This Saturday, May 12, the hugely popular actor adds yet another multi-faceted character to his list of “long-running” cameos when he debuts the one-act play, Mr. Joy, as a New York-based Chinese shoe storeowner.

Mr. Joy runs through June 2 at The Riverside Theatre located at 91 Claremont Ave. (between 120th and 122nd Streets) in Harlem from May 12th through June 2nd.

Mr. Beaty took time from his daylong rehearsals on Riverside Drive in Manhattan to answer our questions. Then the actor whose plays Ruby Dee once said, “touch the human spirit,” was back up and running, preparing for the debut of Mr. Joy, this Saturday, May 12.
In the midst of all of this, he found time to answer the Our Time Press questions below:

OTP: In what ways does this play intend to touch the human spirit?

DB: My character (Mr. Joy) has been running a shoe store in NYC for 25 years. As he repairs people’s soles, he also repairs their souls. At the beginning of the play, we discover that something has happened to Mr. Joy that impacts the community in a deep way, and the central question of the play becomes: What has happened to this community’s joy and how do we reclaim it? Various members of the community (9 characters total) tell their personal stories through their shoes that Mr. Joy has repaired for them. This play intends to touch the human spirit by showing the power of our interconnectedness through something as fundamental as the shoes we wear. The characters I portray range from a Chinese man to a white woman from the Upper East side, to a black male Republican to a young black man who lives in Harlem.

OTP: Your plays are funny, uplifting and also have a social consciousness. What is the message that you are trying to convey with this play?

DB: My goal is always to use humor and multifaceted characters to explore social political themes. In the past, all of the characters I have portrayed have been black. This is the first time I am also including nonblack characters. There are so many urgent issues facing our society. For me the state of our young people in urban communities is in desperate need of attention. I believe it is an illusion that we as human beings are separate from one another. I deeply believe that internally we are reflections of each other no matter how different we may seem externally. When I as one man am able to successfully portray such a range of characters with true dimension, humor and heart, it underscores this idea.

OTP: Your plays seem to have a healing message for black people, for example, Run Black Man Run deals with a man who seeks a “bigger worldview” of himself and his life than the images about black men in the projects. Knock Knock is about a black boy whose father is suddenly incarcerated. Did you draw on personal experiences to delve into these topics? How do you know these people?

DB: My father was a heroin addict and dealer in and out of prison during my entire growing up period. My older brother was addicted to crack cocaine and has been incarcerated as well. As a child and young man, these were my primary models of my possibilities as a black man. As I became curious about my destiny, and what I could do to walk a different path, I understood that my father and brother’s pain was the product of unhealed wounds such as the legacy of slavery, disenfranchisement and the breakdown of the family. These wounds have deeply impacted black people in this country and our nation in general. I began to understand clearly if I was to heal, I would need to not only address these wounds for myself, but also be about the business of helping others to address their wounds—to heal.
OTP: In a recent interview, you said that you have three mantras that you say to yourself: (1) No attachments, (2) No fear and (3) I trust you, God. Please explain the reasons behind each one. (Also, with so busy a life on and off-stage, how do you practice your mantra?)

DB: My daily spiritual practice is the most important aspect of my life. Spending time with God keeps me connected to purpose and I believe purpose is the bridge past ego. By ego, I mean one’s insecurities or cockiness. I believe at the core of me and every human being is the spirit of God, the Divine that is all-powerful. My daily spiritual practice keeps me in touch with God, and this keeps me from being attached to results that often are out of my control—ultimately I cannot control how someone receives my messages. This connection gives me courage in the place of fear, and ultimately, this connection enables me to trust—to have faith.

OTP: Black writers whose works are presented on-screen —— from Lorraine Hansberry, Spike Lee, Tyler Perry and Steve Tyler — continue to break down doors for struggling writers of color. Our movies are gaining increased accessibility and popularity; the current Think Like a Man … success story is one example. How can theater keep up with the big screen with regards to building new audiences, sustaining them and, at the very least, compensating actor-writers like yourself – whose shoes are surely worn from all that walking around on and off Broadway?
DB: Theater artists must tell stories that are urgent and timely. We must challenge ourselves to be consistent in our excellence and determination. The budgets that many big budget films have enable them to market in ways theater artists simply cannot. However, I have faith that there is something so core to the way live theater can touch and inspire that if theater remains committed to telling vital, urgent stories, the audiences will come. Sometimes the journey is rocky and long, but the path I travel contains the footprints of giants who have walked before me – Lorraine Hansberry, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, James Baldwin, August Wilson, and the list goes on and on.

OTP: Just for the record, please briefly describe:
Your favorite pair of shoes?
DB: My favorite pair of shoes is a pair of black leather boots. They are extremely comfortable and have a weight that grounds me.
Who applies your makeup for the Mr. Joy role? How long it takes to apply it? And why it is not so far-fetched to transform an American of African descent into an Asian?
DB: I actually do not wear any makeup in my shows. I change my characters’ physicality, voice and emotional inner life, and magically the audience is able to see a new human being emerge right before their eyes.
How do you pick up accents and styles of speech?
DB: Observation is the artist’s greatest tool. I spend a great deal of time observing people, listening to how they speak, and often more importantly, why they speak. This sensitivity enables me to pick up accents and styles of speech easily.
In the upcoming season, Mr. Beaty’s ensemble musical Breath & Imagination – The Story of Roland Hayes will premiere as a co-production with Hartford Stage and Pittsburgh City Theater. He also has a new solo play on the life of Paul Robeson – The Tallest Tree in the Forest – directed by Moises Kaufman and slated to premiere next season. He is a proud member of New Dramatists and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University. His first children’s book based on his poem Knock Knock is slated to be released by Little Brown Books in 2013. Daniel has also written a Spoken World Ballet Far But Close that will premiere in the 2012/13 season for Dance Theater of Harlem.

For a schedule of Mr. Joy performances, please call The Riverside Theatre at 212-870-6784 or visit their website at www.theriversidetheatre.org. You can also visit Mr. Beaty’s Web site at www.danielbeaty.com.

And for a sampling of “the Daniel Beaty experience”, visit www.youtube.com to see clips of his plays. One in particular that you may enjoy is, Run Black Man Run.
(Our Time Press contributor trainee B. Sadlonova provided questions for this piece. The article is available at www.ourtimepress.com and at Facebook/ourtimepress.)

City Councilman Charles Barron

Kinard, the ex-wife of former City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Bill Thompson, is an accomplished woman in her own right as an attorney. She currently works at Medgar Evers College as the affirmative action and diversity officer.

Kinard also grew up in Flatbush and continues to live in Midwood – both in the heart of the district.
“There is absolutely no bad blood,” said Kinard, who once worked for Yvette Clarke’s mother, Una, when she was a City Councilwoman. “This is something I’m called to do. You can’t just sit back and complain. You have to be engaged and get involved. I want to help the president, move his economic agenda forward and I think we need aggressive and enlightened leadership to do that.”

While Kinard’s intentions appear honorable, almost all political pundits, including this one, feels she is facing an uphill battle. However, one source said Clarke does have some critics in the district, particularly amongst the Jewish community, who feel she is not staunch enough in her support of Israel.

One source said that City Councilman David Greenfield is among those who takes issue with Clarke’s stand on Israel. Greenfield could not be reached for comment at press time.

But Clarke spokesperson Scott Levinson called the rumor that the congresswoman is not pro-Israel enough nonsense.

“She (Clarke) has been to Israel several times and is a strong supporter of the state of Israel. To describe her as anything less than positive (towards Israel) is just not true,” said Levinson.
Jeffries works endorsements, as Barron works the streets, Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries continues to pile up endorsements in his run to succeed retiring Congressman Ed Towns for the upcoming Democratic Primary in the 8th Congressional District.

In the last week, Jeffries was endorsed by the powerful 1199 health care union, along with several clergy leaders from within the district. Of these clergy endorsements, the most surprising came from Rev. Dr. Johnny Ray Youngblood, pastor of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Youngblood, much like Jeffries opponent, City Councilman Charles Barron, is known to have a lot of street credibility, and Youngblood and Barron have sometimes worked together on issues pertaining to the unempowered community of color.

“I think they (Jeffries and Barron) are both good men,” said Youngblood. “I’ve watched Hakeem from the beginning and it just seems like he fits into the culture of Washington.”

At the clergy endorsement press conference Jeffries also continued to showcase his political shrewdness and high intelligence regarding legislative and governance matters. For example, when asked if he supported Sen. Velmanette Montgomery’s recent proposed legislation to take back mayoral control of education, Jeffries recalled he voted against reauthorizing mayoral control in Albany, but stopped short of backing Montgomery’s bill.

Instead, Jeffries said his strong inclination is to allow a second mayor to control education and see how they do before deciding if the city’s public education system should be reverted back to a more independent entity.

Barron, meanwhile, continues to pound the pavement and despite the differences in campaign finances and mainstream support, is certainly not being outworked by Jeffries.

“I just left Coney Island where I was very well-received,” said Barron. “The only endorsement that matters is on June 26 when the people come out and vote.”

On the ground in Brooklyn, where you see poverty block by block, the economic segregation that is worthy of news when it comes from overseas, is an everyday occurrence in one of the poorest neighborhoods in New York, where relatively expensive restaurants are packed and police towers and mobile units dot the streets, keeping them what is called “safe”.

A part of this repressive push is the continuous, almost tribal attacks on Comptroller John Liu and the astonishing dismissal of him as a mayoral candidate, most recently in a “poll” in the New York Daily News. The reason is clear: they, meaning the 1%ers and those they have in their thrall, have looked at his record as comptroller and know to a man, that they do not want that thinking in the Mayor’s office.

These white-haired gentlemen in their suits and ties, have felt Liu repeatedly go into their pockets, expanding minority participation here, finding money hidden away there, paying back wages and correcting contracts and saving the city hundreds of millions of dollars. That’s money and power that did not accrue to their class and those folks are not happy. They know that Liu does not share their history of accepting white supremacy and privilege, and since he’s not a member of that club, he is unreliable.

Instead this “poll” offers Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio, Former Comptroller William Thompson and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and suggests that an ideal mayoral race would be between Ray Kelly and City Council President Christine Quinn.

That’s a race from hell and the back of the hand to the black and brown communities of the city, but let them get their wish. It’ll clear the way for a new coalition to march on the ballot box. We’ve been there and done that, but please know that if we don’t win this time, there may not be another chance.

Nineteen-year-old Jake England, left, and 32-year-old Alvin Watts, right, were arrested early Sunday after a series of shootings in Tulsa, Okla. that left three dead and two critically wounded.

Two Oklahoma men, accused of a deadly shooting spree last week that apparently targeted black people at random along Tulsa’s streets, have confessed to the shootings.
Jake England, 19, confessed to shooting three people, and Alvin Watts, 32, confessed to shooting two, the AP reported.
The confession emerges as Tulsa police continue to piece together the puzzle that led to the shootings that terrorized Tulsa’s African-American community beginning last Friday until the men were arrested early Sunday morning.
The rampage left three people dead, and two more were seriously wounded. Watts is believed to have shot two of the three who died, according to police documents. The five victims were shot early Friday morning in four separate incidents during a span of less than two hours on the same side of town and not far from one another, police said.
A series of critical tips led to the arrests of both men at a house north of Tulsa around 2 am on Sunday. Both men were charged with three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of shooting with the intent to kill and one count of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
A judge ordered that they be held with bonds set at $9.16 million each.
The explanation for the shootings may lie in a killing that took place more than two years ago on April 5, 2010, resulting in the fatal shooting death of Carl England (Jake England’s father). According to an affidavit, Pernell Jefferson tried to kick in the door of the apartment England’s daughter shared with her boyfriend after the boyfriend hit him with a baseball bat during an earlier confrontation at the couple’s home.
When Carl England and the boyfriend found Jefferson, Jefferson came at England, who hit Jefferson with a stick. Jefferson fell to the ground, pulled out a handgun and fatally shot the elder England. Jefferson was not charged with homicide because an investigation determined he acted in self-defense.
The man that killed Carl England was black and police say Jake England may have been seeking vengeance when he and his roommate (Watts), went on the killing spree. Police say their investigation will include England’s racially charged Facebook postings, although they say it’s premature to describe the incident as a hate crime.
Jake England recently wrote a Facebook post marking the second anniversary of his father’s death and lamented that “Today is two years that my dad has been gone shot by a F——— N—— it’s hard not to go off.”
Family and friends say Carl England’s death sent his son into a downward spiral.
These new seemingly racially driven reports emerge years after the Tulsa Race Riot – arguably one of the worst riots ever perpetuated against African-Americans that left scores of people dead.
Taking place on Memorial Day 1921 and lasting through June 1, 1921, the riot between the white and black communities in what was then the wealthiest African-American community in the United States, the Greenwood District, also known as “The Negro Wall St.” – now referred to as “The Black Wall St.” was burned to the ground.
During the 16 hours of the assault, aerial firebombings of black residential neighborhoods was reported in which over 800 people were admitted to local hospitals with injuries, and more than 6,000 Greenwood residents were arrested and detained at three local facilities.
An estimated 10,000 were left homeless, and 35 city blocks composed of 1,256 residences were destroyed by fire. The official count of the dead by the Oklahoma Department of Vital Statistics was 36, but other estimates of black fatalities have been up to about 300.
The events of the riot were omitted from local and state history and rarely mentioned in history books, classrooms or even in private.
Blacks and whites alike grew into middle age unaware of what had taken place. In 1996, the state legislature commissioned a report, completed in 2001, to establish the historical record. It has approved some compensatory actions, such as scholarships for descendants of survivors, economic development of Greenwood, and a memorial park, dedicated in 2010, to the victims in Tulsa.

Dr. Lester Young

With two elected officials in attendance, one of the city’s foremost educators led a lively discussion on the state of the city’s public schools at last Saturday’s Vanguard Independent Democratic Association (VIDA) monthly meeting.

Dr. Lester Young, Jr, of the Adelaide L. Sanford Institute, who led an education reform focused conference last month at the Concord Baptist Church of Christ, 833 Marcy Avenue, reiterated many of the proposals he had brought up at the conference, as well as the importance of electing a new mayor next year who backs the proposals.

These proposals include focusing on comprehensive early childhood learning from the ages of one to five, designing culturally sensitive programs for all children, focusing on policies and strategies to identify “special needs” schools before they become low-performing schools and are forced to close, and devising a plan to include more history, practices, beliefs and traditions of the African Diaspora into schools’ curriculums, especially those located in largely black communities.

Young also highlighted other, more common and accessible goals that need to be accomplished like more after-school programs, which he said are “purposefully cut by the mayor to save money”, and more career and technical training opportunities in central Brooklyn.

“Nothing changes a youngster more than their first paycheck,” said Young about the importance of career training programs for young people. “How do we provide more jobs, through the help of the mayor’s office, to the kids in central Brooklyn?”

Young also touched upon the notion of electing a new mayor during the next election “who will endorse and fight for these proposals.”

“The mayor controls education, and if we don’t get the right person in the mayor’s office, then we are in trouble,” he said.”We need our community to stand up and advocate these recommendations. Our current elected officials should endorse a clear set of education principles.”

Myrna Williams, a former city public school principal and attendee at the meeting echoed this sentiment.
“(Mayor) Bloomberg is not serving the community well,” she said. “A child can pass any test as long as you expose them to it.”

Bedford-Stuyvesant City Councilman Al Vann, who was also in attendance, concurred with Dr. Young, stating that he voted against mayoral control of the education system.

“If he [Bloomberg] gets mayoral control, he controls the budget, and that’s what he wants. He doesn’t know anything about education, his chancellor was not an educator, so it’s destroying our system,” said Vann, adding with mayoral control over the city schools he hopes the next mayor endorses Young’s agenda.
Bedford-Stuyvesant state Assemblywoman Annette Robinson, who was also in attendance seconded Vann.
“There is no reason for us not to be on one accord about education,” she said.

Young also introduced the idea of having parents and community members determine whether a local school should be closed down or not, an idea that is already in practice in California and is being introduced into the state Assembly here in New York.

Currently, the city determines if a school is failing and can close it down if deemed necessary.
To find out more about Young’s proposals log on to http://www.sanfordinstitute.org/.

Restoration Plaza was established during the height of the Civil Rights Movement with the help of Bobby Kennedy under the mandate that local grass roots activists and policymakers work together to build the community.

Among the charter members involved in Restoration’s original funding was the late Korean War Veteran and Civil Rights activist Sonny Carson, who also founded the Committee to Honor Black Heroes (CHBH), which Restoration has been trying to evict since Jan. 30 for allegedly not paying rent.

“Sonny had an arrangement (with Restoration) and this should not be in court,” said East New York City Councilman Charles Barron. “I will lend any influence, time and energy in working things out. They (CHBH) are a viable organization in our community and have done great work.”

Bedford-Stuyvesant City Councilman Al Vann, who represents the district and was active during the federal Restoration initiative in 1967, refused comment on the issue.

According to court papers, Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (BSRC) is booting the nonprofit because their lease expired on Jan. 14, 2012, and they are exercising their right to not renew it.
But CHBH Chief Executive Officer Ali Lamont maintains Restoration Plaza is kicking them out because of the organization’s strong grass roots outreach to those struggling under economic hardship in the community.

“The purpose of the Restoration Development Corporation is to uplift the people of this community and they’re hurting the people,” said Lamont. “They’ve turned the plaza into a gated area for private corporations. They closed the bathroom in the entrance and the skating rink in the back.”

BSRC spokesperson Dyrnest Sinckler responded in a previous story on the issue that the current eviction proceedings are the culmination of a long-running dispute that has not been amicably resolved.
“Eviction proceedings have been commenced because CHBH has failed to pay rent and comply with basic safety and security regulations typical for an office complex like Restoration Plaza,” said Sinckler.
Last week in landlord/tenant court, Judge Wavny Toussaint issued a third continuance until April 23 to give CHBH more time to get an attorney.

Restoration Development Corporation attorney Martin Tenenbaum said even if Carson had an agreement with Restoration that doesn’t mean they can stay in their office rent-free.

“Why did they sign a lease if you don’t pay rent?” asked Tenenbaum. “I walk in when the facts are already set. If they (CHBH) are claiming they have some documentation that they shouldn’t pay rent then I’m all ears, but from what I’m hearing there’s nothing cohesive.”

Noble Drew Ali Houses

By Carlene Richards
Owners of Noble Drew Ali Plaza are planning to build a community garden in the courtyard and add yet more security gates, but some tenants and a local politician say that’s not the answer to curbing crime.

Ex-Mets player Mo Vaughn’s company, Omni New York, bought the five-building, 385-unit low-income complex at 37 New Lots Avenue five years ago with the hopes of turning around its reputation as being crime-plagued.
Since then, the company put in security cameras and locked gates at the entrances. The new plans include ringing the inside of the complex with another set of gates and cameras while tearing out benches and a basketball court and adding a community garden.

“By spring or summer, there will be a garden there,” Omni managing director Eugene Schneur told reporters, adding kids participating in after school and summer programs will have access as well as tenants.
But City Councilman Charles Barron said he is currently organizing tenants against the development of the garden.

“We don’t want this garden and we are going to tell the owners that this isn’t right,” said Barron.
Tenants of the Drew Ali Plaza have voiced complaints to reporters saying the upcoming plan to add a community garden will also add a third set of gates making them feel even more like they live in a caged complex.

“You simply cannot build a development based on a few bad apples, the whole shouldn’t suffer,” said Barron. “The gates are unnecessary. It’s just another way to cut down where people can gather, build a recreational area instead.”

Since Omni New York started implementing the security changes, police have arrested over 35 people in one setting for alleged drug distribution.

But Barron said a majority of the arrestees are innocent and victims of the police needing someone to blame. Instead, the funding for the garden should be utilized in the creation of economic development and jobs, he said.

“If the company focused more on putting new computers in schools and more creative activities that would attract young people to stay in school and stay away from crime,” said Barron.

U.S. Magistrate Roanne Mann put out the new boundaries after state legislative leaders were unable to come to agreement on redrawn district lines. Mann was empowered by a panel of three federal judges to come up with a plan that eliminates two of the state’s 29 congressional seats as required because of national population shifts over the past decade.

The district is a federally mandated voting rights district and the new lines are 58.1 percent black, 18 percent Hispanic and 22.3 percent white. The total constituency in the district is 717,708 people.

The new boundaries come as Towns is expected to face a tough primary challenge from Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries and City Councilman Charles Barron on June 26.
“I really don’t have a problem with the new lines,” said Towns. “It’s a district for minority people to win.”

The new lines, though, could spell trouble for Jeffries as the northern portion of the new district where he is popular and/or already represents in the state legislature including Downtown Brooklyn and parts of DUMBO, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, were given to the newly created 7th Congressional District as part of Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez’s district.

Replacing these portions of the district isa small section of Queens in former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s district, which is one of the two districts eliminated, as well as the southern tip of Brooklyn including Manhattan Beach, Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach and Coney Island.

Jeffries did not return calls at press time.
Meanwhile, Towns said he is waiting to see who actually circulates petitions and gets the necessary 1,250 signatures to run in the primary before he steps his campaign into high gear.
“My experience is a lot of times people verbalize and they waste each others time,” said Towns. “People get drunk in bars and say they’re running. Once the petitions are filed I will debate all the other candidates any time.”

Barron said he also liked the lines as well as his chances of winning the primary.
“We’re hitting the ground running. While they (Towns and Jeffries) are raising money, we’re raising people,” said Barron. “Candidates can come up with endorsements, but my campaign is people-centered with rank-and-file members of the unions.”

Before the lines become official, the federal judicial panel needs to approve Mann’s proposed lines.

Also, the state legislature may come up with their own lines and the matter may ultimately be decided in the courts.

In response to Judge Mann’s draft redistricting plan, Dr. Esmeralda Simmons, part of the team intervening in Favors v. Cuomo, submitted a letter to Her Honor which generally approves of the Proposed Plan’s districts for NYC, except for the minor but serious objections and recommendations.

Simmons’ Specific recommendations are:
“CD 5 (Queens): Ozone Park and Howard Beach should be completely included in CB5 and removed from CD8. The residents of both of these Queens area’s form communities of interest regarding, inter alia, their proximity to JFK airport. They should not be joined with East New York area of Brooklyn.

CD8 (Brooklyn and Queens): We strongly recommend removing the Queens areas of Howard Beach and Ozone Park, and following the Unity Plan in Southeast Brooklyn. We additionally recommend returning to CD8 the closely-related areas of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill along with Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights and Williamsburg. These adjoining neighborhoods are the transportation and commercial gateways to the central areas of Brooklyn that the remainder of the court’s CD8 covers.

This is a traditional Voting Rights Act (VRA) district (formerly 11CD) that was created for Black voters. It has covered parts of East and North Brooklyn that are heavily populated by Blacks: Bedford-Stuyvesant, Fort Greene, Ocean Hill, East New York, and Starret City, as well as the neighboring areas on the north of Brooklyn Heights, Williamsburg, and Highland Park.

Howard Beach and Gerritsen Beach areas are not communities that have common interests with the majority of residents in the 8CD.
Adding Ozone Park to this district forces the neighborhoods of downtown Brooklyn, Clinton Hill, and Fort Greene to be jettisoned and put in District 9. The boundary nine between 7 and 8 along Broadway could be straightened out to coincide with Broadway (like before). The boundary between 8 and 9 could be straightened out along Flatland Avenue.

CD9 (Brooklyn): this district should honor the east – west orientation of North Brooklyn and the Southeast orientation of the Black communities in Central Brooklyn below Atlantic Avenue. The Brownsville and Flatlands areas should be returned to the CD9 district. The Cobble Hill and Fort Greene areas should be removed to CD8. The boundary between CD8 and CD9 could be straightened out along Flatlands Avenue.
This is the original VRA District (formerly CD11) that was created for Black voters in Brooklyn and first elected Shirley Chisholm to Congress. It has traditionally covered parts of Central Brooklyn that are heavily populated by Blacks: Flatbush, Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, Brownsville, East Flatbush, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, along with Wingate, and parts of Park Slope.
CD16 (Bronx/Westchester): Rye, Scarsdale, and Eastchester should be removed. And the Mount Pleasant areas should be added.”

Assemblyman Karim Camara in his capacity as chair of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Caucus, wrote to Judge Mann “strongly” objecting to the Brooklyn congressional maps recently released by the court “and the splitting of traditional African-American and Caribbean-American communities of interest throughout the borough.” According to Camara, “core communities that have traditionally been part of the 10th and 11th districts – both protected under the Federal Voting Rights Act – have been decimated without any reasonable explanation.”

Camara’s position on the new NY-9, a version of a current district where Caribbean-Americans hold a strong plurality, is that “these maps extend that district north to include the traditionally African-American neighborhoods of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill. Meanwhile, in the new NY-8, heavily white neighborhoods of Gerritsen Beach, Gravesend, Mill Basin and Georgetown in Brooklyn, and Ozone Park, Howard Beach and Woodhaven in Queens, are all added for the first time.” Camara stated, “These neighborhoods have nothing in common – racially, culturally, geographically, ideologically or socioeconomically – with the African-American neighborhoods of central and east Brooklyn and it would be a grave mistake to include them.”

The new NY-8 map also removes the homes of Rep. Edolphus Towns and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries. Camara pointed out that both “are declared candidates for the 10th Congressional district, have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, respectively and have been presenting their candidacies throughout the district during the last several months.” Camara see this as an affront, stating that “the plan proposed by the court will short-circuit a democratic contest that is already underway, possibly depriving hundreds of thousands of African-American and Latino voters the opportunity to support the candidate of their choice.” Adding to the problems the proposed lines present, Camara stated, “Given the accelerated primary schedule with the date being moved up from September to June, dramatically changing the neighborhoods within these two Voting Rights Act districts at the eleventh hour will heighten confusion, reduce electoral participation and promote voter disenfranchisement.”

Camara saw the “well-intentioned” effort to add Coney Island to NY-8, but pointed out that Coney Island has never been a part of a Voting Rights district. Adding Coney Island in the new NY-8 requires the addition of the above mentioned neighborhoods of Gerritsen Beach, Gravesend, Mill Basin, Georgetown, Ozone Park, Howard Beach and Woodhaven.

“The issues presented by these radically redrawn maps can be resolved,” said Camara. “Instead of jettisoning the traditionally African-American communities of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and parts of Prospect Heights that have long been within the 10th Congressional District, Coney Island would more clearly benefit from inclusion in the new NY-9.” Explaining his recommendations firther, Camara stated, “In a new iteration, NY-9 could move south from the neighborhoods of Flatbush and Midwood, adding Gravesend and Coney Island. Eastern Parkway could then serve as NY-9’s northern border. At the same time, the new NY-8 could move west, to take back in Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights and southern Williamsburg, communities that were inexplicably removed simply to accommodate the addition of Coney Island.”

Camara shares Dr. Simmons view regarding Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and parts of Prospect Heights, areas which Camara said “have traditionally shared the same congressional district and are a community of interest, sharing bus and subway lines, commercial corridors, public schools and police and fire precincts.” Camara believes, “These communities have resided in the 10th Congressional district for the last thirty years and should remain as such.”

Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries also responded to Judge Mann’s draft congressional lines, “strongly object(ing)” to the placement of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill into two separate congressional districts. “Historically, the traditionally African-American neighborhoods of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill have been linked together as one “community of interest” within the 10th congressional district. They are served by the same community board, the same police precinct, the same school district, the same bus and subway lines, the same firehouses, and the same central commercial corridors on Fulton Street and Myrtle Avenue,” said Jeffries, and is “closely connected to the predominantly African-American community of Bedford-Stuyvesant that is immediately adjacent to the east. These three neighborhoods are all linked by the same commercial corridor along Fulton Street and the same mass transportation along the A, C and G lines. School District 13 also includes the neighborhoods of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights and parts of Bedford-Stuyvesant.”

Jeffries stated, “It is unclear why the proposed congressional map for the new NY-8 jettisons Fort Greene and Clinton Hill (as well as parts of Prospect Heights) and replaces them with neighborhoods in the far reaches of Brooklyn and Queens, including Gerritsen Beach, Gravesend, Georgetown, Ozone Park Woodhaven and Howard Beach” since they have been within the same congressional district for three decades. “This mismatched marriage does not appear to serve the best interests of any of the residents involved,” said Jeffries.

According to Judge Mann’s proposed lines, only one congressional district now resides entirely within Kings County, notwithstanding the fact that at 2.5 million residents Brooklyn is the largest county in New York State. “Indeed, we can accommodate three entire congressional districts wholly within the borders of the county,” said Jeffries. “In this context, there is no plausible reason why the new NY-8 reaches into Queens to pick up three additional neighborhoods that have nothing in common demographically with the communities that have traditionally made up the 10th congressional district.”

A coalition called the Concerned Citizens of Fort Greene-Clinton Hill expressed its position on separating the neighborhoods and stated, “Consistent with the principles of the Voting Rights Act, the neighborhoods of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill should be kept whole and remain entirely within the 10th congressional district.”

Concerned Citizens of Fort Greene-Clinton Hill expressed alarm that “these same maps also remove Fort Greene’s largest public housing project – the Farragut Houses, again largely African-American – from the 10th Congressional district. As a result, residents of Farragut are cast off into the adjacent district to the north, thereby further diluting the African-American presence in the 10th Congressional district, separating the Farragut Houses from their traditional community of interest.”

Long-time residents and homeowners, Concerned Citizens of Fort Greene-Clinton have lived through challenging times during the crack epidemic of the 80’s when Myrtle Avenue was known as ‘Murder Avenue.’ “We have built a wonderfully diverse community through hard work, perseverance and political cohesion,” said the group. “ We need to make sure that the integrity of this district is maintained by keeping the Clinton Hill and Fort Greene communities of interest together. As a district that falls within the Voting Rights Act, and one that has consistently adhered to the “one district, one vote” rule, to break our community up defies the spirit of the law and a fair redistricting process. It requires immediate redress.”

Members of Concerned Citizens of Fort Greene-Clinton Hill include Councilmember Letitia James, District 35, Reverend Clinton M. Miller, Pastor, Brown Memorial Baptist Church, Reverend Linda Bell, St. Lukes Church, Ed Brown, President, Ingersoll Houses, David Goldsmith, 2nd Vice President CEC 13 and District 13 Parent, Delia Hunley-Adossa, President, 88th Precinct Council, Annie Stevenson-King, AARP Legislative District Advocacy Coordinator, and other concerned community residents.

Dionne Warwick said these glowing remarks during an interview conducted for a CBS Television Network special taping in Canada, winter 1983. Here I was freezing in Quebec, a senior publicity executive for CBS Television Network (and the network’s first Black news & entertainment publicist). I had traveled the world promoting some of America’s most famous television stars and shows.
Yet, Ms. Warwick’s statement on the “voice” fascinated me. Within a year, Ms. Warwick’s first cousin Whitney Houston’s flawless voice shook the world, shattered records and remained for weeks at the top of the pop charts. It was timeless and real and, over her lifetime, sold 200,000,000 albums. The world embraced her.
The Newark native was born into a musical family that includes Ms. Warwick and Whitney’s mother, the incredibly sterling Cissy Houston, and the great Drinkard singers. Aretha Franklin is her godmother.
Even with the preponderance of music pedigree, some media, in the wake of her tragic force, a portrait of a woman who reached the top of the mountain, faltered and fell. It is not complete. Her fans and her family, and certainly the
members of the New Hope Baptist Church, where she honed her skill, know something different about Whitney: a constant note in the key of her life. Something we heard.
In 1990, I finally met the Voice. I was directing the publicity for the CBS Special on the 1990 Songwriters Hall of Fame. Charged with making sure Ms. Houston got back to the stage in time for her performance, I found myself
at the end of a grouping of Whitney’s entourage. We followed her to the dressing room, then the bathroom at quick pace – like those birds that form patterns in the sky.
I fell back with her mother, Cissy Houston, and mentioned that there was a stage worker who wanted to meet her daughter. After the stage performance, Whitney Houston and her flock swept past the crowd of backstage stargazers, intent to exit the theatre. After all, it was over, past, done.
Her mother caught up with her: “Whitney, you forgot to shake …” The quintessential diva stopped, majestically turned around. “Where …” Her arm shot out like a laser, parting the crowd. She Graced her way to the stage assistant. A
handshake melted into an embrace. And then as an afterthought, she turned in my direction to say, “Thank you.”
Sometime later, while directing the publicity for CBS’ Grammy Awards, I got a call from TV Guide magazine. Whitney Houston was to be one of the publication’s first non-television celebrities to grace the cover. The caller explained the magazine was 15 minutes from deadline; Whitney’s on the cover; no quotes from her in the story. Could we be of help?
I reached a soul that spoke to the Voice. And the Voice listened.