Dear HillBuzz,
I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and have to tell you the Stephanie Tubbs Jones you saw on the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton this year is not the full story — you saw just a glimpse of the awesome force of nature this woman actually was. It’s hard to articulate, but you only got to see the cheerleading, positive, tireless Tubbs Jones — which is pretty remarkable — but you didn’t get to see Tubbs Jones in full battle mode, which is how I will always remember her.
You can’t possibly know how much of an impact Tubbs Jones had on me, as a man, because I only realized it in the last few days since her passing. Because, I appreciate now, part of the reason I was drawn to Senator Clinton, and the reason I have been a strong supporter of hers since the 1990s, is because of Stephanie Tubbs Jones. I don’t know what it’s like to live in a world without a strong, determined woman leading the charge for what’s right. That’s because every day in Cleveland, growing up, I got to see Tubbs Jones in action, sparring with our corrupt Mayor and idiot City Council, keeping people in line and the local government in check. She was outrageous, determined, and larger than life. It was like a giant force of nature from Olympus, or some mighty Titan, was squashed down and contained within the body of this little black woman from Cleveland, who stood up for regular people and never, ever, never shut up or sit down when told.
She had magical powers of persuasion, a sharp wit and clever mind, and she never walked into a room to do battle, but actually danced and pranced and sashayed in with STYLE. She spoked often in rhyme to get your attention, then pounded you with facts and figures and analytical reasoning like the talented lawyer she was. By the end of one of her speeches, you’d look like an idiot for disagreeing with her, because her intellect and passion, combined, rallied the crowds around her, typically making sure the cause of right won out against the vested interests of those out for profit or personal gain.
And, oh, man, you’d be in so much trouble for telling her to shut up or sit down or fall in line. I’d hate to be you, that’s for sure. She made fools of so many people, dancing around them in debates. Sometimes, literally, dancing around them. And for someone almost 60, that woman had MOVES.
It would take hours to explain Cleveland politics, but basically two very wealthy families controlled most of the real estate downtown, and our Mayor through the late 80s and 90s was their personal consigliere. It’s one of the reasons Cleveland, positioned on a gorgeous lake and interesting crooked river, was never able to develop into anything like Chicago (which also sits on a gorgeous lake and interesting river, but isn’t controlled by two unimaginative, greedy families). For years, there was no one to stand up to these fools and push for sensible development, but Tubbs Jones did that. When the Mayor and City Council wanted to do anything that didn’t have the best interests of Clevelanders at heart, they could count on Tubbs Jones leading the charge against them, making so much noise, riling people up, ensuring no one sat down or shut up. In a city where developers were only interested in building new stadiums or museums, Tubbs Jones raised her voice and called for new homes and urban homesteading of decayed swaths of the city, to bring the city back to life so people would actually live there again, and be able to go to the fancy new stadiums and museums. The mayor and developers wanted to put the cart before the donkey, and Tubbs Jones was there to call them jackasses for doing so.
BRING IT ON! That’s what she’d say when these fools came up with some other scheme. And, man, did she ever bring it on. With sass and a little dance and some poetry with a punch. She loved loud colors and bright fingernails, and she gave the best, biggest, and warmest hugs to everyone she met. It’s so crazy, but this powerful woman always acted like a favorite aunt and part of the family. She’s show up EVERYWHERE, at little league games, grade school graduations, fish fries, bake sales, whatever. She did this all the time, not just when campaigning, like some politicians. She just loved being around people, and loved helping them.
The local news was often “The Stephanie Tubbs Jones Show” because her antics were just that much fun to cover. One of the local newscasters, a guy right out of the 70s that Will Ferrel most likely based his Anchorman character on, used to do a tsk tsk whenever he said her name, as if implying, “What is that crazy woman up to now”. Do you see what I am getting at here? Tubbs Jones was the lifeforce of Cleveland. SHE was the mover and shaker, the strong personality that gave us all hope, that drew attention to the causes that mattered but were ignored by the idiot media, who only wanted to talk about someone being shot somewhere, and all the other bad news in town. Well, Tubbs Jones always highlighted the effort to keep guns out of school and reduce violence by building strong communities. She was a light in the dark, and because her personality was so big and her voice so loud, she made damn sure focus was placed on all the good things going on in Cleveland, and all the other good things that needed to be done to get Cleveland on the right track.
She was the right person, in the right position, at the right time. I honestly don’t know what my hometown will do without her. We lost our champion, our hero. Congress lost one of it’s greatest members. Seeing her on the campaign trail, I kept hoping she’d replace Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House someday (soon), because then we’d have a hardworking, powerful Speaker who actually cared about the people and GOT STUFF DONE. Instead of whatever it is Pelosi does all day.
But, that’s not going to happen now, and I have to accept that. Even though we could have used her for another 50 years, Tubbs Jones is gone, and I do hope she’s found the rest and comfort she truly deserves. I’m not a spirtual guy, but on occasions like this I default back to Catholic School and imagine a host of angels and celestial choirs astride pearly gates, lined up to welcome the best of the best, the great Tubbs Jones HOME. Oh, and there is applause and great cheers for a life well lived and jobs so well done. All our great heroes and champions give welcome to their peer, this dazzling little black woman with a loud mouth and big heart, dancing her way into Heaven, challenging guys like me and people like you to get off our butts and do something worthwhile every day, to never shut up or back down from what we believe in, to never be bland and mediocre when you have the chance and the right to be colorful and bold and have a little Tubbs Jones in you too.
Oh, Stephanie, we miss you, you great lady, you force of nature. Great work here on Earth, Congresswoman — we’ll take it from here!
Sebastian Gray, Chicago
August 23, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Lovely.
August 23, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Thank you. She will forever embody for me this milestone election season. What it means to be a woman, what it means to be a minority, what it means to be an American, and more than anything else, what it means to be a pure public servant. Because of Stephanie Tubbs Jones, our responsibilities to ourselves will make more room for our responsibilities to others. May she rest in the comfort, delight, and glory that she so deeply deserves. We will remember her until we can meet again.
August 23, 2008 at 11:34 pm
Just when you think you can’t feel a loss anymore keenly, someone reminds you of what’s already been.
HillBuzz, you might want to take a gander at Hillary’s interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer about STJ’s passing.
Excerpts:
In memory of the congresswoman, the Clinton campaign will supply buttons with Tubbs Jones’ photo on them to supporters at next week’s Democratic National Convention.
…
Saying it was the “greatest gift” to have had Tubbs Jones in her life, Clinton admitted she is still having a hard time believing that her friend is gone.
“I’m just so sorry that she’s not going to be around with me as we grow old,” she said.