I hate to be such a downer...but the rise in violence against women, especially women of color--in NEO...is extremely disturbing.  Yesterday--as this commission was examined in the paper, on the same page, the paper reported a woman brutally murdered and set on fire in her home...

This video was shot for Ron Paul's campaign, but it expresses my fear

I was born in St. Annes' Hospital in 1955... before, "THEY"? tore it down, and built a Kaiser Permanente building.  I lived on East 130th St. and Buckeye Road...I walked SAFELY past, that, "Imperial Avenue Massacre"(is, what I call, this "TRADGEDY") block, thousands of times....as a young  child and young adult years, of my life. I say "a big prayer" for the families, the friends, everyone, traumaticly, touched by this, terrible incident beyond any discription .                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/10/candlelight_vigil_in_cleveland.html

Candlelight vigil in Cleveland neighborhood mourns and honors 11 victims of suspected serial killer

Stan Donaldson, The Plain Dealer
Follow

John Kuntz/The Plain DealerThe Mack sisters, from left, Kudushea, Sashea and Natshua participate in the candlelight vigil in Cleveland on Friday, Oct. 29, 2010.  The sisters live two houses away from the Sowell home and lived through the whole unfolding horror story.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- As people began to pass around wax candles they would light to honor the 11 women who were found on Imperial Avenue this time last year, Yvonne Williams wasn't as sad as some -- even though many people in the crowd never met her daughter.

Though the discovery was gruesome, Williams, 50, the mother of Tishana Culver, is glad people still remember what happened and said she believes the tragic memory can be used to help people come together.

"I've had some bad days, but honestly, when I found out she was in there it gave me peace," Williams said. "Without the Lord, I would have never been able to get through."

Culver's mother was a part of the nearly 100 people who attended an anniversary vigil to honor the 11 women who were found in and outside of the home of accused serial killer Anthony Sowell last year.

Several relatives of the victims attended the vigil and thanked the community for their support and prayers. Some families urged for the courts to not allow the trial to begin on Valentine's Day because it would be too painful -- and others addressed their anger towards Sowell and Cleveland police for what they believe is a lack of action when officers deal with rape cases.

"We are here to unify the community and to assess whether the city is doing everything they can to protect black women after this tragedy," said Kathy Wray Coleman of The Imperial Women, one of the community groups who organized the vigil.

Some women in the crowd who attended the event wore purple or black sweatshirts that read "Imperial Women, Invisible No More," that also listed all of the victims names.

Coleman asked for the community to support the families as the trial approaches and for people in the Mount Pleasant area to start to look out for each other.

View full sizeJohn Kuntz/The Plain DealerSakinah A. Malik holds up a collage she made featuring all 11 women that authorities say wee found slain in the home of Anthony Sowell.

She, along with other community groups, challenged the city and police to do more to protect women of color in poor communities, but they also challenged black men to take a stand protecting their women.

The vigil was organized by The Imperial Women and several other community organizations like Black on Black Crime Inc. and Peace in the Hood.

"We need to make sure that 'little house of horrors' will never happen again," Khalid Samad, one of the community activists to attend the event.

Sondra Miller, who works with the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, said she believes the city has made some progress in responding to women who have reported sexual crimes, but believes it can improve.

"The lesson we had to learn the hard way in Cleveland is that when a woman comes forward and reports that she has been raped, she needs to be believed and supported," Miller said.

As the crowd lit candles and held them into the sky to remember the victims, Sherri Smith, a liaison for the Pastor's Alliance, which has supported the victims' families with emotional and financial assistance, said she hopes the families can heal.

"I know there is still a lot of anger and hurt," she said. "But my hope is that these families can begin to heal and we can come together to really bring some positive change in the neighborhood."

[//]

we were there...it was good to have it reported and have a video taken too. The story of the deaths, the victims should be told. Perhaps it will help it from happening again - 11 women, just so sad.