Beachwood, OH— On Monday, Sept. 2, Rep. Shontel Brown and about 250 other participants, marched down Kinsman Rd. to celebrate Labor Day. Starting at the intersection of 147th St., the march spanned 32 blocks and lasted for three hours. It ended at Luke Easter Park where a grandstand, vendors, bouncy houses and more awaited participants.
Although the event wasn’t held in University Heights, it maintained strong connections to both John Carroll University (JCU) and the surrounding community, creating a welcoming atmosphere for JCU students and University Heights residents alike
Since 1972, Ohio’s representative from District 11, has hosted a parade with local police, schools and workers to celebrate Labor Day.
One of the most represented groups though, outside of the three dozen plus local workers groups were the mayors. Mayor Brandon King, of East Cleveland, and Mayor Matthew Burke had cars and teams of volunteers in merchandise, with some giving out candy. Michael Brennan, mayor of University Heights, rolled along in his classic purple shirt while on his bike.
Brown stressed that the real purpose of this holiday is to recognize workers and the unions they use to protect their rights. Many unions were represented at this event ranging from Cleveland Teachers Local 279 and Iron Workers Local 17 to the North Shore AFL-CIO.
AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations, has in chapters across northern Ohio. Specifically, Cuyahoga, Geauga and Lake Counties house its 146 industrial union affiliates and over 85,000 members. For reference, if all those numbers attended a Browns game against Dallas, they could fill the stadium, while spilling into the municipal lots.
However, numerous political candidates were present in addition to Brown. Melody J. Stewart, a Cleveland native, running for re-election to the Ohio Supreme Court, is the court’s first African American woman justice and looks forward to bringing community voices again to Columbus.
Of the over 250 organizations at the event, many local kids, from toddlers to teenagers performed for parents, family and neighbors. This included the Euclid Marching band, who despite several warnings from organizers to speed up their marching band performance, stopped the show figuratively, and literally with the roaring applause of the audience, excited to see more at the park’s bandstand down the road.
JCU alumnus, Sean Freeman ‘18, was one of the closers for the parade—despite being a challenger of Brown. He had a stand, alongside his brother, Kevin Freeman ‘25.
“I thought it was a great experience. It was cool talking with voters… excited about an independent candidate even if it was just for a brief few seconds. It was also nice to see Sean get the ability to speak,” he said.
The event as a whole was a great opportunity for the community to come together, celebrate their fellow workers and organize to vote, both as citizens and politicians. With kids, adults and Clevelanders from all walks of life coming out to celebrate, it was easy to see that a good time was had by all.