Cordell Stokes speaking at a Stakeholder Legacy Breakfast event held at the Cleveland History Center on March 21, 2024 to honor his father's historic achievements.
I recently attended an event that focused on the legacy of former Cleveland Mayor Carl Burton Stokes who was elected in 1967. That is long enough in the past for some current residents of Cleveland not to fully appreciate his life and legacy.
I made the observation at that event that three things should be remembered about Mayor Stokes. First, he was not just the first African American mayor of Cleveland: he was the first African American mayor of any major American city. His election shifted the focus of the civil rights movement from street-level demonstrations to electoral politics. Big-city mayors followed Carl Stokes into office in Gary, Indiana, Atlanta, Georgia, Detroit, Michigan, Los Angeles, California, my hometown of Chicago, Illinois, New York City, Kansas City, Missouri, and many more.
Second, when Carl Stokes was elected in 1967, Cleveland was among the most racially segregated cities in the United States, following Chicago, Gary, and Detroit in that sad distinction. Despite that, Stokes was able to build a successful, multi-racial political coalition that propelled him to victory.
Third, that victory was all the more impressive when one remembers his opponent in that mayoral contest. It was Seth Taft, the grandson of U.S. President William Howard Taft and the nephew of U.S. Senator Robert Taft who was known in Ohio politics as "Mr. Republican." Imagine the great grandson of slaves defeating the grandson of a President of the United States in a political campaign in Ohio!
What was not discussed at the event in memory of Mayor Stokes was the fact that he may be the only American ever to serve in every branch of government. He was a member of the Ohio state legislature. He was Mayor of Cleveland which put him in the executive branch. He was later elected to serve on the Cleveland Municipal Court which put him in the judicial branch. Finally, toward the end of his distinguished career he was appointed United States Ambassador to the Seychelles Islands off the coast of East Africa. That placed him in the diplomatic arena of government service. Few, if any Americans have served this country with such distinction.
Add to that, his Emmy- winning work as a TV news anchor for the NBC affiliate in New York City in the 1980s. What a life. What a legacy!
Most people remember his brother, Congressman Louis Stokes who represented parts of Cleveland for thirty years. However, before Louis Stokes was elected in 1969, Carl Stokes had already made history two years earlier. Before Justin Bibb and before Michael White, there was Carl B. Stokes. Lest we forget.
R E C E N T:
My Black History story
A call for pastoral equity in the Black Church
Trump creeping closer to white supremacy advocacy
• • •• • •
The Rev. Dr. Marvin A. McMickle, pastor emeritus of Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio, is interim senior minister, First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland. He served as president of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, Rochester, New York, from 2011 to 2019.
