Planned Protest At Cleveland Rising Summit Canceled

Update: 9:41 a.m.; Monday, Oct. 28

A protest planned ahead of Tuesday's Cleveland Rising summit has been cancelled, organizers announced early Monday morning.

Those with concerns that certain voices, particularly minorities and East Side residents would not be represented at the three-day event had their concerned sufficiently addressed by organizers, according to an email from activist and ACEE/Black Contractors Group President Norman Edwards 

"The American Center for Economic Equality is glad to announce that through an alliance of shared interest between the County Executive Armond Budish, Cleveland City Council President Kevin Kelly, The American Center for Economic Equality, The Cleveland Clergy Coalition, and others who insisted on being counted, that the people of this region will be represented at the table of the upcoming summit and as a result of your inclusion in the process the protest scheduled for Tuesday, October 29th at 7:00 a.m is cancelled," Edwards wrote in a Monday email.

No further details on weekend negotiations that led to the decision were offered.

 “I’m really glad that Norm Edwards raised his voice,” said Dan Moulthrop, CEO, City Club of Cleveland said  Monday morning on the Sound of Ideas. “What that says to me is that this really matters. This isn’t just some small effort… people want to be included.”​

ideastream will have more information as this story develops.

A three-day summit on the economic and development future of Cleveland begins Tuesday at Public Auditorium downtown.

The Cleveland Rising Summit is a free event and is expected to be attended by nearly 1,000 corporate, community and civic leaders, said Chardonnay Graham, one of the event’s many co-chairs.

The event is also expected to draw between more than 100 protesters, organized by the Cleveland Clergy Coalition and the American Center for Economic Equality/Black Contractor’s Group.

Rev. Aaron Phillips, executive director of Cleveland Clergy Coalition, said there are concerns many black community leaders were not engaged in the process planning the Cleveland Rising Summit from the beginning. The east side of Cleveland, he fears, will not be included in any policy or economic prescriptions that arise from the three-days of panels and conversations.

The protest is meant to bring attention to the fact that as Cleveland’s Downtown and some West Side neighborhoods have prospered, East Cleveland neighborhoods continue to suffer from lack of investment and rampant violence, Phillips said.

“We’re glad to see the development of Downtown. We’re glad to see the development of the communities on the West Side. We’re waiting on the East Side of town. When is our development coming?” Phillips said.

Destination Cleveland, the marketing and management organization for Cuyahoga County, is one of the primary sponsors and promoters of the event, he said. Phillips charged that the organization has for many years ignored the African-American community.

“They haven’t been to our churches. They have not been to our neighborhood meetings. They have not been to our schools. I know for sure there is no clergy member on their board,” Phillips said.

Graham, however, says the door is still open for Phillips and the other coalition members to attend the summit. Although registration for the event is near capacity, the organizers welcome the pastors and the other protestors to attend, she said.

“The summit is based on the appreciative inquiry method,” Graham said. “We are literally going to be talking about particular issues and the goal of the summit is to not necessarily come up with these big, wide solutions, but to at least identify these issues and to create an action plan,” she said.

The Cleveland Rising committee has been meeting for months, making plans and has been intentionally inclusive in its focus and activities, Graham said.

“No one has been overlooked intentionally at all. I deeply apologize for them feeling that way, but now is not the time to protest,” she said.

The attendees will reflect the diversity of Cuyahoga County and that was also intentional, said Graham, who was a part of the initial group that began designing the summit in December of 2018. She is also a co-chair of the summit’s branding group.

“No matter how things are done, to some extent, I guess it’s going to be difficult to please everyone,” Graham said.