The Race for City Council Kinard says, "Mealy Must Go!"

“Darlene Mealy must go,” says longtime community member and education activist Stan Kinard, who is running for City Council in District 41. Kinard was recently  endorsed by Brooklyn’s preeminent activist Councilman Charles Barron, the Amsterdam News and Our Time Press. “Mealy supported the overturning of term limits, a move that allowed Mayor Bloomberg an additional four years in office, with devastating impact on our community. The divide between the rich and poor has increased. Hundreds of thousands of our young people have been victimized by Bloomberg’s unconstitutional tactic of stop-and-frisk. The public schools are an abysmal failure. And gentrification has driven too many residents and businesses out of our community. It’s time for a change,” Kinard says.

“We need real, activist leadership, something that has been missing these past eight years with Mealy. We need someone who is not afraid to raise their voice and make noise to defend our community,” he says. “We need a representative who will walk the streets day and night, who is not afraid to listen to our young people or to confront the powerful.”

“The recent murder of one-year-old Antiq Hennis has caused us all to stop and reflect about the rampant violence in our community. We cannot afford to have our babies killed by gun violence, nor can we afford to have our young people terrorized by violence from the police or their peers,” says Kinard who has spent his career working with young people, both at Boys and Girls High School and in the Brownsville community, where he was born and raised. “I  grew up on the streets of Brownsville, and understand the anger and pain of so many young brothers and sisters. I have made working with these young people to expand their possibilities and opportunities my life’s work. If elected, I commit to listening to the community, articulating those needs in the City Council, bringing resources to the 41st Council District and empowering young people to become successful activists in their communities. This will stop the violence.”

“Fifty years after the 1963 March on Washington, the most important march we can make right now is to the polls on September 10,” says Kinard. “Vote to reclaim the activist legacy of Ocean Hill – Brownsville in the spirit of Jitu Weusi. Vote to stop the violence so that no more of our children – neither Trayvon Martin or Antiq Hennis –

will needlessly die. Use your ballot to stop the bullets.” The polls are open from 6AM to 9PM. For information on finding your polling place, go to www.vote.nyc.ny.us/  or call 866 VOTE-NYC or 311.  If you would like to get involved in the campaign, contact www.electstankinard.com or call 347 451-0802