Organizers of the boycott of downtown Cincinnati conventions, events and businesses on Sunday launched a Web site — cincyboycott.org — and clarified the focus of their effort.

        The Combined Coalition for Justice and Racial Equality, one of 14 religious and activist groups calling for the boycott, said the effort is more about attracting attention to racial economic issues than trying to hurt specific employers.

        Still, the coalition named the Coors Light and Ujima Cinci-Bration festivals, which get under way this weekend downtown with a largely African-American audience, as a target of the boycott announced Saturday.

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THE DEMANDS

• Grant amnesty to those arrested during the April riots.   • Fire police chief Thomas Streicher, FOP President Keith Fangman and city manager John Shirey.   • Place a charter amendment on the November ballot to change civil service laws that dictate how police and fire chiefs are hired.   • Declare racial profiling illegal via a federal court order and reform police and Hamilton County judicial systems.   • Give subpoena and investigative powers as well as staffing and support to the Citizens Review Panel or the Office of Municipal Investigations to handle complaints against police.   • Fund neighborhood development plans.   • Appropriate $2 million annual to the Citizens Committee for Youth for workplace development programs.     More details on demands

        Boycott organizers did not send pickets to the Gold Star ChiliFest over the weekend or to disrupt thousands of fans — including many tourists — who streamed into Cinergy Field for a Reds game on Sunday.

        “We're aware that some people are looking for immediate types of impact. But we're in this for the long haul,” said the Rev. James W. Jones, first vice president of the Baptist Ministers Conference and chairman of the Coalition for Justice and Equality, boycott co-sponsors.

        In its Saturday call, the 14 groups demanded a host of changes before the boycott would be lifted — ranging from strengthening police oversight to firing Police Chief Tom Streicher to allocating more money to a youth-oriented workplace development program.

        But the boycott is only one of several strategies to reach its goals, organizers said. Some future events will be targeted for pickets and protests. Boycott sponsors also will push for legislative action and to influence the November elections for mayor and City Council.

        Long-term, it wants to cut into local tourism by pressuring conventions scheduled as far out as 2003 to stay away from Cincinnati.

        In addition to being vague about tactics, boycott organizers continue to refuse to provide details about its membership — especially about individuals who may be involved.

        Of the 14 groups listed as co-sponsors of the boycott effort, a few are considered powerful, such as the Baptist Ministers Conference.

        Others, such as the Cincinnati Zapatista Coalition, Cincinnati Radical Youth and the New Black Panther Party, are considered fringe groups.

        “Some of these may be fringe groups. But you cannot say all this is is two or three radical blacks hollering into the air,” the Rev. Mr. Jones said.

        Some citizens and some leaders, including Mayor Charlie Luken and members of the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, have been quick to criticize a boycott as destructive or misguided.

        The cincyboycott.org Web site Sunday called for “economic justice,” listed the text of its Saturday news conference statement and member groups, and promised more information to come on how people can get involved.

        The boycott remained a hot topic Sunday on talk radio stations like WBDZ-AM (1230), the Buzz, where lunchtime debate focused on dollars allocated for Cincinnati's 2012 Olympic bid versus dollars spent on jobs programs for city residents.

        After a Sunday service at New Friendship Baptist Church in Avondale, Dorothy Montgomery of North Avondale said she agrees with some of the boycott sponsors' demands.

        However, she doesn't think discouraging people from visiting and spending money downtown is the best way to force change. “You're not just going to hurt white people. You're going to hurt all people if people don't come downtown.”

        On his way to Cinergy Field, Everett Greene of Indianapolis also said several of the demands listed by the coalition of activist groups sounded reasonable, including changing how the city hires its police chief, giving more power to a citizens police review panel and increasing funding for neighborhood development.

        “If the city is not willing to move on some of these issues, then more action may be needed. A boycott would be one of the more peaceful actions that could be taken,” Mr. Greene said.

        When the Rev. Mr. Jones was asked Sunday why the Cincinnati NAACP or the Urban League — two well-known interest groups representing African-Americans — were not listed as sponsors of the boycott, he dismissed those groups as compromised.

        “The NAACP has been accused of doing little more than sponsoring the annual freedom dinner. You won't hear me argue with that,” the Rev. Mr. Jones said.

        Attempts to reach representatives of the NAACP and the Urban League were unsuccessful Sunday.

        L. Ross Love, president and chief executive of Blue Chip Broadcasting, the company that runs the Coors Light Festival, declined comment on the boycott when reached Sunday on vacation in South Carolina.

        Economic empowerment is the deeper issue at the root of the racial tension plaguing Cincinnati, the Rev. Mr. Jones said.

        “We're not talking about small stuff. We're talking about the lack of fulfilling commitments made years ago,” the Rev. Mr. Jones said.

        Enquirer reporters Jennifer Mrozowski and Marie McCain contributed.

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Demands sweep across city, county policies
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