Jessica Barbara Horne: Community Champion and Legacy of Kawaida Spirit

By Sheila Ferguson

In the heart of Cleveland’s Hough community, a beacon of unwavering dedication to social justice and community empowerment has dimmed. On March 5, Jessica Barbara Horne, the retired founding Director of Cleveland Cleveland Urban Minority Alcoholism Drug Abuse Outreach Project (UMADAOP), transitioned, leaving behind a legacy etched in the annals of Ohio’s social services landscape. A funeral service was held on March 17, the community mourns the transition of a shero whose 50 year record of service continues to inspire and uplift generations.

Acknowledged as one of the captains who directed UMADAOP’s family and child welfare programming from 2004 to 2012, her legacy remains deeply rooted in love, hope, and healing for all who had the privilege of knowing her. Horne’s commitment to the well-being of the Black community and her efforts to combat the ravages of chemical dependency and addiction are remembered with reverence.

Horne’s dedication to the spirit of “Kawaida” permeated her work and community life, leaving an enduring legacy. “Kawaida,” as described by African American culturalist Dr. Maulana Ron Karenga, emphasizes the value of African culture as a foundation for liberation, ethical insights, and solving complex challenges facing Black communities. Horne’s embodiment of these principles ensured her impacts were lasting and profound.

Throughout her illustrious career, Horne was hailed as a beacon, pioneer, shero, and superhero, a testament to her unwavering belief in the beauty and uniqueness of all Black people. Her tireless advocacy for cultural pride, uplifting and encouraging words, and intergenerational impact, left an indelible mark on the Cleveland community.

In recognition of Horne’s enduring contributions, her family is establishing the Jessica B. Horne Scholarship Fund to empower future generations. The scholarship will honor her commitment to education and community empowerment, while ensuring her legacy lives on for years to come.

Horne’s passing marks the end of an era, but her spirit of resilience, compassion, and commitment to justice will continue to inspire and uplift communities for generations to come.

Gurnese Smedley Turns 100 Years Old

By Bruce Checefsky

Ms. Gurnese Smedley was born to Ed and Hattie Delonely on Aug. 16, 1923, in Sheffield, Alabama. She is a God-fearing woman who accepted Christ at an early age. Gurnese is involved in New Bethel Baptist Church and was Sunday School Secretary for three years. She met and married James Johnson and had a beautiful daughter named Mary Gurnese Patterson, who preceded her in death. She eventually relocated to Cleveland and met and married her second husband, Mr. Jimmy Smedley. She has enjoyed traveling, cooking, and crocheting.

After her husband’s passing, Gurnese has been a resident at Kingsbury Tower in Ward 7 since 2012. She is an outspoken person and is loved by many. Over the past 100 years, Gurnese has shared her wisdom and experience with those around her. Her many contributions to her community and family are commendable and inspirational to others.

Browns’ Watson Passes Encouragement and Ice Cream

By Ron Calhoun

Fatima Director Lajean Ray with Quarterback Deshawn Watson. Photos courtesy of R. Calhoun

Cleveland Browns’ quarterback Deshawn Watson was at the Fatima Family Center passing out encouragement and ice cream for students and seniors. With the Browns’ training camp coming up soon, Watson took out time to meet and greet the residents of Hough. A humble and courteous man, Watson took the time to say a word of encouragement to each person attending, making them feel special.

A staple of the Hough community, Fatima Family Center, located at 6600 Lexington Ave., offers programs and services for all ages and all members of the community. Originally established in 1973 as a pastoral counseling and outreach ministry of Our Lady of Fatima parish, Fatima Family Center prominently anchors the Hough community with a 26,000-square-foot facility developed by Catholic Charities, dedicated in 2000.

In 2002, Fatima Family Center was recognized by the Annie E. Casey Foundation as one of the top five family centers in the United States. Fatima provides cultural, leadership, and development activities as well as homework assistance, summer camp, field trips, and recreational programs for children and teens.

Current programs include:

After School Program
Embracing the Arts
Fatima Kids Club
Fatima Summer Camp
Teen Leadership

Adult services include parenting classes, health screenings, and food pantry distributions, as well as access to a weight room, computer lab, and computer classes. Older adults can benefit from socialization activities designed specifically for them.

Additional programs include:

Embracing the Arts
Fatima Boutique
Silver Threads Senior Program

Thank you Deshawn for coming down the way!

Ward 7 Councilwoman Endorses Participatory Budgeting Proposal

By Bruce Checefsky

Several dozen people packed into the Happy Dog on Detroit Avenue in the Gordon Square District on Nov. 2 for the City Club of Cleveland panel on participatory budgeting (PB CLE). The atmosphere was festive and optimistic. Erika Anthony, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Cleveland VOTES, hosted the panel discussion.

Panelists included Stephanie D. Howse, Ward 7 Councilwoman, Cleveland City Council; Michelle B. Jackson, Freelance Writer and Community Organizer, Participatory Budgeting CLE; and Kenny Medrano, Former Director, Participatory Budgeting, District 26, New York City.

A participatory budget (PB) is an innovative policy-making tool involving citizens in spending municipal funds. Participatory institutions aim to enhance governance, information sharing, and the responsiveness of political agents to citizens, leading to fiscal accountability and efficiency.

PB started in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 1989 as an anti-poverty measure that helped reduce child mortality. Since then, PB has spread to over 7,000 cities worldwide and has been used to decide budgets from states, counties, cities, housing authorities, schools, and other institutions. The New York Times calls PB revolutionary civics in action by deepening democracy, building stronger communities, and creating a more equitable distribution of public resources.

Although PB holds a great deal of promise, there are limitations to the process, including limited participation of the marginalized. Some residents, especially the very poor, find participation difficult given the time and resource commitments required. PB also requires a strong commitment from the local government, and without support, expectations set by the PB process are often not met, according to some experts.

Howse served on the Cleveland City Council from 2008 to 2014 and represented District 11 of the Ohio House of Representatives from 2015 to 2021 before being reelected to City Council last year. She grew up in a civic-minded home, where her mother served as president of the local street block club and precinct committee captain. It gave the experienced councilwoman plenty of opportunities to interact with the community at a young age.

“I have early memories of handing out political fliers and candidate election materials at age six,” she said. “Politics is fun.”

Howse introduced legislation for participatory budgeting while in the Ohio House. She advocated for $1 million per house district, and with 99 house districts in Ohio, her proposal topped nearly $100 million. It went nowhere.

“Our government system is not organized for everyday people. We need new ideas and concepts to better our democracy,” she said. “The worst we could do is mess up some money, and we just did that.”

Mayor Bibb released a Rescue & Transformation Plan in May 2022, which included ten priorities to maximize the America Rescue Plan & Recovery Act (ARPA) and other federal funds coming to the City of Cleveland. Included in the plan were efforts to stabilize the budget and close the digital divide, violence prevention, public safety, lead-safe priorities, and arts & neighborhood amenities, among other investments. Bibb announced the creation of a new Center for Economic Recovery, with a strategic policy team that will engage with Cleveland City Council to shape and evaluate ideas for ARPA-funded projects that address urgent challenges. There was no mention of participatory budgeting or the PB CLE proposal.

A few weeks later, Cleveland City Council President Griffin unveiled plans to spend $53 million of ARPA funds for home repairs, housing assistance, crime prevention, and response. His rationale was to allocate money to help the entire city rather than individual neighborhoods.

PB CLE organizers want $5 million for a civic participation fund, down from the $30.8 million ask last year. The original figure represented 30.8% of people living in poverty. They expect to present a new proposal to Cleveland City Council early next year.

Molly Martin, a member of the Cleveland Catholic Worker community, director of strategic initiatives at the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, and an organizer for PB CLE, is advocating for a specific policy. A ballot initiative is not out of the question if the City Council does not support its proposal.

“Our coalition started on the premise that we want to see PB CLE happen for the good of Cleveland,” Martin said. “ARPA was meant to create the infrastructure so we can do it with other public money later,” adding that without the support of their new proposal, “we have seen the ballot initiative work in other cities.”

Hough Residents Celebrate Opening of New Library

Residents of the Hough neighborhood celebrated the opening of the community’s new library on Saturday. Renowned poet, activist, and educator Nikki Giovanni was the featured guest during the festivities.

Giovanni regaled the audience with tales of her time studying at Fisk University and her friendships with singer Aretha Franklin, civil rights leader Rosa Parks, Rep. John Lewis, and poet Maya Angelou—but she also talked about the importance of community libraries.

Growing up in Knoxville and Cincinnati, Giovanni would spend hours at her local library. “They are not just places that house books,” she said. “They give a home.”

City Council member Stephanie Howse, who represents the Hough neighborhood, agrees.

“Libraries are the ultimate community space. It’s a place where you can come and find a little peace. There’s open and accessible internet for job seekers and those who need benefits assistance or help with their homework,” Howse said.

“It’s more like a community living room now,” said CPL Chief Operating Officer John Lang.

The new Hough library is located at 6530 Lexington Ave. and is the second of CPL’s 27 branches to be renovated or rebuilt. The Jefferson branch opened last month after an expansion, and the new West Park branch will open on Jan. 7, 2023. Renovations are being paid for by funds from a levy passed in 2017.

“Cleveland has a five-star library system,” Lang said. “We learned from our visitors that we have five-star collections and a five-star staff. But our buildings were no longer five-star.”

Building updates will include updated technology, lockers for after-hours book rentals, and more meeting rooms and study spaces.

“That’s what I’m most excited about,” said Marcie Williams, branch manager in Hough. “This is what our community asked for. This is what they wanted.”

The renovations and new building will help the library system live up to its promise, Howse said. “The Cleveland Public Library is known as the People’s University. This new facility highlights exactly what the People’s University is.”

BE INCLUDED IN DEVELOPING THE HOUGH STRATEGIC PLAN

Councilwoman Stephanie House: I need your input for building the strategic plan for the Hough Community. Focus groups will be held in August and September 2022. Dates and locations to be announced. Register here: Or Call 1-833 732-2410 or scan the QR code .

Your feedback will be used to build the Hough Strategic Plan!

Focus groups facilitated by Rosa Consulting, LLC

Northern Wind Martial Arts continues to blow across The Land

(Revised 12/16) Northern Wind Martial Science is a Martial Arts school in the Hough community in Cleveland, Ohio.

By Ron Calhoun

A product of the Glenville neighborhood, Grand Master Greg Mayo has been teaching Martial Arts for over 50 years. Mayo says he is still learning at 71 years old. He has a faith-based outlook of what life is about, and he incorporates his spiritual understanding into Martial Science. Mayo’s instructions are based on the Tai Chi, Baguazhang and Kung Fu disciplines of martial arts. In recent years he has taught youth, seniors, and women how to exercise and strengthen the body along with learning self-defense.

Grand Master’s History

Mayo became interested in martial arts during a school canteen while attending Harry E. Davis Elementary School. This was during a time when recreation and entertainment was provided to students. Judo instructors were there to demonstrate martial arts and to offer the opportunity to learn. Mayo’s father offered to teach boxing to his 8-year-old son. While training and eventually sparring with other boxers, Mayo had an epiphany: “Every time I would put a right out there, a left would catch me,” he said with a burst of laughter, “so I had to change up my plan.”

Mayo began to study Karate. “I would go to the library and read everything they had, plus work out after school.” Ron Shaw, a former police officer for Kent State University, and Reginald McKisick, his cousin and now a Grand Master, said “We would beat up on each other, and work out together to fine tune the craft.”

At around the age of 17, Mayo met his mentor, Grand Master Sikes who became his martial arts father. Their relationship grew, and when Sikes decided to move to Las Vegas he turned the martial arts school over to Mayo.

Before Sikes’ departure, the two moved the school from East Cleveland to E. 55th Street off St. Clair (currently occupied by the Landmark Restaurant.) Back in the late ’60s the area was predominately white. During that time his car windows were often broken out, and there were threats on his and his students’ lives.

In 1973, the National Basketball Association reached out to Northern Wind to ask if they would perform a demonstration for the half-time show at a game in Richmond, Virginia. Since then, the School has also performed at Cleveland’s famous Front Row Theater, and for Playhouse Square during the “Square to Square” festivals.

Mayo has been contracted for security for a variety of famous people, including local and national celebrities. Most noted are Carl Stokes, Halle Berry, and he still works for Sinbad, whenever he performs in Cleveland. The school has received many proclamations and accolades for their success over the years, from Cleveland City Council, mayors, and various law firms including Squire, Sanders and Dempsey.

Northern Wind Science Martial Arts School is located at: 8311 Superior Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44103. To learn more, email: grandmastermayo@gmail.com