I can remember coming from the store each Sunday morning with the Daily News, my mother’s newspaper of choice.
And after breakfast she’d sit on her bed and get caught up with the “State of the Condition”, often quoting her mother’s wisdom about how
You can’t believe half of what you read, and most of what you hear
Hearing this enough as a kid I decided to ask what she meant. Her answer, as direct as her previous statement, “It’s important to know the times you live in, because later they’ll be a test“.
Coming from a woman of humble and difficult beginnings in 1950’s Jim Crow Aiken, South Carolina, they continue to instruct me in my evaluation of the “State of the Condition”.
Other sayings from her COMMON SENSE manual….
Never be in anyone’s BACK POCKET for any reason
Avoid being chosen, always better to CHOOSE
Choose a person by what they can do AFTER knowing what must be done
The last of her truism’s can measure a community’s political sophistication, or lack thereof.
For instance, consider how other Brooklyn neighborhoods flourish in spite of where the City’s economy is in the boom-bust cycle.
What makes them different from where you live? Who are their civic/community leaders? What efforts do they bring to change/maintain/improve their surroundings?
If you live in Bedford Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Cypress Hill, East New York, Canarsie, Ocean Hill or Brownsville, you’ve inherited the legacy of anemic progress.
That legacy has its root in The Conspiracy Theory; the all purpose explanation for the disappointments, shortcomings, missed opportunities and squandered resources plaguing the neighborhoods mentioned.
And there are a few content in allowing you to believe in the religion of conspiracy. Why there are Sunday morning radio broadcasts devoted to the proposition airing weekly.
As for the social ills resulting from the anemic progress that make up the pathology in these communities, apathy is the end result.
And the politics of a few, well financed special interests count on your lack of interest or concern during election season.
In the HBO Documentary: The Nine Lives of Marion Barry, we witness the residents of Washington, D.C. begin to determine their destiny and take hold of their political stake in their communities. We also watch the ultimate decline of these communities and witness the residents continue to make the same choice in elected representation.
Expecting a change from a politician who may well be responsible for the very state of their condition.
- Are you responsible for your condition?
- Did you vote in the last local elections held?
- Do you think your choice in elected representation is the reason for the state of the condition where you live?
- Can you measure a candidate’s ability by anything other than your pastor/union leader/civil rights activist’s endorsement?
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I and the staff at MyBrooklynReport.com have embarked on something different than what’s usually done in Central & East Brooklyn Politics;
Allow the candidates for 7 Council District races in Brooklyn to tell you their views in response to 11 questions over 3 categories: Education, City Government and Foreclosure & Homelessness. And we do so without any bias towards or preference for any candidate seeking your vote.
Why?
Because the City’s news outlets offer sound bites by Candidates, which is hardly enough information to base your vote on. At the very least, you’d want to see if a candidate has given any serious thought to the 3 categories in our questionnaire.
To date, the following candidates have participated:
Derek Sacerdote, Candidate for the 46th NYC Council District
Mark Winston Griffith, Candidate for the 36th NYC Council District
Candidates who have agreed to participate and are expected to provide their views in response to the Candidates Questionnaire are:
Medhanie Estiphanos, Candidate for the 35th NYC Council District
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Al Vann, Candidate for the 36th NYC Council District (incumbent)
Saquan Jones, Candidate for the 36th NYC Council District
William Carrington, Candidate for the 36th NYC Council District
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Darma Diaz, Candidate for the 37th NYC Council District
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Tony Herbert, Candidate for the 41st NYC Council District
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Jumaane Williams, Candidate for the 45th NYC Council District
Derek McKenzie, Candidate for the 45th NYC Council District
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We look forward to publishing their response to our series and hope it provides more than what your accustomed to receiving during this election season.
To see what information the candidates have offered you in consideration of your vote, take a moment to read these 2 blog posts;
BedStuyBlog.com’s If I’m Elected…More City Council Candidates & Outdoor Print Ad Campaigns by The Progressive Southside
NostrandPark.com’s Who The Heck Are My Elected Officials by the Editors of NostrandPark.com
In addition, the Crown Heights Revitalization Movement is working to organize a debate by the candidates for the 36th NYC Council District.
* This post was originally published at http://mybrooklynreport.wordpress.com/2009/08/17/are-candidates-a-reflection-of-the-voters/
{ 4 comments }
Marion Barry!! Michael, you just put this in a whole new revolutionary light. It is so true. What a great precautionary tale.
I think there should be a new anti-complacency campaign and it would go something like this:
- Drug dealers on the corners?
- Garbage in the streets?
- Kids failing classes?
- Homeless shelter next door?
- Don’t vote? Don’t complain.
It’s harsh, but I think people need a wake up call.
Now I do understand that, particularly in working class communities, it may be difficult for folks to find the time to get up to speed on all that is going on. So they will rely on the endorsement of others. And that is a fair critique that needs to be addressed.
I think it would be great if some independent body could create a comparison table showing – in a one page summary format – the most salient pieces of information from the candidates’ bios and campaigns:
- Where they live.
- How long they’ve lived here.
- Major lifetime achievements.
- Major contributions to the community.
- Vision for the community.
- Top three issues affecting the community.
- How they would address these issues.
- Top three skills they have to effectuate change.
- Top three critiques that others have about the candidate.
Maybe the posters could be posted at the bus and subway stations and along the main commercial corridors throughout the district.
Also, I am very happy to hear that Al Vann will be speaking up on the forum!!
Laurel,
I think you’re on to something (and I think it’s a better idea than the candidates questionnaire series we’re doing).
Given the kind of society we’re living in, working class folks may need their politics delivered like fast food takeout.
And I’m with you on the anti-complacency campaign because one thing folks in our community do well is complain.
I really like the idea put forth in your reply and am beginning to believe that the curve in completing such a “Candidate Profile” would be lowered and unintimidating.
And I as well as you are happy that Councilman Al Vann has decided to participate in our series.
By far, he is the “Dean of Brooklyn Politics” and has reach and influence in many corners of City and State government that are envied by many. Many consider him an ally, adviser and counselor.
And in spite of how some in his office and campaign may have felt we were a little rough in linking him to certain stories, we have nothing but a healthy respect for him and his accomplishments.
Which is why I thought the Marion Barry documentary is so instructive….Al Vann has never devolved into a character like Marion Barry…though some in his political circle have.
Marion Barry:
Sometimes, genius is an unbearable burden. Most folks are raised to be “average”; there’s not parenting class for raising them; and because their viewpoint is sooooo different from the rest of us, they probably have a major challenge coping. NOW; that does NOT absolve him of his missteps but I cringe every time I hear his name and pray that THIS time, let it be that he’s re-grouped.
Local Candidates:
Our political potpourri, in my ‘umble opinion, includes “conspiracies” and the like. On the other hand, “To whom much is given; much is required.” Those who know better must do better and I refuse to believe there are so few of us who do not know better than to vote in the kinds of folks who simply are looking for a job. Some of the names listed are folks who either run for the nearest office available; have run since Jesus wept, or have bought into the belief that “our” salvation is political; rather than ECONOMIC!!
Lastly, when each of us who knows the “right path” on any issue, gathers the courage to place our faith in our values and NOT our boss, our mortgage; our car note; etc., I believe the others, slowly but surely, will follow our footsteps. Its our walk, not our talk, that will win the day.
Okay, sermon’s over. Go in Peace.
REB
Man, I couldn’t have said it better if I tried.
I don’t think I could add anything to that comment except…
AMEN!
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