Are the Barrons Planning to Switch Seats?
July 21, 2011 by Mary Alice Miller
Filed under Top Stories
Term limited Councilman Charles Barron was asked by Our Time Press if he is going to switch seats with his wife, two-term Assembly woman Inez Barron. “I am leaving all my possibilities open,” the councilman said. “I am thinking, if we need, to switch seats. That’s a possibility.”
Local political operatives have been talking about it for months. Switching seats with Inez would be the safest logical move for Charles, who is in his third term in the council. The couple has already made history by becoming the first husband-wife team to be elected to represent the same community at the same time.
So far, Charles is being coy about his plans. “I am leaving all of those options open. We will be making a decision real soon,” he said. “I am thinking of running for Congress in 2012. Whatever I do, I’ve got to start now, especially if it’s Congress.”
Charles Barron said, “We are going to have some political meetings over the summer with the Freedom Party and our political operatives. If it’s 2013 (and a run for Assembly), I have time. But Congress, I have to start now. We have to make some decisions on Congress first.”
The Councilman recalled when he ran the first time in 2006, he started in February of that election year. “I only had $135,000. I got 15,000 votes,” the councilman said. II was less known and organized then than I am now. I think we can do it. Right now, the discussion is whether or not to do Congress. That’s in 2012. If we are going to do that, we have to make some decisions now.”
It seems unlikely Charles Barron will run for Congress.
Word on the streets is Charles is privately talking about asking his wife to step down from the Assembly, allowing him the opportunity for him to run for her seat. In turn, Inez Barron would run for his Council seat.
The likely scenario would be for Inez Barron to complete her current term, run for re-election in 2012, win again, and then step down. Her husband would then run for her seat. Or, Inez could step down prior to next year’s election, allowing Charles to run for her seat, then Inez could run for Charles’ unexpired term, with a subsequent run for a full term in the Council seat.
Switching seats is not unheard of in Brooklyn. In 2001, Assemblyman Al Vann stepped down from his seat. He ran for Robinson’s council seat and won. Then term limited Council woman Annette Robinson ran for his seat in a 2002 special election and won. Both have been serving in their respective positions since then.
Councilman Barron said he has three options. “I can do Congress. I can switch with Inez. I can even think about borough president. And, I can decide not to do any of that, just do the Freedom Party and run other people, try to develop other people,” he said. “So those are the things I am thinking about. But, right now, we have to make a decision on Congress.”
Marijuana busts targets communities of color. Low-level pot busts of youths leads city in cause of arrests
March 31, 2011 by Stephen Witt
Filed under Uncategorized
The city’s police department’s stop and frisk policy is sending thousands of young people of color through the penal system for minor marijuana arrests, according to a recently released study.
The Drug Policy Alliance report found that there were 50,383 low-level marijuana possession arrests last year and 86 percent of those arrested were young people of color.
“Had this been 86% of our young children of a lighter shade, there would be uproar. I believe there still should be,” said Flatbush City Councilmember Jumaane. Williams. “These arrests are simply about boosting arrest numbers and aren’t the answer to our problems.”
There are two components to all the marijuana arrests, explained Evan Goldstein, policy coordinator for the alliance. The first is that in 1977, the state decriminalized concealed possession of up to 25 grams or seven-eighths of an ounce of marijuana. People caught with under this amount of weed are given a violation ticket, similar to a traffic offense, and are subject to a $100 fine.
The second component, however, is that those caught burning or exhibiting marijuana in public are committing a class B misdemeanor, which is an arrestable offense.
“In communities of color which has both police Impact Zones and stop and frisk policing, you have cops coming up to young men of color and saying to empty their pockets. “If even the slightest amount of marijuana is in their pockets, once they take it out, even if it’s through police coercion, it becomes public view and then arrests are made.”
Such an arrest was made of Brownsville resident Chino Hardin, who was stopped by plain clothes police in 2005 with three “nickel” bags of marijuana in her pocket – far less than three-quarters of an ounce.
“They (cops) pulled me into a building and said, ‘Where are the drug?’” Hardin recalled. “I said if I had marijuana they would have to find it.”Hardin recalled after being searched the cops pulled out the marijuana and then arrested her for exhibiting it in public. She then spent two days in the prison system before the matter was eventually dropped to a violation.Goldstein pointed out that 70 percent of these arrested on these minor pot charges are under the age of 29, and for many it is their first encounter with the prison system.
The study also found that these minor marijuana arrests costs the city $75 million a year at a time when many safety net programs are being cut due to budget constraints.
NYPD Police commissioner Ray Kelly has repeatedly defended the stop and frisk policing, particularly in communities of color because it helps fight the high incidents of black-on-black crime. Kelly told reporters that the reason police make the marijuana arrests is because cops are following the letter of the law and once pot is displayed it becomes a misdemeanor and arrestable.
The report notes that during the Bloomberg administration from 2002 through 2010 cops made nearly 350,000 arrests for marijuana possession – costing taxpayers $350 million to $700 million. It also found that although 70 percent of the arrests were of black and Latino between 16-29, “More people have been arrested for marijuana possession under Mayor Bloomberg than under Mayors Koch, Dinkins, and Giuliani combined,” said report co- author Dr. Harry Levine, a sociology professor at City University of New York and a national expert on marijuana arrests. City Councilwoman Letitia James said it’s clear that the NYPD’s current policy of giving high arrest priority to marijuana enforcement is fiscally wasteful, and has a greater impact on low-income communities where the ‘war-on-drugs’ has been primarily focused. “Although African-Americans only constitute 13% of national of drug users, they make up 38% of those arrested for drug offenses, and 59% of those convicted of drug offenses. It is fair to say that the high priority given to marijuana enforcement directly relates to racial profiling in New York,” she said.
Young Black Men Hit Hardest in Recession
March 31, 2011 by admin
Filed under Uncategorized
Community Service Society Report
Only one in four young black men in New York City has a job, according to a report released by the Community Service Society of New York. The report, “Unemployment in New York City During the Recession and Early Recovery: Young Black Men Hit the Hardest,” illustrates that some demographic groups experienced the brunt of the recession more than others in terms of unemployment and job loss. Data for the report comes from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics and, according to the report, in New York City the groups most affected by the recession were blacks, Latinos, youth and those with less than a high school or equivalent diploma.
Only one in four young black men in New York City has a job, according to a report released by the Community Service Society of New York. The report, “Unemployment in New York City During the Recession and Early Recovery: Young Black Men Hit the Hardest,” illustrates that some demographic groups experienced the brunt of the recession more than others in terms of unemployment and job loss. Data for the report comes from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics and, according to the report, in New York City the groups most affected by the recession were blacks, Latinos, youth and those with less than a high school or equivalent diploma. “The recession has created a landscape of the unemployed and underemployed with particular catastrophic consequences for young African-American men,” said David R. Jones, president and CEO of the Community Service Society of New York. “We have long known the struggles of the more than 200,000 youth in New York City who are out of work and out of school. Now young black men between 16 and 24 years have become the banner of hopelessness, particularly here in New York City.”
According to CSS Labor Market Analyst and the report’s author Michelle Holder, the Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t compile city-level demographic employment data such as contained in the report, which outlines a difficult picture for young people, people of color, and the less educated in New York City. Ms. Holder added, in addition to unemployed youth, an estimated 30 percent of the unemployed in the city who previously held a job were unemployed for more than a year and, for those 55-64 years old, it took almost nine months to find a job. The top line report findings are: The largest increase in the unemployment rate occurred among working-age black men – it jumped from 9 percent in 2006 to 17.9 percent in 2009, an increase of nearly 9 percentage points.
The highest unemployment rate in 2009 was among men 16-24 years of age—their overall unemployment rate hit 24.6 percent during the recession and early recovery period. Breaking this down by race, young black men had the highest unemployment rate in this group—33.5 percent. While only one in four black men ages 16-24 have a job in the city, that figure drops to an astounding one in ten for young black men without a high school diploma.
Men 55-64 years old had the longest average spell of unemployment (approximately 39 weeks), but black New Yorkers had the highest percentage of those unemployed for more than a year; nearly 40 percent of black men and women who held a job before were unemployed for more than 12 months during the recession and early recovery. Overall, the average length of unemployment during the recession/early recovery period for all New Yorkers was just over six months. CSS published a report in 2004 on black male unemployment that explored the jobless and unemployment figures for this demographic; that report showed that only about 50 percent of all working-age black men held jobs in New York City at that time. While that figure has not changed significantly, noted Ms. Holder, the jobholding rate for young black men in particular is about half that level, and even lower for those who lack a high school or equivalent diploma.
Ms. Holder added, “From a public policy perspective, the main findings of my report are troubling because young African-American men without a job and without an adequate education become at-risk for involvement in the criminal justice system. As it is, black people are overrepresented among the incarcerated in this country. We need to ensure that young men of color in New York City are achieving the basic educational requirements to either get a decent job or go on to college if they so choose.”
Existing research has shown that the lack of a high school diploma as well as high unemployment puts young men at greater risk for incarceration. Also, there is strong evidence that shows that having a prison record is associated with subsequent poorer employment and wage outcomes. CSS continues to strongly advocate for quality General Educational Development (G.E.D.) programs as well as transitional workforce programs that help prepare young people to make successful transitions into either college or permanent, full-time employment. “Without work, without school and without a diploma, young African-American men are vulnerable for the prison pipeline,” Jones added. “The absence of training and jobs will provide a clear and uninterrupted pathway to poverty and potential imprisonment,” Jones added. For 165 years, the Community Service Society of New York has been the leading voice on behalf of low-income New Yorkers and continues to advocate for the economic security of the working poor in the nation’s largest city.
Dr. William Pollard: At it Again
July 2, 2010 by admin
Filed under Uncategorized
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
P.U.R.G.E. EXPANDING MISSION TO ELIMINATE GUN-VIOLENCE
January 23, 2010 by Bernice Elizabeth Green
Filed under Other News
Rest-in-peace elegies and images embellish exterior walls of buildings throughout New York City. To some these are fitting work-of-art memorials to lives once lived. But to so many others, like members of the anti-violence organization PURGE, founded in 1993 by community activist and child advocate Freddie Hamilton, these tombstone murals are tragic reminders of young lives cut short – mostly by senseless gunshots triggered by lovelessness, ignorance, fear and dysfunction.
“Every time a bullet cuts down a child, it is piercing a bullet into our inheritance, our legacy and the future of our community,” said Graham Weatherspoon of Black Law Enforcement Alliance, guest speaker at a Community Speakout on Saturday, January 16, hosted by PURGE (Parents United to Rally for Gun-Violence Elimination) partnering with Voices in Action Against Youth Violence, and Calvary Fellowship A.M.E. Church, where the initiative took place. “We talk of heroes,” Weatherspoon emphasized. “We talk of leaders. We talk of our future. That boy or girl who is shot by another boy or girl could have been that hero, that leader, a future President, the bodega owner, the educator, the organizer, the faith leader. They are our heirs, but what are we doing to stop the violence, and take the power back from the media’s images, and put it back into the institutions that shaped all of us who are here?”
The remarks were forceful, tough. “But the PURGE meeting was purposed to do just that. It was designed to provide a forum for acknowledging the problem of gun violence, to develop action strategies and to involve disparate voices in a dialogue about how we move our youth from the line of fire,” said Rev. Joseph Walston, pastor of Calvary.
Ms. Hamilton, who lost her 17-year-old son Njuzi Ray to a fatal gunshot wound in the early 90′s, organized sixty-five other parents whose children had met the same fate. PURGE commenced a federal lawsuit against gun manufacturers arguing the proliferation of guns in our communities was a deliberate act against the community. Although the lawsuit was dismissed after trial, many organizations joined in by supplying supportive briefs. The gun manufacturers remain a powerful lobby and force through NRA and other groups.
Since 1993, according to the Children’s Defense Fund, the number of people killed by gun violence either through bystander status or direct young adult victimization has increased several times over, and PURGE is still on the frontlines seeking to educate and eliminate gun violence and most importantly, says Ms. Hamilton, “to remove the stigma that all youth shot or killed by gun violence are gang members. Many innocent youths are killed by guns daily.”
The Reverend Jacquelyn R. Bullock, an attorney, and Rev.Dr.Yoreel T. Fraser, a health advocate and womanist theologian, hosted the session, and are working with Ms. Hamilton in organizing and getting the message out. Rev. Fraser, who understands gun violence as a health issue, says PURGE is committed to putting “feet to our faith.” Rev. Bullock, an attorney, mother of two sons, understands the need for community healing; she works with persons with disabilities, and families with violent histories.
Many community persons and family members of persons lost to violence were present, including, Geoffrey Davis, the brother of slain NYC Councilmember, James E. Davis, and an elder who lost two sons, one to gunshots, in Harlem. She called for PURGE and other community to work on the ground level where “the problems and the people are.”
NYS Senator Velmanette Montgomery, chair of the State Senate’s Children and Families Committee and one of the founding members of the New York chapter of State Legislators Against Illegal Guns, and City Councilwoman Letitia James, were present and pledged to assist in future group community speak-outs. Senator Montgomery shared insights about the issue and opportunities for collaboration with state agencies, and Councilwoman James suggested that the youth further define what segments of youth they are targeting, and offered outreach strategies to interest youth and parents in attending PURGE meetings. Among other strategies proposed were establishing one-on-one mentoring programs, the need for the youth to be engaged and involved in the process, and the issue of how to address and educate our communities in Bedford -Stuyvesant and Central Brooklyn about gun violence elimination.
Others attending the meeting included representatives from all segments of the community: education, faith, media, state, parents, and three young people. And they brought their stories, many noted on police blotters in precincts all over town. Three of the most poignant made headlines within the past 18 months and within a radius of 10 blocks from Calvary Fellowship at 790 Herkimer Street and Rochester, Central Brooklyn’s southeast corner portal to the great Weeksville Village founded and developed in the early 19th century by Africans and Americans of African descent.
In the Weeksville Houses in August 2008, a nine year old was caught in a crossfire and struck in the head by a stray bullet. On September 11, 2009, across the street from the church 18 year old Jahlal Lee, Boys & Girls H.S. student, was gunned down by one of four assailants; he collapsed in front of his doorway. Several days, later on Bainbridge Street, two young men were shot and killed, and a third wounded by a drive-by perpetrated by teens in an SUV.
Pastor Walston reached out to the family and held prayer vigils with other local clergy, including close family friend and member of the clergy, Damon L. Cabbagestalk, Pastor of Joppa Christian Ministries. And he has noticed that cries for action are coming out of these vigils and wakes, more than acceptance that “this is the way life is.”
Other clergy members attending the community speak-out all joined in by expressing that gun violence is a problem near their church homes. They included:
Rev. Octavius Heyward, St. Paul AMEC; Rev. Maurice Douglas, Bridge Street AMEC, and chair of the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation; Rev. Mariella Rogers, St.James AMEC; Evangelist Barbara Brown of Bridge Street AMEC; Pastor Damon L. Cabbagestalk, Joppa Christian Ministries, and Ministers Francetta Hairston and Darlene Desmond of Calvary Fellowship AMEC (coordinating on behalf of Voices in Action Against Youth Violence).
Rev. Fraser set the tone for the strategy-development session of the meeting. “In the past, our elders, as knowledgeable and giving as they were, did not listen to us, though they spoke to us,”: she said. “Today, we must listen to young people.
“I strongly believe the issues we are facing today stem from the lack of knowledge of the in and outs of our young children lives,” said Cherylann Welch of the Patricia Lezama Foundation and who is a mother of five. “Children face challenges on a daily basis, peer pressure, dysfunctional homes and more. Sometimes their desire to want to belong or feel worthwile might lead them to make the incorrect decisions or path.
“I believe that if we are to work with our leaders today, we need to investigate and understand what are the underlying causes that are leading our children astray,” she continued. “We need to reach out to all types of youths today and the best strategy will be to go into the schools and educate them on the issues, today. Another suggestion is to create a tool kit based on their concerns. Where are they? They are in Cyberspace: Facebook, Twitter, and other Social Media. As Mr. Weatherspoon stated we will have to go to them, rather than tell them to come to us. We owe this to the children of this generation, and thereafter.”
Pat Llanos, a Public Health Educator for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, personally witnessed a young man die of a gunshot wound. The experience haunts her. “Witnessing gun violence first-hand has increased my sensitivity to the problem. This is a very complex issue: it involves finding out how young people get their hands on guns to defending the Second Amendment. No one can ignore the loss of so many young people to senseless acts of violence. Many people say ‘that’s just the world we live in’ however, it doesn’t have to be. The highest price, death, is being paid by too many of our young people.”
At the PURGE speak-out, Ms. Llanos offered to tutor children, as part of her personal contribution to making a difference. It’s an experience comes easy and with passion: she mentored young women detainers in the Jackson County Court System in Kansas, Missouri, and has worked with pre-schoolers and high school students. “It is imperative that we reach out to the young people in our communities and engage them in being a part of the solution and not a part of the problem.
And it may surprise some us that many young people would like to be on the side of solution than on the side of the alternative.
It was reported that the brother of the 9-year-old who was shot in Weeksville Gardens Houses summer 2008, told supporters at a vigil for his brother that they “made a difference.” He said, “You think the chips are down (when) things like this (happen). People like y’all show me why life and love is important.”
PURGE’s future plans call for speak-out sessions; an anti-gun violence forum for and by youth; a “Know Your Rights” lunch and Black History film presentation. The organization also will conduct a community-organizing workshop for youth around such issues as education, transit passes, making elective officials responsive, and more.
Mr. Weatherspoon, who is a retired NYPD detective, also spoke about the need for faith leaders to overcome fear and to develop dialogue with youth by reaching outside of the church and going out into the community, improving relationships between parents and youth, and understanding the political structure or lack thereof in our communities. He also spoke about controlling the spread of firearms; strategies organizations can pursue targeting illegal guns, breakdown of the family structure and the accountability of the church. He agreed to return to conduct a workshop with youth on how to interact with the police in the future.
On the PURGE 2010 Calendar:
Thursday, February 4, 2010, 6:00pm: PURGE general meeting at the Mt.Carmel AMEC, 121 Chauncey Street, (718) 771-8061.Open to all. Rev. Kenneth John, Pastor.
April 2010 (Date TBD): PURGE Community Summit at a site TBD will convene faith-based and community groups to discuss issues impacting the quality of life in New York.
Saturday, September 25 and Sunday, September 26: GOD NOT GUNS SABBATH WEEKEND in association with faith organizations in Brooklyn and beyond.
