John Sampson’s View from the Senate

It has been one year since State Senator John Sampson became Conference Leader through a negotiated settlement from last summer’s attempted coup. Representing the 19th Senatorial District for 13 years, Sampson has been a pivotal agent during the transition from Republican to Democratic control. Under his leadership, the Senate has instituted long-awaited reforms and recently finalized settlement of a $136 billion budget.
Sampson has seen the days when “special interests were put ahead of the people’s interest ” under the Republican majority. During the 44 years of Republican control, “They taxed, borrowed and eliminated job growth throughout the state of New York,” Sampson said. “This was during prosperous times.” The disparity and lack of equity was stark: “In the last 10 years, the Republicans received about one billion dollars in capital. We received absolutely nothing. This impacts capitol construction, capital movement, but most important, bricks and mortars, more in their districts than in our communities. Capital dollars make jobs,” he said.
Under Sampson’s leadership, the Senate crafted ethics reform legislation. “What is mind-boggling is that all of a sudden Republicans have become (new reform) advocates,” Senator Sampson said.  “But when they were in control, they did not want to push ethics reform at all. All of a sudden they got an epiphany when they are in the minority, now they have to push for ethics reform because of what happened to Joe Bruno.” He asked, “How can you credit a group of individuals who suppressed anything to do with ethics reform while they were in control of the chamber for the last 44 years?”
The Senate pushed one of the strongest ethics bills in years through the NYS Senate, which passed. The governor vetoed. “When we had the opportunity to override it, Senate Democrats voted in favor. We needed 10 Republicans. Not one Republican voted in favor of overriding the governor’s veto dealing with ethics reform,” said Sampson. He admits it was a first step towards ethics reform. Looking at the political landscape, Sampson sees pockets of cynicism.  “All of a sudden when former mayor Ed Koch is advocating changing the rules and promoting this whole ethics reform issue, all of a sudden Republicans sign onto a pledge.  It is one thing to sign onto a pledge, it is another thing to make sure that you support legislation that encompasses everything in that pledge. Don’t judge someone based upon rhetoric, judge someone based upon results,” he said. “If you look at the prior behavior in the past, and the most recent behavior of the Senate Republicans, it shows you they are not interested in ethics reform at all.”
Sampson said he respects former Mayor Koch “and I applaud him for what he is trying to do. We have been trying to do the same things by trying to pass one of the most strict ethics reform bills that has come out of the NYS Senate.” Referring to Koch’s NY Uprising  reform proposals, Senator Sampson said, “I would love to work with former mayor Koch, because some of the issues he is supporting I am truly in support of.”
But the state senator has reservations. “I have no problem with an independent commission, but we have to look at this,” Sampson said. If we are asking an independent commission to do redistricting, “these are unelected individuals who are bureaucrats who are going to make these decisions,” Sampson explained. “One of the reasons we are elected by the people is to make such decisions. The question is are we violating our accountability to the voters? They put us in the position to make those decisions.”
Sampson knows he “can be fair and accountable when it comes to [district] dividing lines. But my issue is, the Republicans who signed onto [the NY Uprising pledge], they had an opportunity for the last 44 years – four decades – to do reapportionment. They could have been equitable in the way they have drawn lines. But they tend to gerrymander in order for them to stay in power. But all of a sudden, everybody gets an epiphany that now we have to change the rules. Because the Democrats are in control. I think we can be fair, we can be objective, but most of all, we will be accountable to the people of the state of NY to draw lines in accordance to the people to be represented.”
“Tremendous” is how Senator Sampson characterizes the impact of changing how prison inmates are counted. “Now they can no longer use those individuals with respect to reapportionment. They have to allocate those bodies to the districts where they came from,” he said.
According to the senator, upstate regions are not being ignored with the change. “The Senate Democrats are about equity and creating job development and opportunities,” a sharp departure from when the Republicans were in control, and there was a mass exodus from upstate NY of business interests. “They don’t want to talk about those things,” Sampson said. “We are bringing business to upstate NY. We brought in automotive manufacturing. We are assisting chocolate manufacturing in Senator Aubertine’s district in upstate NY.” Sampson’s firm declaration: “We are bringing business to the state of NY. We are locating them upstate so they do not have to rely on a prison to create economic development. Real manufacturing jobs to create development. Making sure we have those capital dollars to invest in infrastructure – roads and bridges – to create economic development. That’s what our conference is all about. We want to give the people of upstate a viable opportunity to earn.”
Demonstrating his commitment to the whole state, Sampson offered committee chairmanships to three senators; two out of the three accepted. “The Republicans, in their 44 years, only did that once to a Senate Democrat,” he said. “In our first year in the majority, we felt it was imperative to extend our hands to our colleagues on the other side of the a isle and offer them chairmanships. This is not about partisanship anymore. In this economic climate, we have to work in a bipartisan atmosphere.”
On Tuesday, President Obama signed a $26 billion jobs bill. Senator Sampson will be back in Albany next week to oversee allocation of New York State’s share.

NYCHA Tenants Displaced after Contractor Missteps

The summer of 2010 has been marked by a series of weeklong heat waves. After one recent heat waves when temperatures rose above 100 degrees for consecutive days, a rainstorm was welcome relief.
There was no relief for 6th—floor tenants living at 611 Blake Ave., also known as Unity Plaza, Building #26.
 On Tuesday, July 13, the tenant residing in  apartment 6K came home from work to find her apartment damaged by the rainstorm. Why? NYCHA had engaged the
services of a contractor who had been working to repair the roof since September 2009.
According to the tenant, the contractor started drilling on the roof in December. “I don’t know what they did, but yesterday it rained in my apartment. There is water damage everywhere,” she said.
 A visitor to the building was greeted by an acrid, moldy smell. Once on the 6th floor, emergency lighting dimly lit the hallways. There was no electricity in apartments. Tenants, visitors and NYCHA personnel had to navigate an obstacle course of buckets and bowls of dark yellow water, which dripped on everyone, even though it was no longer raining. There were puddles on the floors in the hallways and in the apartments. A brief tour of the roof revealed buckled—roof membranes and workers pumping water.
 The apartment 6K tenant gave a tour of her apartment the day after that rain. A large bowl in her sink was full of water waste. Her ceiling was still dripping. “It ruined everything,” she said. “All my food, stuff in my cabinets, my furniture, my TVs. Look. It’s still leaking.” Asked if she was at home when the leaking began, she said, “No, I was at work at the time. I came home to this disaster.”
 Council member Charles Barron and his wife, Assembly member Inez Barron, were onsite the entire day after the rain to assist tenants. Council member Barron said, “NYCHA hired an incompetent contractor who was supposed to lay a layer to prepare for the roof. They have been working on that since September. The rains came. He did not lay it well enough to make sure it protected the apartments from rain. It was raining in every apartment. Indoor rain. Worse yet, NYCHA leaves them. The electricity was still on.  There could have been an electrical fire because of the water. They didn’t call the fire department. I had to call the fire dept. to turn off the electricity. They didn’t relocate anybody. They left them in this crap, this dangerous, uninhabitable situation.  They left them all night. Some people had to pay out of their own pockets to stay in a hotel. Others made calls and stayed with their people. NYCHA just came today to assess the situation. Assess what? The fire department recommended the electricity be shut off until they dry everything and make sure the wires are dry.”
 Charles Barron said NYCHA should “Get the people out. Replace their property. Make sure they fire this contractor and get someone who can do this roof properly. You have flooded apartments. The electricity is turned off.
“Molding. A lot of children here have asthma. You abandon them, make them stay in this situation overnight. This is outrageous.”
In apartment 6B, water damage led to the ceiling peeling. Water came through the
ceiling fixtures. There were buckets to collect water in throughout apartment 6C. “Water came down on my bed,” said the tenant.
“I was sleeping, and it woke me up. I moved the bed, but the water was pouring out.” Her ceiling also had peeling. Water damaged her sofa and electronic equipment, including a 40—inch television.
Another tenant said, “You don’t know how it feels to be in a situation with no type  of assistance.”
 NYCHA eventually did evacuate tenants on the 6th floor, while the contractor is working on the roof and repairing apartments. 
 The issue now is damages. Council member Barron said tenants were instructed to meet directly with the contractor to negotiate losses. There are allegations the contractor is arbitrarily setting low estimates to replace damaged household items, including food, mattresses, electronic equipment and living room sofas. Barron feels NYCHA should have been present during meetings between the contractor and tenants. While some tenants settled, other tenants are upset because of what they are being offered, and complain that the contractor is not fairly assessing tenant claims.

Battle for the 10th Congressional District Heats Up

He did not do it in 2006 when Charles Barron and Roger Green bid for his seat. He did not do it in 2008 when Kevin Powell commenced his first run for Congress. This year, Congressman Ed Towns is challenging the petitions of his opposition – Kevin Powell.

Powell sees this tactic as a sign of desperation in Towns’ camp. “Mr. Towns is fighting behind a lawsuit,” said Powell. “It is obvious he and his campaign are afraid of waging a real campaign.”

A source close to Powell’s campaign said Towns’ challenge to his petitions is 15 pages of general objections. Towns’ lawsuit is against Powell and the Board of Elections, as if the allegations of signature fraud also extend within the board itself. Though Powell was served at his address within the district, the lawsuit alleges he does not live within the 10th congressional district.

On Monday, both sides met to do battle in Brooklyn’s Supreme Court. Bernard Alter, Towns’ attorney, admitted in court that he found 2600 signatures; Powell needs 1,250 signatures to gain ballot status. He asked for a line-by-line review, and said pending the results, they will be more prepared to allege specific fraud. Powell’s attorney asked the judge to dismiss the case due to “inaccuracy, falsehoods and lack of specificity.” The judge said it was “too early” for that, and directed both sides to conduct a line-by-line review of Powell’s petitions. Both sides will return to court on August 9. At that time, the judge will determine if a trial is warranted.

The entire presentation took less than 10 minutes. Outside the courtroom, Aaron Golembiewski, Policy Director and Co-counsel for the Powell campaign, had stacks of petitions in both hands. Holding up his left hand, he said, “These are 1,300 signatures that we have, by their own count. We only need 1,250.” Holding up his right hand, Golembiewski said, “These are extras.”

The battle is being waged in newspapers and online.

The Daily News online bog, Daily Politics, reported this from Towns’ spokesperson Hank Sheinkopf, “There were so many serious problems with his petitions that our campaign believed we needed to protect the voters from being victims of this possible fraud. If indeed Mr. Powell followed the law, then he has nothing to worry about and will be free to lose again.”

On Observer.com, Towns himself weighed in. “It’s a lot of fraud,” Towns said. “I tell you I’ve been in this business now 40 years. These are the worst petitions I’ve ever seen in my 40 years of being involved in electoral politics. It’s ridiculous. And I generally don’t challenge people. This is a fraud on the people of the district to allow him to just get on the ballot with this stuff.”

The HuffingtonPost.com has published several articles written by Powell asking why Towns is challenging him.

Powell “finds it very sad and contradictory that Congressman Edolphus “Ed” Towns, a 27-year Democratic incumbent here in Brooklyn, New York’s 10th Congressional District, is suing me. Like him, I am a lifelong Democrat. Like him, I was born in another state but came to Brooklyn at a relatively young age and served my community in a variety of capacities before seeking public office. And like Mr. Towns, now age 76, and someone who lived through the Civil Rights Movement, I am African—American.”

Referring to the history of African—American voter disenfranchisement, Powell said, “The entire spectacle of Mr. Towns suing a fellow Democrat to prevent me from being on the Democratic primary ballot on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 is sad and contradictory. Sad because it says that Mr. Towns and his team are now so nervous about my congressional campaign that they are resorting to the same kind of legal maneuvers that once prevented Blacks like him from voting in America.”

Some say having petitions challenged is the “cost of doing business” in Brooklyn electoral politics. Incumbents challenge selectively. And so has Towns. In 2006, Towns did not challenge Barron’s or Green’s petitions. Common knowledge is multiple challengers split the vote, canceling each other out. (In 2006, Charles Barron received 15,345 votes; Roger Green got 6,237 votes; and Ed Towns emerged the winner with 19,469 votes. Presumably, Towns did not challenge Powell in 2008 because it was his first campaign. (In 2008, Kevin Powell received 11,558 votes on his first try; Towns retained his seat with 24,405.)

During the intervening years, Powell has gained momentum, which might be why the Towns campaign has decided to challenge his petitions.

“They are attempting to have the legal system, instead of the people, decide who the next Congressperson is going to be,” Kevin Powell said. “That is not democracy.”

Kevin Powell: Ascent of a Political Activist

Two years ago, when community activist and writer Kevin Powell campaigned for the 10th Congressional seat currently held by Ed Towns, he knew he would have to run again. “We always knew it would be at least a two campaign race,” said Powell. “When you are challenging an entrenched incumbent, it often takes two races.”
A lot has happened since then.
Powell has continued his monthly male development meetings, a grassroots attempt to nudge males to do what he has done: “re-think everything I know about manhood.” He was asked to assist several vacationing families in a sustained effort for justice in the Antigua and Barbuda. He wrote his 10th book, Open Letters to America. He testified before the United Nations regarding gender violence. And, as further evidence of his maturation, there have been no salacious headlines.
So far this year, Powell’s campaign has raised more money, from more people, than during his entire 2008 campaign. Most donations are small, coming from 40 states across the nation. More Brooklyn people have donated. Big names, such as Marlon Wayans, have contributed big bucks. Powell’s new campaign manager, communications and field directors are operating “scientifically,” down to the smallest election district. The one thing Powell was proudest of in his 2008 campaign, has carried over to this year: no behind the scenes drama.
Kevin Powell is happy, and looks content. Campaigning is an opportunity to do what he does – serve others. His 18 hour days start at 5:30 am with Facebook and Twitter posts. From Boerum Hill to Canarsie, East Williamsburg to East New York, Powell hits the streets, delivering constituent services, such as GED, housing, or criminal justice referrals. “We spend as much time as necessary talking to each voter,” Powell said. “We want to demonstrate while we are campaigning the kind of services we will provide, once we got into Congress.”
Spending a few minutes on www.KevinPowell.net, one can find a listing of all the diverse neighborhoods in the district, ethnic, gender, and income data. There is even a history of Brooklyn. “We want to make this an educational process,” he said. Most important for Powell, the complete Campaign Platform can be found on the site, everything from health care, criminal justice, seniors, and net neutrality to violence prevention, immigration, education, and worker rights.
“Bridge to the Future” is Kevin Powell’s campaign theme. At 44-years-old, Powell stands firmly in the post-Civil Rights generation. In 1984, he was introduced to politics through the Jesse Jackson Presidential campaign and the anti-apartheid movement. “During the last 26 years, there has been a perpetual generation divide in the Black community. You see it in electoral politics grassroots activism,. You see it in the literary/ journalism world. You see it in the artistic community, in the business world, You see it in church. You see it in our Civil Rights organizations.” said Powell. “I am no longer a person who points fingers at the Civil Rights generation. I do see a resistance to supporting young people.”
Powell explained, “But, I think that younger people – myself and folks in the generation behind me – have got to do what many of us have been doing. Do your own thing. Don’t wait for someone to pass you a baton. There is never going to be a baton passed. For me, I started writing professionally when I was 20. People I organized with – Ras Baraka, Sista Soulja – we were in our early 20’s. We didn’t wait for permission to organize around Howard Beach or Bensonhurst back then. We just did it. We could lament on the generational divide. Or, do what I recommend: identify people in the various generations who are progressive and want practical solutions for our communities, and work together.”
While campaigning on the streets, Powell said, “I barely hear anyone talk about Civil Rights issues. What people say they need are jobs, affordable housing, quality education, recreational/ community centers for young people, safe streets for seniors, foreclosure. It’s really basic. How do we deal with stop-and-frisk? In one housing project in ENY, just the other day, several tenants who didn’t know each other said the same thing to us: the police in this area are constantly stopping our young men, throwing them on the ground and frisking them. Checking their shoes, their socks, their underwear. A man in his 50’s, a grown man, a grandfather said the police did that to him. People are talking about quality of life issues.”
This is a new day, we need new terms. Civil rights is a term that belongs in the 20th century. We are in the 21st century. We need a new terminology, and it is definitely coming.
We have got to develop our communities in six basic ways: spiritually, politically, culturally, economically, and two areas we don’t talk about – physical health and mental wellness. It is about holistic development of our communities.
We got the Civil Rights bill and the Voting Rights Act. On a basic level, we have citizenship. The thing we missed, that Dr. King talked about at the end of his life, is economic justice.
It is not enough to have back elected officials if they are not doing their jobs. I am not voting for someone anymore just because they are Black. That is unacceptable. This is what I am hearing throughout the community, from young and older people. Jewish folks in Boerum Hill said this to me. Black and Latino people in East New York said this to me. It is unacceptable to have elected officials who we do not see on a regular basis, or their representatives, who are not accessible, who we feel don’t have the volume loud enough on issues of importance to us.
In response to a question about the replication of poverty every 15 years by young girls being impregnated and abandoned by adults, Powell said “The worst gap that exists in Black America since the 1969’s is the class gap.” He recalled his young mother, with a grade school education and his father who was in his 30’s when he got her pregnant. “He didn’t even show up at the hospital when I was born. There is no record of my father being anywhere around. Powell is my mother’s last name. Here I am, left to be raised on welfare, food stamps, government cheese, in tenement dwellings where it was normal to have not mice, but rats running everywhere. It was normal to have roaches everywhere, even inside the refrigerator, which was often broken so you couldn’t close it all the way. A lot of people don’t understand that kind of life, and what it does to you.”
Powell has been there. With gratitude, he said, “But for the grace of God and my mother’s vision for her child, which is me, and not accepting this is what we are destined to – a life of misery and doom. Unfortunately, what happens to a lot of us, particularly if we have low self-esteem, is we get stuck there.” Powell described an all too common situation in Black and brown communities, “If you are a young woman of color in a world where you are dealing with racism, and sexism, and classism, if you are 14-years-old, you have already been told you are nothing, and the only thing that is valuable about you is from your neck down. Then some man or older boy comes along. Next thing you know you are pregnant, or have an STD or one of the 92% of new cases NYC of Black and Latino women carrying the HIV virus. That is what happens. It becomes what Malcolm X called a vicious cycle not only in Brooklyn, but in Harlem, Oakland, New Orleans, Houston, all over the country. I travel to the Caribbean. It’s in Jamaica.”
According to Powell, “Unfortunately, we in this country confused Civil Rights and integration with progress for the entire community. That wasn’t the case. I don’t blame the young women or the young men. Many don’t know any better. They are carrying profound self hatred; when you hate yourself as a Black person, you will not only destroy yourself, you move to destroy other people who look like you.”
“The solution is simple, but complex,” Powell said. “We need more men like Kevin Powell, like Quentin Walcott, and Byron Hurt, to speak out loudly against all forms of sexism.” Powell said he used to be one of those men; only because of God and counseling, he has evolved.
Of all the issues Powell would like to address if and when he is elected to Congress, economic development is paramount. He said he went to Head Start pre-school. There was a free breakfast and lunch program at school, went to an after school program at the Y. His first summer job was a CETA job. During college, he got help from EOP. His mother got help with housing through voucher programs, like Section 8. “Those were all created by the government to give people a hand – not because we were lazy, shiftless, or intellectually inferior,” said Powell, “but because we were poor.”
Kevin Powell said quality of life issues require “a 21st century approach. The issues are what people say they need – jobs and job training.” If elected, Powell would like to serve on education, health, and economic development committees. He suggests small business incubators. “Most of the U.S. population is under 45 and technologically savvy. We al have a hand held device and email. We have to create some jobs and business opportunities that are about technology and the green economy, Powell said. “I look at all these abandoned buildings, including factories, here in the 10th congressional district. Imagine if some of those were turned into technology help centers. Those are low skill jobs that could be for people in this country, right here in Brooklyn. That is the type of issue I will be fighting for.”

Halftime Instructions for the Freedom Party

By Alton Maddox
The Freedom Party has to collect 15,000 valid signatures for the gubernatorial candidacy of Councilman Charles Barron with at least 100 “valid” signatures in 15 congressional districts.  The signatures of the Freedom Party are expected to be challenged by another political party because unbridled, political power in the hands of Blacks is not only novel but also threatening to white supremacy.
 Nine of these 15 congressional districts, with the highest percentage of Black residents, on whole or in part, are situated in New York City.  Two are located in Long Island.  Two others are located in the mid-Hudson Valley and another is located in Albany and Schenectady.
The final congressional district is the 28th Congressional District, which is situated mainly in Buffalo and Rochester.  Only four congressional districts in New York have more Blacks than the 28th. Within three days, it had collected the minimum number of signatures.
There are six additional congressional districts that the Freedom Party have targeted for at least 100 “valid” signatures.  Four of these congressional districts are situated in New York City.  These are the 5th, 8th, 9th and 14th Congressional Districts.  They are respectively represented by Gary Ackerman, Jerrold Nadler, Anthony Weiner and Carolyn Maloney.
All petition carriers will have dropped off their petitions by Tuesday, July 27 at designated drop-off centers.  This will allow the Freedom Party to approximate its mid-term achievements so far.  It will also allow the campaign to clean up the petitions on a normal schedule instead of cleaning up already-collected signatures in the eleventh hour.
I expect that the second half will be far more productive than the first half which also required organizing the statewide, political campaign.
Councilman Barron accepted the political challenge in June.  The campaign for signatures started on July 7.
It also takes some time to recruit and train volunteers who must understand that organization is a bottom-to-top approach.  The volunteers must carry the candidates and not the reverse.  This is also how a bee colony works. This ensures continuity and longevity.
All supporters must be focused and instep for the final stretch.   Personal assignments for the final stretch must be identified and executed.  This is especially true for houses of worship, commercial districts, social events and underreported congressional districts.  For more information, call UAM at 718-834-9034.
Weekly Meetings at the Elks Plaza, 1068 Harriet Tubman (Fulton Street) nr. Classon Ave. in Brooklyn at 7:30 p.m. Take the “C” train to Franklin Ave.

For the Sake of Truth and Clarity NuLeadership Responds to President Pollard’s Message

Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York (CUNY) was named after a slain civil rights hero and Black leader who spent his life fighting for the rights of all people  to be included in the economic, social, political and educational mainstream of American society without bias or prejudice.  The college that bears his name was founded to provide higher educational opportunities to the underserved urban populations of Central Brooklyn and beyond.  Since its inception, Medgar Evers College (MEC) has been true to that mission.  One of the ways it fulfills its mission is in the creation of centers within the college, which concentrate on specific population groups or academic disciplines: for example: the Center for Women’s Development or the Center for Black Literature. 
One of the centers at MEC, the six-year-old Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions, has been singled out for attack, severe criticism and special treatment.  Ironically, and perhaps coincidentally, this center focuses on the population of students who have been formerly incarcerated but are now seeking to turn their lives around through the acquisition of a college education.  For the past several weeks, there has been a continuing controversy between the Center for NuLeadership and the college’s newly appointed senior management staff, led by President William L. Pollard, Vice President Lloyd Blanchard and Provost Howard L. Johnson, over the legitimacy of the Center for NuLeadership and its funding.  President Pollard referenced these issues in the July 8th issue of Our Time Press. It is imperative that we clarify and provide background information on these issues.
In “Summer News from Medgar Evers College,” Dr. Pollard writes about a funding grant proposal submitted by the Center for NuLeadership in January and the fact that “Provost Johnson received the [funding] proposal in May 2010 and raised in writing a series of questions reflecting the college’s legitimate concerns.”  To be clear, there was no grant proposal submitted in January.  The Center for NuLeadership was solicited by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services to begin a series of negotiations on a Court 2 College grant that would provide formerly incarcerated people with an opportunity to attend college. The proposal to which President Pollard is referring, is a draft proposal and the Center for NuLeadership attempted to meet with the president for several months to discuss the proposal.  Furthermore, the Center for NuLeadership was provided with the provost’s questions related to the proposal on the same day that President Pollard sent a message re: nonresponse to questions on the proposal to the college community. 
The college’s senior management team has used the request for authorization of the proposal as a basis for questioning the legitimacy and status of the Center for NuLeadership. The funding proposal has nothing to do with our application to be approved as a center.  By mixing the two, the president has given the impression that the Center for NuLeadership is unwilling to cooperate with the provost.  Nothing is further from the truth. 
In April 2009, at the request of MEC’s former president, Dr. Edison O. Jackson, the Center for NuLeadership – with the assistance of the college’s legal counsel – submitted a formal written proposal to be recognized as a center within the college.  The proposal was presented to the Medgar Evers College Council, the highest governing body within the college, and approved by a unanimous vote.  The College Council instructed the former Provost to forward the proposal, with their recommendation for approval, to the CUNY Office of Academic Affairs, for final ratification by the CUNY Board of Trustees.  This was never done.  Provost Johnson, with the approval of senior management, has still refused to forward the approved proposal.  Instead, he has drafted a series of questions and demanded that the Center for NuLeadership answer them before he forwards the proposal. 
Simply put, the provost has decided to supersede the authority of the College Council and CUNY Central by disregarding the established CUNY guidelines for the establishment of centers and creating his own prerequisites for approval.  The Center for NuLeadership has no objection to answering the provost’s questions, and will.  However, it firmly maintains that the proposal should not be subjected to any additional prerequisites or requirements not asked of other centers, nor should its application be held hostage pending answers to these additional requirements.  The College Council, not the provost, is the governing body of the college.  It has already voted approval of the proposal.  The provost cannot now impose further requirements and ignore the College Council’s mandate.
For over six years, the Center for NuLeadership has operated at Medgar Evers College with absolutely no problems.  We were assigned an account with the Research Foundation of the City University of New York (RF), in the name of the Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions, for purposes of funding, payroll and other expenses.  We have received extensive funding opportunities for the college and have always been self-sufficient in covering the costs of our staff, operations and programs. There has never been any question or issue with any of our grant proposals.   We have always followed CUNY rules and regulations to the letter and have always complied with any and all of the “legitimate concerns” of the college to secure approval for these funds.
While the controversy focuses on the Center for NuLeadership, its outcome has broad implications for all of the Centers in the college and for the relationship between the College and the Central Brooklyn community.  The centers were established to serve both the College and Central Brooklyn Community.  When the college interferes with the governance and programmatic issues of the centers, this negatively impacts the community.  Will the new managers of the college adhere to and respect the rules governing the college or will they continue to attempt to create their own rules, or change the college’s rules when those rules do not suit their purposes? 
Based upon our six-year history at Medgar Evers, there are no reasons why the Center for NuLeadership’s proposal should not be sent to the CUNY Office of Academic Affairs immediately.  There are no prerequisites involved. Sending our proposal to CUNY does not require approval of anyone at the college beyond the approvals already secured.  Finally, there are no reasons why the president and the provost should not welcome the work that the Center for NuLeadership is doing as opposed to trying to curtail it.
Dr. Divine Pryor, Executive Director
Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions
 Mr. Eddie Ellis, Deputy Director
Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions

A Blueprint for the Freedom Party

By Alton H. Maddox, Jr.
While a political party may be established at any time, a political party with ballot status in New York can only occur during a gubernatorial election which, in New York, is every four years. A general election for governor of New York will occur on November 2, 2010. To achieve ballot status, the political party must collect 50,000 votes.
If a political party fails to collect 50,000 votes in a gubernatorial election, it will lose ballot status for the next four years. This means that its statewide candidate for governor must gather 15,000 valid signatures once again. The Working Families Party, for example, lost its ballot status four years ago.
The Freedom Party intends for its petitioning in 2010 to be “one and done”. Once it acquires ballot status, it may nominate its gubernatorial candidate. An example is the nomination of Andrew Cuomo for governor in 2010. By petitioning, however, the person carrying the petition of Charles Barron gets the opportunity to engage the voters during the petition drive.
It is very important to distinguish a designating petition from an independent nominating petition. A designating petition is associated with a primary. On the other hand, an independent nominating petition is associated with a general election.
Any registered voter can vote in a general election and any registered voter can sign any independent designating petition. The names of the statewide slate of the Freedom Party will appear on the ballot in November and not on the ballot in September. The general election happens in November. In New York, only an enrolled member of a political party can vote in its primary.
Before Smith v. Allwright (1944), Blacks were usually barred from voting in primaries. They were referred to as “white primaries”. In this country, there have always been barriers to voting. Universal suffrage is not respected. Thurgood Marshall hailed Smith v. Allwright as his greatest legal victory.
Marshall elevated politics over education. Brown v. Board of Education would be decided in 1954. The sine qua non of politics is the selection and not the election of candidates. The South operated under a one-party system; namely, states’ rights. This was the overt agenda of the Democratic Party before 1968.

Terrorism was the instrument employed before the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to enforce “white primaries.” Co-optation is the tool employed today. Leading Blacks are paid-off not to resist white supremacy. This enables white supremacists to hand-pick “our” Black elected officials. Thus, Black voters endorse their own oppression.
Neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party was established to abolish slavery. The “founding fathers” of the Democratic Party include Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. They were white supremacists. Jefferson penned “Notes on Virginia”. Jackson nominated Roger Taney to head the U.S. Supreme Court. Taney wrote the Dred Scott decision. White Democrats still honor them.
The disenfranchisement of Black and Latino felons must be a concern of the Freedom Party. Our voting ranks are being depleted. In New York, half of the parolees and probationers are Black and a third are Latino. Only Maine, Vermont, Utah and Massachusetts lack a criminal disenfranchisement statute of “one type or another”.
Felony convictions are wreaking havoc in New York. Although the Rockefeller drug law has been softened, New York still refuses to enact “second chance” legislation for ex-felons. Decent employment opportunities still continue to escape them. The lack of “second chance” legislation boosts recidivism.
The three-fifths provision of the U.S. Constitution still apply to Black felons without equivocation. It was sanctioned by the Thirteenth Amendment. Thus, Black and Latino felons are counted in their places of incarceration and not their actual places of residence. They are incarcerated in areas that are hostile to Blacks and Latinos.
Political leverage will be important for the Freedom Party and it will start on August 11. This should be our initial shock in New York politics. It will start with our submission of at least 100,000 signatures to the Board of Elections. This would be more that six times the statutory minimum of 15,000 valid signatures.
In 1994, the Freedom Party was a novice in politics. Yet, the party was able to collect more than 53,000 signatures without the organization nor personnel that exists today. Today, the Freedom Party should be able to easily double its efforts of 1994 although our access to the Black media is more accessible than it was in 1994.
In 2009, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican, could not leave home without the Independence Party. In 2010, Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, has said that he is unable to leave home without the Independence Party. When Councilman Barron secures 500,000 votes, no Democrat nor Republican candidate for statewide office will be able to leave home without the Freedom Party.

Asthma Self-Help for African-Americans

Asthma in the African-American child may be caused by things other than what is commonly suggested.  In many African-American homes sometimes we do things that others might not be doing, such as burning incense.  Incense has a flux that comes off like any burning weed or leaf and that might be causing a child to have asthma.  So I would advise anybody that has asthmatic children, not to burn any of those types of things in their homes.  The roach is a big problem because the exoskeleton comes off and disintegrates into a protein dust which is highly allergenic.  Mite dust is another problem.   In your mattress, there are mites that eat the dead skin that flakes off your body.  These mites defecate and their waste is called mite dust.  Every time you roll over in a mattress, that dust comes up.  So people should really spend more money replacing mattresses than on doctor visits and medicines. 
Also, the residual remains of roach bombs does not easily dissipate, particularly in the winter when everything is closed up to keep the heat in.  Everything else stays as well.   If you also use a gas stove to heat a house, you get a lot of non-combustibles coming in, carbon dioxide, things like that, and you run the danger of creating a negative pressure in the house.  This negative pressure can draw gases back down a flue, gases that should be released to the outside.  This is how many people get carbon monoxide poisoning.   This is very common, and yet it gets treated as though it were the flu or some kinds of upset stomach, or headache you think is do to a cold. 
When you bring your clothing home from the dry cleaner, air it out well before you bring it into your closet.  Because perchloroethylene is a very toxic chemical.  
In African-American homes, we use a lot of disinfectants, pine and different kinds of detergents and cleaners.  Any of these aerosol products that have aromas, floral scents, should not be used in the home around children.  There are many chemicals in the spray system of the can.
Of course, there should be no smoking in a house with children.  No smoking at all.   A baby=s lungs are very sensitive and susceptible to damage from cigarette smoke.  There is not one thing in the diet that can=t cause asthma.  You can have asthma from eating one type of food.  I had a patient who went to see her daughter at college, and she went into a little restaurant and had some chili, without knowing they had used peanuts in the preparation.   She ate it and died from an asthmatic attack. 
One of the biggest things found now in many foods is sulfite.  We have something in our bodies called sulfite oxidase which can oxidize the sulfite when it comes into our bodies.  But that enzyme system is limited in the amount of work it can do.  When it gets overloaded the system shuts down and you end up with a lot of sulfites moving through your body causing difficulty.  Researchers have found that you can protect the sulfite oxidase by using vitamin B-12.  If you look in any allergy journal sulfites is high on the list.  In fact, they have outlawed sulfites on store lunch counters, where they were used to keep the vegetables looking fresh.  Sulfites are used mostly for cosmetic purposes.  They keep tuna fish white, and the fruint in fruitcake  red, orange, pink or yellow.  Dried fruits have to be sulfited to keep their color.  White raisins are kept white by sulfites. 
A big problem that children have is with the sulfites in the quarter-water drinks.  If you go into the average Bodega and you=ll find a wide variety of these drinks, and many with sulfites.  These sulfites can build up in the body and constrict the small bronchi leading into air sacs of the lungs, triggering an asthmatic attack.   These drinks also cause hyperactivity in children because of the intense fructose that=s in it.  It intoxicates the brain.  Then there are also dyes they have put in these things to hold the color.  So the result is a variety of chemicals going into your body that the body was never designed to handle and can=t even recognize.  Give your children juices instead of the colored water drinks.  Read the labels carefully.  If this was done, it would reduce asthma as much as one-quarter. 
These drugs that are used to treat asthma are horrible.   They make children nervous, and upset, and prevent them from functioning well in school.   The pharmaceutical companies do produce some lifesaving products, but they are also profit-making enterprises, manufacturing products which they recommend be used daily.  These companies are not necessarily the best source of information on how  to prevent asthma in a more natural and safe way.   Examine everything you take into your body and remove those things that have asthma-causing properties.   Be aware of your environment and of the air quality around you.  An air purifier can have a very beneficial effect for asthmatics.    and don=t forget, consult with your allergist or doctor before changing or discontinuing any medication.

Dr. William Pollard: At it Again

Do you Know Dr. William Pollard?

Dr. William Pollard is the newly appointed President of Medgar Evers College. His actions have been brought to our attention several times during the past year and I think the community needs to contemplate his dismissal.
It was brought to our attention in February that Pollard secretly moved the MEC student graduation to BAM and away from the campus and our community. The students staged a one-day protest and suddenly Dr. Pollard had a change of heart. Recently, Dr. Pollard cancelled a million dollar program to bring young Black male ex-offenders to Medgar Evers College and expressed his dislike for the cliental and personnel.
At the recent graduation (June 5th, 2010) he limited the remarks of all local elected officials to two minutes. What an Insult! Dr. Pollard must not realize that this college came into existence as a result of community protest. The community (elected officials as a part) had fought for this college and we would not let any outsider change the direction of Medgar Evers College.
The final insult of Dr. Pollard was the cancellation of the annual Jazzy Jazz Festival, a 14-year old institution started by the Late Dr. Mary Umolu. This program brought music to our community every Friday night during the long hot summer.
But because of constant community pressure, the MEC Administration has relented and the Jazzy Jazz Festival will begin its 14th year on Friday, July 16th, 2010. Let’s have a great community turnout and we will keep you updated on our negotiations with MEC Administrators including its infamous President Dr. William Pollard.
By Jitu Weusi

Estate Prompts Investigations of Brooklyn Supreme Court Guardianship Program and the Real Lowdown on the Slave Theater

Questions about the future of the Slave Theater have been raised to a higher level with the current photo exhibit at Five Myles Gallery.  The theater is a part of what’s left of the estate of Judge John L. Phillips after passing through the hands of four court-appointed guardians.
We spoke with Reverend Samuel Boykin, the court-appointed administrator of the Phillips estate and a nephew the eldest of Judge Phillips on the status of the estate.
He is the only member of the family the court has given permission to make financial decisions regarding the estate.   However, Synphonie Moss, a cousin, was able to make personal decisions a regarding the person of Judge Phillips.  But had overruled Moss and Boykin in placing Phillips in the Castle Senior Living at Prospect Park residence, rather than allowing him to stay at home.  Boykin is now suing the residence for wrongful death negligent health care.
As we go to press, Reverenc Boykin told us that he spoke with  the state comptroller’s office on Tuesday, and they said  they are actively considering doing an audit of the Brooklyn Supreme Court Guardianship program.   Boykin has charged that the illegal handling of the estates of elderly people, the misappropriation of funds and in some cases embezzlement and mortgage fraud should be a part of that probe in the handling of the Phillips estate.
He also told us that he has spoken with a representative of the NYS Unified Court System Office of Administration who said they were investigating some of the activities of the court-appointed guardians in the Judge Phillips case.   DG

Boykin: “Judge John L. Phillips had 13 properties listed with the Brooklyn Supreme Court Guardianship program.  Of those 13 properties listed, there was only rent recorded being collected for two months for two properties at 563 & 565 Nostrand Avenue, no other property has paid rent in 13 years. 
OTP:  The people in the Slave Theater now, what is their status? 
Boykin:  No one has paid rent in the entire time they’ve been there and all are there in a state of trespassing.  
OTP:  But they have access.
Boykin:  That’s because they won’t leave voluntarily.  I have an eviction notice that has been going on for 5 months, and I’m waiting on the court’s decision to evict.  We’re having a hard time selling the buildings because people want a building empty.  Not with tenants who have not paid rent in ten years. 
OTP:  But what about the electric?
BOYKIN: Dr. Paul Lewis of the Messengers for Christ World Healing center on the second floor is paying the utilities.  It’s an international church.  His church has been there for eight years and he is not paying any rent.  Mr. Hardy (downstairs) uses the church’s utilities and is paying zero bills.   People assume he is the spokesman for the family because he happens to be there. 
OTP:  And the status of the Slave Theater?
Boykin:  I’ve terminated my agreement with Massey and Knakel.  I put a “For Sale” sign on both theaters, “For Sale by Owner”.  I’ve received over a hundred calls.  We’re accepting bids and those that are authentic and qualified I will turn over to the attorneys.
What’s next for the Slave and the Black Lady Theater is that they must  be sold because we owe over $2 million dollars in back taxes and liens.  No property taxes on any of the properties have been paid in ten years. 
OTP: Whose responsibility is it to have paid those taxes?
Boykin:  These past guardians sold all the property and paid no taxes and filed no taxes. 
OTP: Where did that money go?
Boykin: A lot of that money we can’t find.  It’s been a continual embezzlement against the estate of Judge John L. Phillips non-stop by court-appointed guardians, by people who were close to Judge Phillips and say they loved him, but remain in the buildings without paying rent or taxes and others. 
OTP:  When you say that past guardians have been guilty of breaking the law, specifically, which laws are you talking about? 
Boykin:  Failure to file taxes.  Estate taxes, state and city taxes.  Selling property way undervalue.  Waiving of the guardianship law.  Failure to advertise property they were selling.  Paying off illegal mortgages.  Mortgage fraud was committed against 68 Cumberland Street for  $391,500.  Instead of the court reporting these people to the District Attorney’s Office and sending them to prison, they allowed Imani Taylor to pay off the loan from Judge Phillips’ account.  I couldn’t get anyone to respond until recently.  I sent information to the Departmental Disciplinary Committee of the Supreme Court Appellate Division,  State Attorney General, NYS Commission on Judicial Conduct.  Judge Phillips’ case is not isolated.   Anyone in the guardianship program is at the mercy of court-appointed attorneys and others who collaborate in mismanaging the estates.
OTP:  And the longer it takes, the more money everybody makes.
Boykin:  That’s correct.

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