By Syreeta L. McNeal, CPA, JD
Napoleon Hill states “lack of loyalty is one of the major causes of failure in every walk of life.” In representing her constituents in Cleveland, Ohio to being a strong advocate for Senator Clinton in her bid to be the Democratic Presidential nominee in 2008, no person can say that Ohio Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones did not embody the very essence of the word. I, like most of America, is saddened today with the news of Congresswoman Tubbs Jones suffering a cerebral aneurysm as she drove in her home district in Cleveland Heights, Ohio on Tuesday evening.
She was born in Cleveland, Ohio on September 10, 1949. Congresswoman Jones graduated from Cleveland's public schools. Also, she received her undergraduate degree from Case Western Reserve University, graduating with a degree in Social Work from the Flora Stone Mather College in 1971. In 1974, she received her Juris Doctorate from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. In 1981, Congresswoman Jones was elected judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court in 1981. Subsequently, she served on the Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga County from 1983 to 1991.
In 1990, she ran for Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio replacing Mary Cacioppo, the winner of the Democratic Primary, who withdrew for health reasons. She narrowly lost that race to Republican incumbent J. Craig Wright.
In 1998, she was the first African-American woman to be elected to Congress from Ohio. She has been reelected four times with no substantive opposition. Along with many other accomplishments, she is what Maya Angelou would call a Phenomenal Woman.
If you are listening in spirit, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, we appreciate you and your work and hope people realize that exhibiting loyalty is not a curse, but a blessing for those who serve in the public and legal arena. May God bless you and keep you and your family in this tragic time.
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