All women (or men) are not created equal - not as far as intelligence, talent, perseverance, compassion, empathy, curiosity, vitality and the passion to improve as many lives as possible are concerned. Asd yesterday, Cleveland's 11th congressional district, with help from the greater Cleveland area, the state of Ohio and the nation, laid to rest a woman who scored A-plus in all of those areas and whose like we won't be seeing soon again: Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who died August 20 at the far-too-early age of 58. I am hopeful that a few people will take the time to read this diary about a powerful woman with a drive to help regular people, who probably accomplished more in a single week in congress than Sarah Palin has in her entire life. Anyone who wants to honor women needs to focus on those of monumental achievement, not blank slates.
Some 5,000 people gathered in Cleveland's downtown convention center's Public Hall to memorialize her in a service scheduled from 11 a..m.-1 p.m. that ended up lasting four hours, as speaker after speaker told moving and/or hilarious anecdotes about our congresswoman, and last-minute additions were made to the program: superstar gospel singer BeBe Winans, former President Bill Clinton. In a crowd that was about 75% African-American, it's likely that half had had some personal contact with the congresswoman, an ebullient extrovert who was still a great listener. Maybe like me they went to her monthly community caucus meetings to which she often showed up, or they ran into her in a kitchen at a local church preparing food for a meeting or they saw her in the grocery store. (As our governor Ted Strickland related, "She needed hours to go to the grocery store." And as he pointed out, she took the time willingly and "What many consider the work of politics she considered the joy.") She was at a public RTA (Regional Transit Authority) hearing a few weeks ago standing with hundreds of angry public-transportation users protesting drastic cuts in service and route elimination. Last year, when the shooting of a 15-year-old in the process of robbing a resident of the Mt. Pleasant community rocked that neighborhood and brought up a welter of complex issues, she called together the stakeholders to look for solutions that were more than bandaids or lectures. She sent buses to the senior buildings to bring them to the Civic for the caucus meetings, and she held an annual free Christmas dinner open to anyone, and again, arranged to bring senior citizens there.
Before I go on to the memorial service, let me say a few things about Stephanie. I first started running into her in 2004 when I became involved in my first campaign, for John Kerry. That year, she flexed her clout when she landed Kerry as the starring guest for her annual 11th district caucus parade and festival on Labor Day. I've got great photos of her enveloping him in her trademark hug.
A week or two before the election, she staged a Women for Kerry event downtown on our Oublic Square. As was her usual way, she put together a stellar lineup. It started, as Stephanie's events so often did, with talented kids: singing groups, soloists, dancers. Her fellow Cleveland congressperson Dennis! Kucinich spoke, doing his jumping jack act that evening. And she had one of the Kerry daughers speaking -- can't remember if it was Alexandra or Vanessa. The square was jammed.
In 2006, her Labor Day event drew the entire statewide ticket, starting with Ted Strickland and working down, with the exception of Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, who was sick. But you don't say no to Stephanie: he sent his wife, Connie Schultz, an eloquent speaker in her own right.
In February, the community caucus meeting was candidates' night, and Stephanie was there to pump, pump, pump her beloved Hillary Clinton (for whom she served as national co-chair), at the beginning of a totally unexpected primary race in this state. Her caucus director Greg Groves said the Obama campaign had been invited but when he asked, no one was there. Finally, after the parade of judges and candidates for offices like sheriff and state representative, he asked again if anyone wanted to speak for Obama. I put up my hand and went up front to speak. Mindful of the congresswoman's support but also aware that the caucus membership had shifted its support almost entirely from Hillary to Obama, I spoke highly of all the candidates (except after saying what a great president Hillary, Obama, Edwards, Richardson, Biden or Dodd would make, I said "Dennis Kucinich......is a great congressman." Gotta get that laugh!) but emphasized that what I loved about Obama was that he energized, engaged and empowered who new groups of voters and citizens, carrying our party beyond its moribund state of the 90s -- and nowhere was it more moribund than Ohio.
Afterward I went over to thank the congresswoman for being gracious enough to let me speak and she gave me a big hug and thanked ME. After that night, I got numerous emails from caucus members complaining about her support of Hillary but I kept pointing out that this wasn't some recent decision on her part but a commitment that went a long way back. That point was made by numerous speakers on the memorial program: that Stephanie was loyal and if she supported you she had your back.
Stephanie changed the temperature of a room with her vibrance. A week before she died, she made a surprise guest appearance at an executive committee meeting of the county party, called to replace a judicial candidate on the ballot. When she waltzed in, the chatter dropped off and people whispered "She's here, she's here." She spoke briefly and told us how great things were going to be for us in November if we did our part. She spoke, you believed.
The last time I saw her was the following night, when my city Dem Club was part of a joint event with a bunch of other east suburban Dem clubs and Democratic groups. The room at the South Euclid Community Center was packed when I got there, a bit late. Some people made the trip across town from Dennis!'s district to hear her. Members of the Bay Village and Avon Lake Dem clubs WAY across town were there. Before she spoke, the congresswoman recognized everyone from candidates for office, to the various Dem club officers, to all the precinct-captain worker bees. She then said, "I bring you greeting from Hillary Clinton and she appreciates all you have done for her but now I am a spokesperson for Barack Obama." And she said "If I could go to the top of Terminal Tower [Cleveland's tallest building] and shout, 'I support Barack Obama,' I would." What I did not know until yesterday's memorial was that the following day she had a two-hour sit-down with Obama and had agreed to spend the next couple of months tirelessly going wherever he needed her to go.
What was especially heartbreaking in the aftermath was that evening, she focused so much on the future. She mentioned she was the ninth ranked member of the Ways & Means committee and hoped to keep moving up so she could do more for "her" people and her issues -- seniors, kids, those without health care, and "trade, trade, trade." I have no doubt that at the back of her mind she wanted to be its chairman one day. She talked about what we could accomplish if we elected Obama and elected more Democrats to congress. She always had a plan, she was always looking ahead, looking for ways to get things done.
Here's a nice description of that meeting and how it came about as well as a tribute to Stephanie by our Dem club president Jeff C oryell who was also the official Ohio blogger at the convention:
http://www.ohiodailyblog.com/...
When the news hit shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday, August 19, I was home and online. She was stricken while driving in her car about a mile up the road from here and went off the road at Forest Hills Park where police, who had spotted her car moving erratically, found her unconscious. She never had a chance. Her burst aneurysm was in an inaccessible part of her brain and even if it had been known it was there, there was nothing that could have been done.
The memorial program was broadcast on all three local network outlets in Cleveland, apparently in its entirety and is available on CSPAN which also broadcast it. So I don't have to give you an in-depth description of what each speaker said. Go watch it if you're interested (and you will be moved. My sister who was in from Chicago went with me and afterward she said "I didn't know anything about her before but if what these speakers were saying is true, she was an amazing woman.") I'll give you some high points.
After opening prayers and bible readings, the special guest speaker lineup was introduced by the moderator. The list included Governor Ted Strickland, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, Rep. James Clyburn speaking on behlf of Nancy Pelosi who had come to town for the viewing the night before but had to leave, Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Sherrod Brown, Senator Barack Obama, Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick, Rep. Kendrick Meek, former Congressmen (and Stephanie's predecessor) Louis Stokes, and Cuyahoga County commissioner and county Democratic party chair Jimmy Dimora who, as administrator of a county with twice the population of Alaska, is fully qualified to be vice president. But trust me, you don't want him to be. Numerous other congresspeople were in the audience and Senators George Voinovich and Joe Biden also attended. Michelle Obama was there as well. Hillary's name was greeted with a standing ovation, a demonstration by this pro-Obama crowd that they accepted her and appreciated her graciousness. Obama's introduction raised the roof.
Strickland, who is an articulate (a Methodist minister) although moderate speaker, set the tone, praising Stephanie's "contagious smile, broad intellect, boundless vitality that made her larger than life" and pointing out her committment to health care, education and economic empowerment. Our laconic mayor was typical brief, speaking under a minute to emphasize that she was "tenacious, tireless, passionate." Clyburn then talked about how her and his wife and Stephanie and her late husband had become good friends and how, when his wife had open heart surgery, Stephanie appeared on his doorstep the day she came home from the hospital.
He was followed by Hillary who said, "Your mayor said she was not a fairweather friend. I certainly know what that means! Stephanie became an even stronger and more supportive friend to me over the last months of the camapign and her friendship was not uncritical. If she was you friend, she felt it was her duty to inform you of areas that needed improvement." And she injected a tad of partisanship into the proceedings (Stephanie would have approved!) when she said that after the election "Governor Strickland and President Obama will bring the change we need." She got another standing O for that. She revealed Stephanie's rarely seen pensve side when she recalled, "Sometimes she would grab my hand and say, 'I miss my husband. I wish he were here.' They're together now and I'm sure he's already told her she can't organize heaven."
Sherrod Brown spoke next referring to a candidate bus tour in 1990 when he had to speak after Stephanie and said, "It's sort of like today speaking after Hillary Clinton and before Barack Obama." He told us what a Blackberry whiz she was and when he was having trouble seeing the letters on his Blackberry -- "I"m over 50; my eyesight isn't what it used to be" -- she grabbed it from his hand, punched a few buttons and gave it back to him with the letters three times larger. He mentioned her avid mentorship of young people and her advocacy for the many, while challenging those of privilege.
Obama followed, saying that we honor "not just her intelligence, her rare spirit, her passion but how she used her gifts to help others. She had to reach back and help others through the doors she opened." He mentioned the meeting that they had to talk about the campaign going forward and how committed she was but also referred back to what Hillary said: "She pulled out a list of things she thought needed improvement." I am sure there are things on that list that will be key to winning the election and that he is taking heed of them!
Carolyn Kilpatrick made the oddest speech of the service and one some may have found inappropriate. After noting the bipartisan nature of the political representation at the event (but she had already addressed "our future president" and McCain was definitely not in the house), she said, "Stephanie is here as we build a new kingdom 65 days from today. When we leave here the best way to pay tribute to her is to vote, get your family to register. You have until October 5. You're the point leader of your family, your church, your block club. Do what you have to do. If we don't rise up and reject the policies of the last eight years, America will become a third-world country. She would tell you straight up we have much work to do." She continued, "Are you ready to win? Do you want your country back? Elect Senator Barack Obama and Senator Joe Biden!" As Stephanie would say, let's rise up and get busy." Not very bipartisan, I would say!
Congressmen Kendrick Meeks and Tim Ryan came to the podium together as Meeks said that Stephanie referred to him as her "black son" and Ryan as her "white son." Meeks spoke about his trip to Ghana with her and how she cooked for him. Ryan referred to the song "I Hope You Dance" and said that Stephanie didn't sit it out, she danced.
After Hillary and Brack, Louis Stokes got the third standing ovation of the speaker.
After thanking everyone for coming he said, "I'd be remiss were I not to say to Senator Obama, Senator, I am 83 years old. Two days ago you provided me and many in this nation to see something we never thought we would see." He pointed out, "Stephanie and I shared making history. I was the first African-American elected to congress from Ohio. She was the first African-American female. I predicted Stephanie would become a rising star in the United States congress. Ten years later she became a rising star in congress."
He told of her background, first as a judge, then a state supreme court candidate, then county prosector, always breaking ground as the "first African American woman" and enumerated her achievements saying, "We can only speculate today where she was would have gone if she had lived" and reminding me again of the plans for the future she enthusiastically laid out at our Dems club meeting.
Jimmy Dimora wrapped up the special guest speakers section. "Now you know why it's great to be chairman of the Cuyahoga County Democratic party," he said, injecting his usual dose of partisanship. But as he said "You could not ask for a more loyal and stalwart Democrat; it's a tremendous loss to the county," his voice cracked with genuine emotion.
Well, that didn't quite wrap things up. The moderator came back up to the podium and said,"It's not on the program but we would be remiss in not asking President Wlliam Jefferson Clinton to come forward."
Of course, he got the crowd really going. He talked about his first meeting with Stephanie, on a hot August night in 1992 at the Reverend Otis Moss Jr's church in Cleveland when she was running for county prosecutor, and going back and telling Hillary what an extraordinary woman he had just met. He said that began their 16-year friendship and he too made a reference to her lists of things to be improved. He told an anecdote about campaigning in Puerto Rico last spring and going shopping with her. He saw her looking at a piece of jewelry and so he got it for her. When he gave it to her she said, "It's not often a man will give you a piece of jewelry and not want anything for it." After pausing for the laugh, he said "I looked at her and said you have given me and my family more, you have given the country and people more than you will ever know." He couldn't have been more right.
The 11th district will not elect that Thomas whatever his name is Republican in November. It will elect whatever Democrat we end up putting on the ballot, and we have some good politicians here. But she had a sparkle, a strength and an intensity when it came to fighting for those without that will be hard to duplicate. All of us in the 11th district truly appreciated the outpouring of support and the national leaders (as well as state and local leaders) who took the time to show up, yeah, even you, George Voinovich, although we intend to replace you in 2010, quite possibly with Stephanie's "white son." I know this is long, but Stephanie was important, even to those of you who didn't know who she was or what she did. She was no back-bencher, no Democrat with a good progressive voting record who cast a vote and went home. She was ambitious on behalf of her people and she was a fighter. Although Stokes (and some others) talked about her role as "the first African American woman" in most things she achieved, it really wasn't about that, and the cynical slating of Sarah Palin, whose repetitive diaries will probably bury this one, demoinstrates that. You can be black, white, male, female, straight, gay, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, atheist, whatever, and it's only a mildly interesting notation. Sarah Palin achieves nothing for women. Stephanie Tubbs Jones achieved a whole lot for everyone.