Black Men Mobilize: 1,000 Strong for Voter Action

00:00:00 about to go ahead and get started about to get started ready all right go ahead oh my goodness look at this it’s out you good to go you good give me the high sign when you ready you good to go speaking all righty we got room over here too all right you ready yeah okay good deal all right we we’re about to begin just want to make sure everybody knows everybody’s good to go this is awesome all right let’s go but good afternoon everybody we thank you so much for being here we do appreciate you being here uh want to

00:00:48 thank the members of our media that are present as well we believe that this is going to be a significant showing for everyone my name is Ben hobbert I am the mayor of the village of Woodmere and we’re very excited to have the gentleman flanking behind us and what we’re going to do is a ceremonial roll call just so everyone get a good idea of who we do have here so first off I’d like to call out uh alpha alpha fraternity are you present present all right Fe Buzz baseball are you present Cleveland

00:01:19 clergy Coalition are you pres i i i a fraternity you’re present cap Al Nation of Islam are you pres Omega sa Fraternity Incorporated are you president 100 black man of Greater Cleveland are you present by Beta Sigma are you present Prince allall Mas are you pres Prince are you okay United pastors ad Mission are you presentan Barbershop Association are you present yes is for a better future are you present Fatherhood Initiative are you present and our DJs are you present all righty thank you so much

00:02:25 there probably some more NAACP is present present all righty so what we’re going to do at this particular time we’re uh Pastor Harris is going to come up because to make sure all things are fitly and accomplished we’re going to have him give our invocation then we’re going to pass it over to Kim Da who will begin the rest of our program so Reverend Harris there you go brotherr let us pray together father God we thank you this afternoon for bringing us together we thank you for the reason we are here we have gathered together for a

00:03:12 hundred men to do and to touch more than thousands concerning the vote we have come out not to vote for he but this year we will be voting for a sheep we ask that you would be with our ever as we move to move this entire city county and state towards putting in a woman most prepared to take on the presidency of these United States of America but we cannot do it without your power let all of us that have gathered say amen amen EXC okay all right I want to thank everybody for coming out today my name is Ken D

00:04:06 I’m with voices for a better future pack and we’re here today as uh to bring everybody together Under One Roof behind the leadership of Mr council president bla Griffin and today was a really good um uh day for me and I’m really happy about what happened here and everybody coming together it’s been a long road for us me and um representative Terence up church start started out with voices for a better future over a year ago we were going around from Community to community talking with African-American

00:04:37 men about the importance of voting having Barber Shop talks and things of that nature and it all culminates into this meeting today we’re on September the 28th we’re looking to put 1,000 men on the ground that’s right the brothers gonna have on boots and we’re going to go door too in our community and canvas in some of the lower turnout areas in the city of Cleveland and we’re going to do it with all of the backing of the brothers we have here and a lot more so I had a whole speech I had rolled out I

00:05:06 was going to say to everybody but I’m GNA just kill it because I’m gonna let bla come up here and do what he does best for the organization and we have a few other people who are going to speak on behalf of what we’re here today to do I’m just emotionally really happy and happy that everybody came together like we started out to and that’s all I got to say so without further Ado I want to bring up the man of the hour The God Who made this all happen for us to bring us under R none other than our council

00:05:31 president dude I known for over 30 years we was talking about it the other day we’ve been doing this thing for over 30 years in this town and I want to introduce first time I got a chance to introduce him so without further Ado everybody give it up for the council president Mr bla Griffin thank you thank you and thank you to my good friend Ken da let’s all give Ken and his team another round of applause beautiful here is what I call the ground crew you don’t always see him flying the planes but the planes couldn’t land or fly

00:06:08 without him so appreciate all the work that he did on this one I also always want to acknowledge elected officials and um I would try not to miss anyone but the councilman for this area you’ll hear from him in a moment councilman Richard star thank you brother thank thank you I see my colleague Big Brother Kevin Conwell if he could please stand I se Kevin Bishop Kevin Bishop councilman Kevin Bishop I see councilman Anthony Harriston Anthony Harriston if he could raise his hand you my colleague that came over here to

00:06:48 support me from the West Side councilman Brian KY if he could raise his hand Brian KY the chair of the democratic party David Brock if David Brock can raise his uh former councilman former state senator now judge and politician extraordinaire Jeff Johnson if he could raise his hand and I know you’ll hear from representative Upchurch in a moment representative Terence Upchurch uh do we have any other elected officials oh there he is how can I miss judge Charles Patton judge Charles Patton and then I want to acknowledge

00:07:34 councilman from uh Richmond Heights uh moo mie Robinson I do M Robinson we just call him M and then the council president for Richmond Heights Bobby Jordan where’s Bobby there he is Bobby Mark how can we forget Reverend Mark Reverend Mark Rend Mark Smith councilman from Garfield Heights re Mar and how can we forget our host that kicked us off the mayor of wood village Ben hop Ben H beautiful right and I also want to thank before I move forward friendly in neighborhood friendly in settlement house uh for hosting us today um thank

00:08:15 you thank you so much many of us are fresh off of participating or watching one of the most invigorating energetic exciting exhilarating unified and yes historic Democratic national conventions of our lifetime the speeches were great and the DNC should be commended for helping vice president kamla Harris and Governor coach Tim Waltz get off to a great start in their campaign however as our former First Lady Michelle Obama said that’s not enough not enough now we have to do something and that’s what we’re here

00:08:54 today is the kick off doing something in our community now the work work begins I stand here with you today with some of the most prominent and respected fraternal organizations and clergy organizations and individuals just men that are working every day to make our community better the principles that these men and these organizations standby our community service a commitment to Excellence mentoring and yes we all believe in voter registration education and mobilization which is why we are here

00:09:28 today black men get in the game this is a call to action for all black men in our community to get involved in voter engagement this upcoming election season we have a goal to get 1,000 black men engaged in this year’s election if you have these cards and I really want the media and everybody to see these there’s a QR code we really want as many black men as possible to send us out to your social media networks and others because we want a thousand black men signed up as soon as possible so that we can get a

00:10:01 thousand black men activated for this upcoming election we want you to get your memberships committed we want you to go door to-door in canvas we want you to be poll Watchers to make sure that the people that go to our polls are having a fair and safe opportunity to vote we want you to do phone banking we want you to write friendly letters to your friends and friend to friend cards we want you to work with whoever party whichever party whatever candidates you want to work with but we want you working with somebody and yes ladies and

00:10:30 gentlemen we want you to raise money this is a survival election I know we always say that this is the most important election of our lifetime but this time is for Real democracy is on the ballot yes and we won’t go back yes we won’t go back we won’t go back to reconstruction we won’t go back to the Jim Crow days we won’t go back to segregation we won’t and we won’t do anything that will set our community back and people who spend more time talking about the Grievances of a system and mentality that represents the past

00:11:10 we will not go back there we want to be the architects of change and Lead our community as the Guardians of our Legacy in Cleveland Cleveland has a rich history of clergy and civil rights organizations fraternal organizations and political leaders who have fought tirelessly for our freedoms we are resilient ination something isal in Cleveland our community needs to see black men at the Forefront in the front line fighting for Cleveland’s future people have fought too hard for us to get here today and that’s why we won’t

00:11:44 go back we’re going to travel a couple of paths on this journey one we’re going to register and educate our community there are some groups here that want to focus not on a candidate but solely to do 501c3 and nonprofit work in order to register voters check voter registration and educate people on the platforms and the issues of the day some of these organizations will focus on the dangers of the heritage foundation’s project 2025 some will focus on just educating people on the platforms of the pros and

00:12:30 cons of any candidate some may focus on candidates and what they stand for but everyone can and will have a role Martin Luther King Jr once said everyone can be great because everyone can serve so this is a call to action to tell everyone to do something we cannot sit back and be Spectators in this election I am many others who are individuals this is just me as an elected official and many other individuals are going to do everything we can to support KLA Harris and Coach Governor Tim Walls that’s a bland Griffin

00:13:13 declaration I approve that message I don’t want to put that on any of these other organizations everybody’s gonna get in where they fit in but I know where I stand in this I hear you I hear you I believe she stands as a Beacon of Hope she embodies the values that we hold dear in Justice equality and empow as a woman of color which we all stand here and protect the values of Womanhood we do she understands the unique challenges we face and is committed to uplifting our communities she has a vision where America has every voice

00:13:46 that matters and where our concerns are addressed and where our potential is Unleashed ladies and gentlemen I care so I’m going to vote for candidates who care about the things that I care about I hear you that I love While others who I will not name mention or mention denigrate and disrespect our community and feed divisions feed on fears and grievances that quite frankly they never had to deal with ah as a wealthy American condescending to women let me be clear have you ever realized how that person

00:14:22 often says that women are not smart ah nasty and not goodlook that’s horrible and I think somebody needs to test their Fitness for office if they believe that they are better looking than her quite frankly I just want an adult for the president of the United and shame on us if we forgotten January the 6 oh make no mistake about it this election is not about one candidate it’s about the future of America the future of our region and the future of Cleveland is where education and opportunity are accessible to all

00:15:01 not just a certain few an opportunity economy that’s what my candidate and the people I believe in stand for this is going to be a fight a fight for every vote so I challenge us to get out here and make our voices and heard and show everyone that Cleveland matters our region matters black men matter and let’s protect Womanhood of this beautiful intelligent and qualified system all right and I want to say this everybody is fighting for the attention of black men in this election but I think we kind of have an authentic

00:15:34 Pathway to educate and communicate with the young men and women in our community nobody can speak about the black community like the men that you see standing so I’m asking everybody to do something stand up speak out vote vote for our families vote for our community not just the rich but poor people people of color women heads of household raising these babies in our community that young man or woman who needs a job affordable housing and homeownership of De formly incarcerated and people who live on the margins of

00:16:12 our society the middle class and working families and it’s my black job ladies and gentlemen my job to make sure that little boys and girls can read books and learn about black excellence and perseverance and how we got over my and yes I believe a woman has a right to make decisions on her own this is a fight for our future this is a fight for your damn selves this is a fight and ladies and gentlemen when we fight we win we fight we win when we fight when we fight let’s fight for the people we love and care about in this city thank

00:16:58 you everybody I now have I now have the privilege and honor of bringing up a partner that I have in this and even though he represents these guys over here in the red he’s one of my best friends I love him to death he’s a great young upand cominging star in our party and I want to give an opportunity for him to come up and say a few remarks uh state representative Terence Upchurch state representative thank you council president good afternoon everybody good afternoon first of all I want to thank uh all of the

00:17:37 media here and all the uh organizations uh that have joined us this afternoon like the council president said uh I’m a proud member of cap off side attat attorney Incorporated uh the same frat the same fraternity that gave you Carl Stokes Lewis Stokes Mike White and all the other Giants that have moved the city in the right direction uh I’m just happy to be a part of this movement this election is without a doubt the most important election of our lifetime and we hear that all the time but it’s very

00:18:05 true in this case because we can make the wrong decision and set this country back and erase all the progress we made or we can continue to make progress and build on the progress and let me say this if black men do not have a seat at the table we’re gonna be on the table so I’m gonna be doing everything I can with my fraternity and the other organizations up here I’m going to continue working with voices for a better future pack to educate black men on the importance of taking part in this election and getting out there and

00:18:34 turning out the vote so with that I’m going to be brief I’m gonna turn it over to councilman Richard star W five yes the tallest in the r get to speak um good evening everyone even welcome to war five not only did you just hear about the history of those indiv idual such as the Carl and Lewis stoes Brothers also understand they were born and raised in war five and you’re welcome to their home it’s very important for us to know that Brothers is a time for us to get in the game and what I mean by that is we can’t stay at

00:19:12 home and say I’m just not going to vote yeah we cannot stay at home and say I’m G have a cookout but I’m not gonna educate my kids my family that we need to vote this is something that is very important you cannot have any progress without doing what’s right those individuals who say I don’t do to politics well politics been doing you I want you to understand I want you to understand I’m the general that’s what Ken and council president called so my role with this whole initiative is how do we organize

00:19:45 the boots on the ground so when we get there September 28th and we have a thousand men at Zelma George at 11 o’clock it is my role to make sure we got that thousand men it is my role to make sure you got all of the literature to get out it is my role to make sure you have the script because we can’t be talking above our people we need to talk directly up to our people I hear you I hear you now what I want you all to understand just a real quick right now they said there’s around 34 million registered voters of black people in

00:20:19 this country out of that number there’s 16 million men 16 million men I hear you now in Ohio whether you have a record or a pass you can register and you can vote that’s the message we need to get out there and we need to do our role so today I just wanted to be brief to let you know that I thank you all for being here this is the start thank you we got our breakast we got our breakfast going on we got our breakfast going on um at September 9th at Mount Si we got brother CJ Matthews who pass through always open

00:20:58 this door we can continue to organize and we going to do what we need to do to make sure we have now other my next job and role is to bring in the united pastors on Mission representative to be able to discuss some of the things that they’re doing but we as brothers must get in the game and decide this election it’s up to us thank you mat as we bringing up United pastors ad Mission and my pastor pastor DJ Matthews and uh I also belong to the Prince Hall Masons as well as the Omega sappire so I represent a few

00:21:37 different but before we do that I do want to make sure that we acknowledge the county executive that he was here County Executive Chris Rona if he could raise his hand oh where’s oh council president Pernell Jones Jr we give him a round of applause my man and will Dawson who’s the judge in East Cleveland where’s will Dawson let’s get will a round of applause and I do want to acknowledge two ex judges but they are still active and in the fight one of them is his fault that I’m here trying to do this

00:22:14 today and that’s my mentor and my Omega brother Ron Adrian where’s he at judge Ron Adrian and then judge and then former judge Michael Nelson who also is here who’s actually been active in helping this as well so I want to ackn did I miss any other elected officials all right I want to make sure I get every elected official and before we disperse everybody we do want to do chapter pictures and we want to do a few other things so stand by for instructions I’m gonna bring up my pastor Pastor CJ Matthews good evening evening on behalf

00:22:51 of our president Dr Larry Elm our chairman Pastor Larry O Harris our United pastors is excited to be a part of this work and this movement I just like to say that we have already launched our 100 churches to have 100 people vote by early mail and by before the election starts we also have vessels votes led by Dr Tony Miner and Pastor Jimmy Gates so true they have been empowering captains and training churches over the last few years they are at work every week engaging and training people so true as I close I

00:23:30 just like to say this I’m not confused about who I am or who I represent and I can understand when somebody is doing me right uhuh and when somebody is doing me wrong it’s wrong to steal the ballot from black men it’s wrong to lie to black men who have been lied to by this country ever since we’ve been here come on it is wrong to continue to incarcerate black men at a rate higher than anybody else in the world I’m not confused not confused so Brothers if you tired of getting locked up you better vote Brothers if you tired

00:24:15 to getting the short end of the bullet the short end of the ballot and the short end of the stick you better vote don’t be confused don’t be confused I I know what the former president has done I know what he will not do I’m not sure about anybody else but I’m sure about him black men don’t be confused don’t be Bamboozled I also want to make that we acknowledge um my brother Hub where’s brother Hubbert at brother Edward hub from the NAACP if he could raise his hand thank you acknowledge and I know that we’re going

00:25:12 to have a few other uh dignitaries that come I just want to reiterate that okay I got you I just want to reiterate uh it’s very important for you to point your camera at this QR code and sign up that’s right we need to go I’m working hard with everybody at the State national level and I really need us to show our numbers and our roster so we need you to have everybody in your organizations to fill out this QR code so that we can show who all is representing and also what you want to do whether it’s canvasing phone banking

00:25:47 or anything else so please take the time to have all of your membership fill out the QR code on this and then Ken when is our next breakfast at m not on the fourth on the September September the 7th is our next breakfast at Mount Si that’s where we organized to work our way up to this they’re going to be many chapters doing different things we’re going to keep a master calendar we’re going to try to make sure we supplement everybody’s efforts and yes ladies and gentlemen we are going to try to plug you into wherever the are

00:26:17 resources I am talking to Senator shared Brown regularly I’m talking to the DNC you see we have the uh uh the local Democratic party we’re really working hard to try to make it but we got to show that we have the numbers and that we’re serious about what we’re doing and we’re going to make sure you have all the literature I know brother Waverly Willis wants to make sure that he has all of the literature for the barber shops Johnny O the nerve DJs who he has over a thousand DJs or more I think in

00:26:43 the region is going to be doing things so soon as we get material and yard signs and education material we’ll be running all of that to you County exective you want to join us in council president you guys welcome but um I want to bring up my main man who has been working on this for a long time and he’s been one of our partners that’s been working with this and he’s the head of the Cleveland clergy United uh my brother Aaron Phillips Aaron Phillips if you join good afternoon afteron our goal was

00:27:16 to have a hundred men here Brothers there’s about 300 Brothers in all right there’s nothing we can’t do when we get together I thank God for all the brothers who are here from all organizations and this organization we are all members of the clergy the of the church because all of us belong to some Churches at some place in time and our headquarters church will be at Mount Si on September the 7th um 78500 Woodland thank God for Dr Matthews we’re meeting there we want all Brothers to come out because we know we can put a

00:27:53 thousand Brothers on the ground all right say it one more time we going to put a thousand Brothers on the ground that’s what we going to do we’re going to energize the vote in our community and we’re gonna make Ohio relevant again that’s what we doing we want to know what brothers are doing we’re going to work all right I’m going to uh prepare to close this meeting we thank God for each and every one of you being here today wait make sure you get a card before you leave here all minds are clear I thank God for my brother Pastor

00:28:33 a and all the pastors are here just give a round of applause for all the pastors who in the house today thank God for you all Pastor for being here we thank you we’re working father we thank you for allowing us to be here today thank you for your the word is true how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity and we are in unity today together standing for what’s right and we’re standing for what’s good for our Community for our country and we thank you for for today God in Jesus

00:29:02 name we pray amen God bless you Brothers Min R in the house in the house in the house any media if any media wants any [Music] he [Music] [Music] n la [Music] [Applause] [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Music] a [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] I [Music] [Music] n [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] po let [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh oh [Music] [Music]