More than 100 church members, residents, and community leaders gathered on the lawn of Elizabeth Baptist Church in Cleveland last week to dedicate a historical marker memorializing the racial terror lynching of John Jordan on June 27, 1911.
While many names of lynching victims were not recorded and will never be known, John Jordan is the one documented victim of racial terror lynching in Cuyahoga County between 1865 and 1950.
Black Environmental Leaders, a local nonprofit organization focusing on environmental and economic justice with a mission to “advocate, incubate and inform,” partnered with EJI’s Community Remembrance Project to memorialize John Jordan.
Leading up to the marker installation, BEL organized trips for Cleveland residents to visit EJI’s Legacy Sites in Montgomery and facilitated conversations and public education events.
“Today is a manifestation of five years of work,” Black Environmental Leaders co-executive director SeMia Bray told Signal Cleveland. “Lasting progress is possible when communities build power, speak truth to power and create coalitions that shift the balance of power, that result in real change in the lives of those directly impacted.”
EJI Project Manager Mia Taylor spoke to the audience at the June 22 unveiling ceremony about EJI’s commitment to changing the narrative about race in America and the essential work required to recover from our history of racial injustice. “We must say never again to racial bigotry, violence, and lawlessness,” she said.
Elected officials, including Ohio Sen. Nickie Antonio, Ohio Rep. Tristan Rader, and Cuyahoga County Council Member Meredith M. Turner, attended the dedication and praised BEL and residents for their community remembrance efforts.
EJI was presented with a special commendation for honoring the life and legacy of John Jordan and recognizing our “stewardship and dedication to the truth within Cleveland’s past.”
“Although nothing can truly bring back the life of John Jordan, this memorial marker will now serve as the reminder of his life and legacy, as to never forget the violence that once unfolded resulting in his death,” the senatorial citation reads. “May we all remember, reflect, and devote ourselves to a better future for all Clevelanders and the state of Ohio.”
At the invitation of Elizabeth Baptist Church Pastor Richard Gibson, the church’s youth members worked together to loosen the tape securing a cover around the marker as the audience encouraged them. When they finished, the pastor asked everyone present to gather around the marker, take hold of the cover, and unveil the marker in unison.
“This is an incredible moment for us historically,” Pastor Gibson said. “As we go forward, we must learn from our past to create more good history to make our present and future better.”
