation)
Join the NEOMFA Reading Series for a reading, conversation, and Q&A featuring a pair of Anisfield-Wolf winning poets. Chang won this year for “Obit,” while McCrae was the 2018 winner for “In the Language of My Captor.” Chang wrote the introduction to the new edition of “Mule,” McCrae’s first poetry collection.
For more information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/neomfa-reading-series-victoria-chang-and-shane-mccrae-tickets-169999498075

Thursday, Oct. 28

Natasha Trethewey (2021 AWBA Nonfiction Co-Winner) leads a conversation of “Memorial Drive”
Noon, Ursuline College (virtual conversation)
Join the campus-wide read of former U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey’s “Memorial Drive,” praised as an instant classic. The memoir explores her mother’s life and death and the abiding tie between the two women. Trethewey writes of how her mother came to die at the hands of a former husband when the author was 19, as well as the Mississippi context that formed and informed both women.
For more information: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1LCHIAgO3PnQYh7mqIUm6uGPv-4dHKgEXC6Gvjwa6SVw/edit

Tuesday, Nov. 16

War and Empire: The world-wide reverberations of Jamaica’s 18th century slave revolts
Noon, The City Club of Cleveland (virtual conversation)
Novelist Marlon James (2015 AWBA Fiction Winner) and historian Vincent Brown (2021 AWBA Nonfiction Co-Winner) will crack open their ideas in a unique conversation centered on Jamaica. The island is a lynchpin in world history, and a wellspring of world culture. Both men won an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in this vein: James in 2015 for “A Brief History of Seven Killings” and Brown this year for “Tacky’s Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War.”
For more information: https://www.cityclub.org/forums/2021/11/16/the-world-wide-reverberations-of-jamaicas-18th-century-slave-revolts

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Ward 3 City Councilman Kerry McCormack endorsed Justin Bibb for Mayor of Cleveland today ahead of the primary election next week. McCormack has known Bibb for years and shares many of the same priorities from transforming management at the West Side Market to breaking Cleveland Public Power’s 50-year contract with American Municipal Power.

“I have known Justin for nearly a decade and seen his dedication to Cleveland as an active civic 

leader fighting for affordable public transit, criminal justice reform and high-quality public education. Justin Bibb is a forward-thinking leader and I’m proud to give him my endorsement and full support,” said McCormack.

“Our city is at a defining moment. We can drive Cleveland in reverse, stay in neutral or begin to move forward. I believe Justin Bibb is the mayor to lead us into the future,” said McCormack in his official endorsement. 

“Residents are tired of waiting on City Hall. We need a mayor who will lead with urgency, question the way things have been done in the past and push us forward into the future and Justin Bibb is that leader,” he added.

“I am honored to receive the endorsement of Councilman McCormack. We have developed a strong relationship over the years and I look forward to working with him and City Council,” said Bibb.

“Councilman McCormack has been outspoken on Cleveland Public Power and fighting for cheaper bills, reliable service and cleaner power. I look forward to creating a culture inside City Hall that embraces his innovative ideas to address these longstanding issues,” Bibb said. 

“This is such a major, positive endorsement. With your votes, Kerry and I can do the hard work to bring you safe and strong neighborhoods, better law enforcement, equal justice, excellent public schools, and high paying jobs to every part of our city. Our moment has arrived. Vote for change on September 14. We’ll be grateful for your support, and we’ll use it to deliver real change and fast-paced progress that Cleveland wants and needs.”

Justin Bibb received Councilman McCormack’s endorsement at the West Side Market in Ward 3, one of the fastest growing wards in the city. 

Provide your feedback for officials at the Cleveland Community Police Commission on policing to indicate what you feel is working and what might improve.

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The Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP), Diocese of Cleveland Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Gary Sole has been named Chief Executive Officer effective August 10, 2021. 

After a 30-year career as a financial services executive — which included two decades at National City Bank — Sole most recently served as SVDP’s Chief Operating Officer. He was selected for the CEO position after a subcommittee of the Board conducted an extensive search. Sole will lead the Society’s central office in supporting the organization’s 2,300+ members and volunteers who provide emergency assistance to nearly 200,000 low-income individuals annually across the Diocese of Cleveland’s eight-county service area. 

Sole joined SVDP’s staff in 2019 as a liaison to its 59 member parish groups.  In his new role, he will continue to focus upon supporting, retaining and expanding these groups, in addition to strengthening relationships with current community stakeholders and cultivating new partnerships, according to Ed Leszynski, Board president. 

“In addition to his financial acumen, Gary has a deep personal commitment to the Society’s mission, which was especially evident during the pandemic,” Leszynski explained. “Since the onset of the health crisis, Gary’s leadership was critical at our hunger centers as he worked closely alongside volunteers and staff to make certain that we continued to safely feed neighbors in need. He exemplifies Pope Francis’ call to ‘bring the healing power of God’s grace to everyone in need, to stay close to the marginalized and to be shepherds living with the smell of the sheep.’” 

As CEO, Sole said that he will work closely with the Society’s parish group members to foster more collaboration and the exchange of ideas, especially in regard to systemic change. “I look forward to partnering with our Board of Directors and our volunteers to expand upon programs that empower people in need so they have the tools necessary to improve their quality of life.” 

Sole has served in executive roles at several other institutions that include Lakeshore Community Credit Union, Inc., Steel Valley Credit Union, and CIT Group Inc.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Baldwin Wallace University. He is a volunteer with the St. Vincent de Paul Society group at St. Ladislas Church and resides in Westlake with his wife, Kristine, and daughter, Alexis.

 

About the Society of St. Vincent de Paul 

Established in 1865, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Diocese of Cleveland, is a local human services organization of neighborhood volunteer groups primarily residing in participating parishes (“Conferences”) throughout the Diocese of Cleveland’s eight-county service area. Volunteers (“Vincentians”) provide face-to-face emergency assistance to people in need, regardless of race, ethnicity or religious affiliation. Last year, more than 185,000 low-income individuals in Northeast Ohio received nearly $4 million in direct assistance and in-kind services, which included eviction prevention via rent assistance, financial help with utilities, hunger relief, blankets and beds, and school supplies and toiletries. SVDP’s Central Office is located at 1404 East 9^th Street, Cleveland. For more information:  216-696-6525 x. 3150 or svdpcle.org. 

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Beginning August 11, the Cleveland Museum of Art will offer FREE admission for all on Wednesdays to its limited-time exhibition, Private Lives: Home and Family in the Art of the Nabis, Paris, 1889–1900. The exhibition is on view through Sunday, September 19, 2021, and the museum is open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Reserve FREE Community Wednesdays tickets online at cma.org, at the box office or by calling 216-421-7350.

About Private Lives
The exhibition explores beautiful and enigmatic artworks by four Post-Impressionists active in Paris in the 1890s: Pierre Bonnard, Édouard Vuillard, Maurice Denis and Félix Vallotton. In their work—focusing on images of home interiors, family life, music in the home and private gardens—emotion and subjective experience were more important than truth.

Private Lives is organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Portland Art Museum.

COURTESY Latoya Hunter Hayes, Straight from City Hall

In March 2021, The City of Cleveland (City) and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) issued a joint Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to select real estate development project teams for the redevelopment of 12 vacant school buildings and seven sites of vacant land that were formerly the location of school buildings. Through that process, project teams were recommended to move forward to commence due diligence activities of 13 sites. This phase will include community engagement and further site investigation as project teams move forward to seeking conceptual approval for each site. 

On August 5, 2021, the City and CMSD jointly issued a second Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to select real estate development project teams for the redevelopment of 6 remaining sites:  four vacant school buildings and two sites of vacant land. Sites are located across Cleveland’s East Side, in neighborhoods including Midtown, Slavic Village, Fairfax and Mt. Pleasant. Sites include one local landmark structure, two sites of vacant land, and sites that are located along highly-trafficked commercial corridors including Superior Avenue and East 55^th Street. More information on each site and location can be found on the RFQ webpage, here: https://www.clevelandohio.gov/node/166781 

The deadline for responses to the RFQ is 5 p.m. EST on Wednesday, September 29, 2021.

Project teams may submit proposals for more than one site; however, a distinct proposal for each site must be submitted.  As part of the process, the City and CMSD will host a virtual information session on August 18, and building tours on August 23. Project teams interested in submitted responses to the RFQ are invited to RSVP to SchoolSitesRFQ@clevelandohio.gov. Additional information can be found on the RFQ webpage.