{"id":3898,"date":"2025-08-08T19:02:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T00:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2025\/?p=3898"},"modified":"2025-08-09T10:30:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T15:30:28","slug":"the-legacy-of-carl-b-stokes-clevelands-first-black-mayor-still-fuels-the-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2025\/the-legacy-of-carl-b-stokes-clevelands-first-black-mayor-still-fuels-the-city\/","title":{"rendered":"The legacy of Carl B. Stokes, Cleveland\u2019s first Black mayor, still fuels the city"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>By Sigourney Bell, The Monitor Digital<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cleveland\u2019s first Black mayor, Carl B. Stokes, was also the first Black mayor of a major U.S. city. Through legislation and advocacy, Stokes set the foundation for the diverse building blocks the city still relies on today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stokes was remarkable for the city of Cleveland, Cleveland Restoration Society President Kathleen Crouther said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe is known for bringing a lot of diversity into the ranks of the employees of Cleveland City Hall,\u201d Crouther said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Being elected in 1968, a time when Cleveland\u2019s population was majority white, was a feat, Crouther said. Stokes\u2019 opponent, Seth Taft, was the grandson of 27th President William Howard Taft.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With Martin Luther King Jr. as his campaign manager and support from Black and white business owners, Stokes narrowly secured his victory.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cleveland Restoration Society dedicated a historical marker for Stokes in 2022, Crouther said, as part of a city-wide trail honoring civil rights pioneers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-soundcloud wp-block-embed-soundcloud\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"BIBB-STOKES by NABJ Monitor\" width=\"500\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?visual=true&#038;url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F2150240892&#038;show_artwork=true&#038;maxheight=750&#038;maxwidth=500\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe have a great deal of respect for him, and I think it was our second marker because it seemed like such a big omission that there was no historical marker at Cleveland City Hall,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though Stokes left office in 1972, his influence and legislation remains in Cleveland even now under the leadership of current Mayor Justin Bibb, the city\u2019s fourth Black mayor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe mayor is really big on sustainability and protecting our climate which is something Carl B. Stokes paved the way for,\u201d Communications Coordinator for the City of Cleveland Fatimah Harris said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stokes emphasized the need to maintain a healthy and safe water quality in Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River. His advocacy in 1969, after the final fire on the Cuyahoga River made international news, spurred the establishment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the first annual Earth Day the following year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stokes\u2019 commitment to preserving Cleveland\u2019s freshwater resources is not lost on Bibb, Crouther said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cJustin Bibb said something really amazing. He said, \u2018I stand on the shoulders of Carl Stokes.\u2019 He said, \u2018You don&#8217;t get Justin Bibb,\u2019\u201d Crouther said. \u201cI remember that because that&#8217;s a poignant way to phrase it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The National Association of Black Journalists hosted its 50th anniversary in Cleveland, connecting back to Stokes who left Cleveland in 1972 to become the first Black anchorman in New York City while working for WNBC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some NABJ members believe the anniversary should have been celebrated in a more prominent city, but Harris said Cleveland was the right choice since it is constantly developing, and hosting conventions support that work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThats just showing why Cleveland deserves this opportunity because we have leaders that have forged paths in this industry,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to Bibb\u2019s own legacy, Harris said the mayor hopes to continue growing Cleveland through new events while always remembering the groundwork Strokes laid all those years ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>By Sigourney Bell, The Monitor Digital Cleveland\u2019s first Black mayor, Carl B. Stokes, was also the first Black mayor of a major U.S. city. Through legislation and advocacy, Stokes set the foundation for the diverse <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2025\/the-legacy-of-carl-b-stokes-clevelands-first-black-mayor-still-fuels-the-city\/\" title=\"The legacy of Carl B. Stokes, Cleveland\u2019s first Black mayor, still fuels the city\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[374,36,239],"tags":[441],"class_list":{"0":"post-3898","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community-interest","8":"category-podcasts-2022","9":"category-race-culture","10":"tag-nabj25"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3898"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3904,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3898\/revisions\/3904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}