CLEVELAND - THIS IS WHO WE ARE

CLEVELAND - Home of the Rock Hall, yet home also to gritty, under-appreciated citizens wallowing in urban despair. Our companies have been sold to outsiders seeking carpetbagger success. Our factories, breweries, and public institutions have closed. Our banks have been seized and re-sold by the government. Our sports teams have struggled to win a championship since the mid-60's. Our elected officials have attracted FBI investigations and charges of outright corruption, while remaining indifferent. Our schools are crumbling. Our winters are filled with lake-effect snow and insane shifts in temperature. Our streets are overrun with beggars and petty criminals seeking hope.

And yet... we love this city. It is our home. Our identity is here... grappling with fate, sore from failure, bowed by circumstance. We breathe and ingest Cleveland every day of the year. Tough, scrappy, and able to survive. Not so notable as New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles. Yet undeniably part of the American Experience.

We defend Cleveland - because this is who we are.