CLEVELAND — In 1967, Carl B. Stokes made history. He was elected the first African American mayor of a major U.S. city.
For two terms — inside of Cleveland City Hall — Stokes was mayor, but at home Cordell Stokes and his siblings called him dad.
“When I would lay in the bed asleep… I would wake up at certain points in the night and my father would be laying right next to me reading a book smoking a cigar,” Cordell said.
Cordell, who is now the CEO of CLC Stokes Consulting Group and an executive with the Urban League of Greater Cleveland, said his father left behind a legacy of leadership that’s still clear in the city today.
“He was very much ahead of his time on the environmental component, and then the establishment of EEO, which now stays today and the provision of opportunity for Black contractors who had been locked out of city hall… the opportunity to have black officials within institutions like banks…,” he said.
His father also left behind a legacy of love.
“As I got into my athletic career as a youngster, he was always there in attendance,” Cordell said. “When I would go away to camp, he would come on parents’ day.”
He left Cordell with memories and lessons he said he’ll never forget.
“Lessons being learned was that you have to take care of your business when no one is looking… number one… and you have to be able to prepare yourself for the future, and that’s what he was really trying to instill in me,” he said.
After his father’s death in 1996, Cordell turned to his uncle Louis Stokes, who he lovingly calls his second father. Louis was the first African American Congressman to represent the state of Ohio.
“I think they would just continue to tell me (to) keep pushing forward, and they would want me to continue to be the best that I can,” he said.
Cordell said he carries with him their words, and their powerful examples of leadership and fatherhood.
“I had two the strong Black men in my life that has prepared me for whatever life brings forth to me,” he said.
