Our Time PressThe Local Paper with the Global View

OTP:  The recent primary election only had about 15% of the electorate coming out.  What’s going on and how can we change it?
Charles Barron:  Number one, I think that a lot of voters feel they don’t have a reason to vote. They’ve been lied to so much by elected officials that there is a fair amount of despair and hopelessness vis a vis the electoral process, and we can’t blame it all on voter apathy.   The other part is the candidate.  There is a lack of sincere, down-to-earth, grassroots, for the people, candidates.  So when you have candidates that are not committed to the people, and you have incumbents who have sold out the people, it’s very, very difficult to convince people to come out and vote because Rosa Parks, and Fannie Lou Hamer, and Martin Luther King, Jr. struggled for you to have that right.   We ran that one down for a little while and it’s worked to an extent.  Now people want to see some concrete changes in their daily living.  They want to see things delivered and promises kept. 
OTP:  How do we convince people that there is a reason?   I see folks out here who simply have no inclination whatsoever to go and vote.
CB:  I think you have to do several things.  Number one, as we’re doing with the Unity Party and the Mary France campaign, is to give people a reason to vote,   to develop a new electoral movement.  To revolutionize the electoral movement with people who are connected with grassroots people.  I think once they see candidates from the community who have worked in the community, candidates they believe in, then I think we’ll have a better chance. Even though this last turnout was dismally low, I look at things like Barry Ford running against Ed Towns in the 10th Congressional District.  Ed Towns got 17,000 votes and Barry Ford got 12,000 votes.  That’s a lot for a person who was not known before this race.  And when you add in the other guy, Ken Diamondstone, he got 4,000 votes.   So there were 16,000 votes against Ed Towns.   48% of the district went against Ed Towns, a longtime incumbent.   Well that’s a signal that people are dissatisfied with the kind of leadership Towns is offering and want a change.
OTP:  What are the nuts and bolts of grabbing people and getting them down to the ballot boxes.  How is that done?
CB:  First it has to take place long before the election.  I think that’s a mistake that a lot of grassroot candidates, insurgent candidates make.  They take too long to run.  They wait until the last minute to make that decision.  To run, you need an expert team to get the signatures to get on the ballot.  You need to raise enough money, and you have to be connected to the people.  People are tired of folks coming around just on election day.  
We have an election coming up in 2001 and we’re out here now, three and four years before the election, getting connected with our people.   We have to see our folks where they are.  We have to go into the barbershops when there are no elections and find out what is on folk’s minds.   We have to go to tenant association meetings, block association meetings, churches, when there are no elections.  Just to get involved in the everyday life of our folks and work on issues they care about.  Rent control issues, issues in the housing developments, income caps.  People are looking at subsistence education of their children and we have to address those basic issues.  When people know that you are going to address the issues that impact their daily lives, and do it on a consistent basis, even before the election, then I think we have a better chance of getting them out to vote.
Just last night I was talking to five or six brothers on the corner, and one of them said, “I’m glad you stopped to talk.  We saw your picture on the poster, but I’ve never met you.    Now that we’ve met, you can rest assured you’ve got my vote.”  I invited them to an organizing committee, Operation POWER.  It’s an organization that came out of our campaign.  So that’ll be four or five more people.  I’ve got to do more of that.  So do other people who are serious about transforming our communities and our people. 
OTP:  It’s not just the picture on the poster that gets the job done?

CB:   No, you can’t just put the picture on the poster up a few months before election day, get the New York Times and the Amsterdam News to endorse you, some big name people to endorse you.  You have to work hard everyday.   You have to walk through the housing developments.  See the folks sitting on the benches, introduce yourself and see what is on their minds.  What do the people want?  Of course they’re going to tell you “I need a job.”  Of course they’re going to tell you they want the drugs out of the community.   Then you have to see what level of commitment they’re willing to make, to cause that kind of stuff to happen.   It takes leadership. There are two kinds of leadership, A transformative leader who is a change individual, trying to change the system so that a greater amount of goods and services are delivered to the greatest number.  Then there are the other types of leaders who are into transactions.   They cut deals.  They make transactions.  They get a small group of loyalists some jobs to keep them in office.  I believe we need to move toward a transformative leadership for change, and away from transactional so that we can create a political movement.
OTP:  There is always talk about how the incumbents have a built-in advantage.  What are the mechanisms they use to enhance their reelections? 
CB:  There are three main things they do to get reelected.  The first is mass mailing.   Take my 42nd Council District.   We have 54,000 registered voters.  The incumbent, with the money in her city council budget, can mail to those 54,000 voters two or three times right before the election.   So she’s already started off with three mailings to 54,000 people. 
OTP:  These are mailing paid for by the city?
CB:  Out of the city council budget.  It’s illegal to use the city council budget for a campaign and there is a law that you’re not supposed to do a mailing within ninety days of an election, but not many people adhere to that law.   So what they’ll do is say they are just sending out a council report to the district thirty days before the election.   So they get to do that three times.  Then when it comes to the campaign, the incumbents are connected to powerful people, like the mayor in the case of Priscella Wooten in my district or the mayor and Ed Towns, so they get support from these power associations and developers, and corporations, so they have a lot of funds.   So they take those funds and do two or three more mailings and add to the three they’ve already done.   So now you have five different mailings to 54,000 people.   Secondly, they do phone banking.  The day of the election or a week before the election, they get the unions to give them access to very sophisticated phone banks.  They are able have people work the phones.    So now the voters are getting phone calls.   Thirdly, most voters make up their minds the day of the election and the incumbents have the money to pay people to go out there with palm cards.  They have the financing to put teams of people at each polling site.  Priscella Wooten had five hundred people out to my one hundred.   So it’s mailing, phone banking and election day operations with palm cards.  That’s how the incumbent stays in office.  And they already have the name recognition. 
OTP:  Now what does an insurgent have to do to overcome that?
CB:  That’s why we have to start very, very early.   For example, I ran once, we got four thousand votes.  So even though Wooten is the incumbent and did all that I just said, and then some, she only got six thousand votes.   So four thousand to six thousand.  Now I have to work these next three years, to build an army for election day.  To raise more money so that I can do more mailing and to get a phone bank going.   I’ve got to spend the time expanding my base.  You have to build a base.  After the election, I didn’t go away.  We’re going to work out there to expand our base.  We’re going to go into the churches.  We had several ministers working with us this time, and we’re going to increase that number.   We are getting more into our youth.  There are a lot of young people who are politically conscious, the Hip Hop Nation.  Hip Hop culture is looking more toward politics.  I’ve spoken with young people in the district who are looking to get involved as well.  And then we are going to look more to expand toward some community-based organizations that were more fearful to get involved last time because there were purse strings attached.  But with no incumbent in the next election, even though they will still have a machine coming at me, these organizations will have more courage to get involved.  And then looking at the Tenant Associations and Block Associations Presidents.  These are real local leaders.  In our district we have about eleven housing developments.   We had three or four tenant association leaders from those housing developments involved.   We’re going to shoot for more and expand that.   Then we are working with the Black Political Free Agents organization, the Unity Party, and Operation POWER which is a group we put together.  And then we’ve been assisting other campaigns.   In this past election we worked with three or four different campaigns and that gave us relationships with other political forces.   That’s what we mean by expanding our base. 
OTP:  In this upcoming election for governor, what’s the lay of the land and what’s the role of the Unity Party and Mary France?

CB:  We’ve really got to build an independent political movement, a progressive political movement.   That is a major objective.  We want to get 50,000 votes under the Unity Party banner, so we can build an independent political movement.   Right now the two major parties either take us for granted like the Democrats, ignore us like the Republicans or use us like progressive white efforts.   So we’re either ignored, taken for granted or used.  The Unity Party brings us power, leverage and respect.   Instead of an individual voting for Twiddle Dee Dee or Twiddle Dee Dum, that is Peter Vallone or George Pataki, they’ll have a real choice.  Because those two are both so conservative their politics are very similar, it’s not going to make a huge difference who wins.  The difference will be so marginal, you’ll be better off voting for Mary Alice France, with the Unity Party, so that you’ll have 50,000 people representing you.   Because you need 50,000 votes to get an independent party line, when people seek elections with these major parties, they will look at you differently now because they are looking at 50,000 people instead of one person.   Or instead of black people who are controlled by certain black leaders who the power structure is comfortable with, we’ll have an independent party that will give us more leverage.   Having a Unity Party means that we can run our own candidates locally.  So if I run in 2001 as a registered Democrat, I’m also going to be on the Unity Party line. So it really increases our opportunities on a local level, as well as gives us more leverage and power and negotiating power on the broader level.
OTP:  Running on two party lines, how does that work?
CB:  you can be endorsed by many parties.   Peter Vallone is on the Working Families Party line in November, and the Democratic.   In New York City, the Liberal Party, the so-called Liberal Party that’s actually very conservative under the leadership of Ray Harding, they wield a lot of power now because they support Giuliani.  If that white vote is split, then the Liberal Party endorsement really means something.    We can play that same kind of power politics if we had a Unity Party and continued to build it.   There may come a time where we’ll run our own candidates for statewide office and keep building.  But in the meantime, as we win local elections and become powerful, we can still make a difference in the gubernatorial election if the two main candidates are neck and neck, if we can come in with a hundred thousand, hundred and fifty thousand votes, it can make a difference.  If you look at this last race for the Democratic Primary, Peter Vallone got 296,000 votes.   Chuck Schumer won the nomination for Senate with 252,000 votes.   That may seem like a lot, but you’re talking about millions of voters in the state.   Remember that Al Sharpton got 187,000 votes when he ran statewide with little or no money.   These other guys have millions of dollars.  Sharpton got more votes than everybody else in those races but the two winners.   Now that’s something to think about.  He got more votes than Mark Green, more votes than Geraldine Ferraro, more votes than Betsy McCaughey Ross.  When you look at the governor’s race, Peter Vallone got 296,000 votes.  Betsy McCaughey Ross 112,000, James LaRocca, 41,000, and Charles Hynes, 84,000.  Sharpton, with 187,00 votes in his senate race in 1994 got more votes than Hynes and LaRocca put together.  
OTP: How much did Sharpton spend on that race?
CB:  About $70,000.
OTP:  How much money do these other guys spend?
CB:  Millions.  I know Betsy McCaughey Ross spent about $2.5 million and she only got 112,000 votes. 
OTP:  Unbelievable.
CB;  So Sharpton spent $60-70,000 in that Senate race and he got 187,000 votes.   Look at it this way.  In his citywide run for mayor, he got 132,000 votes.   That was more than Betsy McCaughey Ross got statewide. 
OTP:  Gotcha.
CB:  Her 112,000 with her millions.  Look at the Senate race.  Charles Schumer got 252,000 votes with over ten million dollars.  That’s not cost-effective with Sharpton getting 187,000 votes for $70,000.  [ed. Note: These figures work out to approx. .37 cents a vote for Sharpton, $22.32 a vote for Ross, and $39.68 a vote for Schumer].   Mark Green had 93,000 votes.  Sharpton had 187,000.  Geraldine Ferraro, the woman icon, vice-presidential candidate, she had a few million, 132,000 votes.  The Geraldine Ferraro vote statewide was only as much as Sharpton got citywide, 132,000.  So we have the potential to really build a party, an alternative to the two party system, and really have a major impact.  And then look at some of the local stuff.   The local races.  When I ran against Priscella Wooten, I got 3,990 plus votes.  Four thousand.   Clarence Norman, Jr., the most powerful black Democrat in the State.  He received 3,313 votes.   Do you hear me?  We got four thousand. 
OTP:  And the populations are the same?
CB:  We have a larger district.  There are several assembly district in the council district.  But look at it this way, I got three thousand votes from just the 40th Assembly District.  That covers East New York, the other thousand came outside of East New York. 
OTP:  Alright.
CB:  He got three thousand three hundred.  I got three thousand in the 40th , one Assembly District.   I probably could have beaten Assemblyman Griffith if I would have wanted that seat, because he’s vulnerable and we’re building a machine out here.  Take the case of James E. Davis, Officer Davis.
OTP:  Oh yes.
CB:  He doesn’t have any real solid base.  Two thousand seven hundred and thirty-three votes against Clarence.  He got 45% of the vote against Clarence.   Look at Ed Towns with millions of dollars and out here for sixteen years, he got a total of 17,990 votes.   Barry Ford, a virtual unknown, 12,610 votes, 36% of the vote.  Kenneth Diamondstone, 4,000 votes.  If you total Kenneth’s and Barry’s votes, which is an anti-Towns vote, it’s 16,610 to Towns’ 17,990.  48% to Towns’ 52%.  What message is the electorate giving to us?   They want these guys out.   They will go with anybody to get them out.   But we have to build our bases more, and build our relationships more.
OTP:  What can the individual person do who says, “Hey, I want to make something happen.”  What can they do?

CB:  I don’t think there should be an individual black person in this city that is not a part of some organization.   The first thing all of us have to do with our families is join an organization.   We cannot do this thing alone.   Then once you get involved with an organization, you have to push that organization to be progressive.   To link with other organizations that have similar goals, so that we can build progressive and independent coalitions to launch an electoral movement.  Movements change things.   Campaigns put individuals in office.  Movements change things systemically.  Movements build platforms.   Campaigns build a person.  We have to get beyond the idea of running campaigns as individuals and look at building movements and coalitions for independent progressive policy that will be more issue-based and platform-based, organizational-based, and system fighters.  We can’t just look at somebody with a name, and put them in office.  They have to be committed to an agenda, an organization, and be system fighters.  Not afraid to fight against white supremacy.   That’s one of our major problems.  White male supremacy.  Most of the parties in this state, if not all, are lead by white males.   Whether they’re progressive parties or liberal parties, or conservative parties, they’re lead by white males. 
OTP:  Conrad Muhammad has an interesting group called A Movement for CHHANGE that he is developing.
CB:   Yes.  I think that’s an excellent group that has a world of potential.  Conrad Muhammad has a real challenge before him.  He’s going to have to sustain a movement, and develop the resources.  But we need training.  Groups like that need training.  Not only young people, but all of us need training.  I’ve put out a call to Conrad already.  We at Dynamics of Leadership, are certainly willing to provide that kind of training.  People will gather with you early, but to sustain a movement like that, you’re going to have to obtain some power real soon, and obtain resources in order to do fundamental things.  You have to find a building, a base, that you can organize in and have people come to.  In addition to the money, you have to have the training to go along with that so that you’ll know what the political landscape is in New York. 
OTP:  When we were speaking at the meeting, I was lamenting on the poor turnout and you said words to the effect, “Do not despair.”   Do you remember that?
CB:   Yes.  You know, I’m an eternal optimist and a realist.  I’m not one who is an idealistic optimistic in an unreal way.  But I’m certain that during slavery days somebody told Harriet Tubman that she was out of her mind.  That slavery was here forever, so why would she try and do something about it.  But Harriet did it, despite of all that was around her.  And slavery doesn’t exist anymore in that form.  I’m sure somebody told Marcus Garvey that he couldn’t build the things he wanted to build.  A steamship company in 1920.  Black people would never give him enough money to build the Phyliss Wheatley Hotel, and the Universal Grocery Store, and the Universal Restaurant.   But Marcus Garvey said, “Up you mighty race, you can accomplish what you will.”  And he did it.  I’m sure people thought that Jim Crow would be around forever.  George Wallace said, “Segregation now, segregation forever.”   He just died himself, as did segregation.   I’m sure someone told Nelson Mandela, “well you might as well just give it up.  You’re going to be in jail forever.   He sat in there for twenty-seven years.  Never giving up hope, always having a vision for a new South Africa.  Apartheid is dead and Mandela went from the prison to the presidency.   If that could happen in South Africa, if that could happen on the plantations, then we who have so much more, should do equally as well, if not better.  And any leader who comes before us and tells us that any form of our oppression is permanent, that’s a leader not fit to lead.

on Social Security, the CIA and Drugs, Affirmative Action & Health Care.
1. Currently the highest wage subject to Social Security Tax is about $68,400.  Where do you stand on a proposal to aid the Social Security System by removing the cap on earnings to be taxed?
Barry Ford: There is no question that the current Social Security system is at risk and that Congress must focus now on solving the structural problems in Social Security so that all Americans can enjoy the retirement to which they have contributed.  In my view, having a social security system that taxes everyone at the same rate is regressive and unfair.  I think it is time that Congress cut the rate for all income levels and removed the cap on income.  This would give lower income families a tax cut and still preserves the safety of the system.   I will support initiatives to remove the cap on Social Security earnings for taxation, or to raise the cap, to ensure that higher income individuals do their part to fund a social security system that is at risk.  As the next representative of the 10th Congressional District, I will do more than focus on social security taxation, I will focus on income tax policy and fight for new initiatives to give working poor families the kind of tax breaks enjoyed by the wealthy.  I will fight to give working families a refundable tax credit that can be invested in a long term savings account to help working families save for home ownership, businesses or education.
 Ken Diamondstone: The position I have taken from the outset of my campaign is that the highest wage subject to Social Security tax should be the highest wage earned.  I don’t think we should be tinkering around the edges to create a solvent, viable social security system.  Nor do I believe that all individuals should receive Social Security.  Some means test should be required so the rich do not receive this benefit.  This would result in an overall lower rate and begin to address what I believe to be a dangerous and growing gap between the very rich and the ordinary citizen and even more so between the very rich and the poor.

2.  Congresswoman Maxine Waters has called for an independent investigation of the relationship between the CIA and drugs in the black community.   Do you support her call, and if so, what actions would you take as a member of Congress to aid the investigation?
Ken Diamondstone: I would support such an investigation because of a clear connection between the CIA and the Nicaraguan contras.  I would support legislation to fund and seek action within the House Government Oversite Committee as well as seek a Justice Department inquiry of any information gathered.  I would also seek to declassify our government files regarding any participation by the CIA or any other agency into the “disappearance” of so many dissidents within Guatemala during the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Barry Ford: Yes. I will join Congresswoman Maxine Waters in pressuring members of Congress to open up an independent investigation of the CIA’s role in the drug market in the African-American community.  If our government has been a part of creating the scourge of drugs in our cities we should be embarrassed and enraged.   If there is evidence of their involvement in drug trafficking I would move to prosecute those responsible.

3.  What is your position on Affirmative Action and set-aside programs?

Barry Ford: I believe that Federal Affirmative Action legislation continues to open doors and battle the evils of discrimination, so that millions of women and people of color enjoy opportunities for education, fair wages, and a chance to own a piece of the American Dream.   I believe that Affirmative Action legislation needs to be properly enforced in ways that take into account local conditions.  The fight for Affirmative Action in Congress that I will wage is to “mend it not end it,” and I will be an active voice calling for the preservation of laws that protect groups that have historically been shut out and unable to compete.   Quotas are wrong and illegal, but I believe that whenever the federal government or any public sector employer spends money on contracting, we should be very careful and committed to set appropriate goals and timetables so that qualified applicants from every sector of our society are represented in that contract.  Brooklyn alone has hundreds of small businesses owned by women and people of color that should be encouraged to compete for subcontracting opportunities that government construction contracts provide.

 Ken Diamondstone:  My position on Affirmative Action is that I would hope to see the day when this is no longer needed, but that for now and the foreseeable future, these programs should remain. 

4. What ideas do you have to make quality health care available to persons not covered by a private insurer?
Ken Diamondstone:  In the candidates forum at Saint Francis College, I spoke of the 40 million families who have absolutely no health insurance.  At that time I pointed out that fully one-third of those families were eligible for Medicaid and that in NYC between 1995 and 1998, the Medicaid rolls had declined by 26%!  I would enact legislation requiring local governments who are not only reluctant to encourage participation but who like NYC, actively discourage  clients through the imposition of bureaucratic red tape, to adhere to strict enforcement criteria and enroll all eligible families.  I would fund the creation of more not-for-profit HMO’s like Brooklyn’s Elderplan, without the enormous cost burden of huge executive salaries and bonuses.
I would create a national program of school-based health for the young people without any coverage, similar to those supported by Senator Velmanette Montgomery within NY State.  It is the children, with every imaginable disease from asthma to anemia who are not covered and in such need.  I would enact an HMO Bill of Rights and institute the right to sue HMO’s for damages caused by refusing appropriate medical treatment.  And I would implement a new program to provide basic health care to those who, despite all available programs, were still not covered.

Barry Ford: I believe that the market alone cannot solve the problem of medical insurance coverage.  I believe that the government needs to curb the tendency of the market to only insure the young and the healthy.  In Congress, I will work to make the dream of single payer insurance a reality by taking gradual steps.  If the Republicans continue to control the Congress and are firmly opposed to movements toward national health care insurance, I would fight to win the hearts of America by calling for insurance for all of America’s children.   Enlightened leadership brought federal medical insurance for our elderly, now we must help our children start life healthy.  On the local level, I support maintaining access and staffing at municipal hospitals.

New Collective to Show Off Community=s Best with Artists= Strut,  
               Restaurant Taste and Annual House Tour
(Brooklyn, NY) On Saturday, October 15th and Sunday, October 16, a consortium of community organizations will play host to an exciting three-part event which will  include the Second Annual Artists= Strut, the First Annual Bedford-Stuyvesant Restaurant Taste and the 27th Annual House Tour of Bedford-Stuyvesant.
The Artists= Strut will display works of local artists in several shops, restaurants and studios around the area. 
The Restaurant Taste will introduce visitors to the great food at some of the community=s diverse eateries. 
The House Tour will again showcase some of the most outstanding residential treasures in the city. All three activities will kick off between 11:00 a.m. and 12 noon.
According to Tohma Faulkner, chairperson of the Bed-Stuy Alive! Collective, AThis exciting venture is our way of showing off  the best of our neighborhood.  This is economic development in action.  We will be  showcasing  a number of outstanding businesses, as well as introducing  our rich  arts scene. We hope that our own neighbors will come out and join in the fun. We invite visitors to shop, eat and see the works of our talented artists.@ The major objective is to help broaden  the  base of regular customers who come to Bedford-Stuyvesant for goods, services and leisure activities.
While feverishly putting the finishing touches on his new restaurant, Bushbaby, Milton Jemmott   said, AI think the Restaurant Taste is a great idea.  Other neighborhoods have done it, and I am glad to see that small business owners in our own community are willing to take part. In addition to new enterprises like Bushbaby, the Taste is designed to shine the spotlight on long-established restaurants like Ricky=s Eatwell and the Royal Rib House.  The restaurants represent a rich cross-section of cultures that reflect the diversity of the community. Other eateries in the Taste of Bed-Stuy include: Bread-Stuy, Lewis and Ruby, Buccoo=s Reef, Shakoor=s Sweet Tooth,     Linbert=s International Restaurant, New Millennium, Juke Joint Juice Jaffe, Subway, Sugarhill Restaurant, Yolele African Bistro and Madison Cafeteria.  Some restaurants may be open for breakfast, but all will be offering everything from inexpensive take-out treats to full sit-down meals at reasonable prices.  Many will have outside tables and chairs set up especially for the day. 
The Second  Annual Studio Strut,   sponsored by the Bedford-Stuyvesant Artists= Association, brings the art to the people.  Visitors can see works on display in the Macon Branch Library, Ibo Landing, Misu, Brownstone Books, Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, Bread-Stuy, Carver Federal Savings Bank, Leroy=s Framing and Gift Shop, Freestyle Kids, Retreat, Victorian Antiques and Mind, Body and Soul. Fedrecia Hartley, a BESAA founder, explained that the members of her organization are proud to live and work in Bedford-Stuyvesant. AWe are the next generation in a long line of artists who are responsible for the community=s unique cultural heritage. This is a free event so that everybody can take part.@ The Studio Strut  continues on Sunday, October 16th.
In order to make it easy for people to find the art venues and restaurants,  maps will be available at all participating sites. There will also be Bed-Stuy Information Stations set up in front of the Restoration Complex on Fulton Street, at the corners of Fulton Street and Nostrand Avenue, and  Lewis Avenue and Decatur Street.  House Tour guests will be given maps at the high school. 
The Bed-Stuy Alive! Collective is a group of  local community-based organizations and civic groups that have banded together in order to promote the best of Bed-Stuy.  T Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, the Brownstoners of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Inc.;  the Bedford-Stuyvesant Artists= Association, Bridge Street Development Corporation and Community Board 3. Major  funding is being provided by Council member Albert Vann and local artist TRUE.
For more information on the Restaurant Strut and Studio Street, call the Community Board at (718) 622-6601.  For information on the House Tour, call 718 574-1979.

Liani S. Greaves
BETTER THAN EVER…
 

The Urban World Film Festival marked its second year last month, with a star-studded lineup of features, shorts and documentary films.  This year, the festival attracted three major studio films – 20th Century Fox’s “How Stella Got Her Groove Back”, Warner Bros.’ “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” and Miramax’s “Down In the Delta”.  The “Delta”, marked the opening night of the festival and the film directorial debut of acclaimed writer/actress Maya Angelou.
Urbanworld is the country’s largest showcase of work of independent Black and Latin Filmmakers.  Showcasing over 70 films in 5 days, UWFF proved its commitment to redefining and enhancing the role of Black films in contemporary cinema.  “This is our Sundance, this is our Cannes,” says festival founder and executive director Stacey Spikes.  The festival was not just screenings and networking, though there were lots of the two.  The fest’s directors also put together informative panels for attendees that were extremely well attended.
Director Mario Van Peeples was on hand to receive the festival’s best documentary award for “Classified X”  at the Festival’s Sunday afternoon Closing Ceremony.  Produced by Yves Jeanneau and Christine LeGoff, Peeples’ work explores the history of Hollywood’s portrayal of African-Americans.  Van Peebles encouraged the attendees to “keep the dream alive” and continue making movies that depict the true experiences of black people.  Clement Virgo’s “The Planet of Junior Brown” nabbed best picture honors.  Cameron Bailey wrote the screenplay based on Virginia Hamilton’s novel of a teen musical prodigy who builds a community of street children.  Sterling Macer Jr. won the audience award for “Park Day”.  Gabriel A. Tolliver and Jake Ann Jones received the screenplay award for “Spook City.”  Gabriel’s next project is a hip-hop/martial arts feature film he wrote called “Bring The Ruckus” being produced by Constant Pictures. 
If this year’s event is any indication, next year’s film festival will be even larger.  The community of African and Latin American filmmakers and filmgoers owe a debt to the Urban World Film Festival.  It’s “ours”, and now it’s up to us to keep the dream alive, and MAKE THOSE MOVIES!

OTP:  What were you doing this morning Floyd?
Floyd Davis: I was at 125th and 145th Street, on the Eighth Avenue line subway platforms passing out literature.   People are starting to recognize Mary’s name is out there. They have very positive responses.  We let them know she’s an African American woman running for governor.  When I say that and give them literature back it up, people always look interested.  So that’s what I’m doing when I have free time. I think it’s important to get her name out there. 
OTP: What else would you be doing or have other volunteers doing?
FD:  What we’ve organized is the “Neighborhood Friends of Mary France”.  These are people who want to work in the campaign and preferably in their neighborhoods.   They form neighborhood groups and they do leaf-letting and get engagements for her at churches or other sites in the community.   We also have “Chat and Chews” which we use for fund-raising.  We have people over and talk about the campaign and the Unity Party.   That’s really the bigger design of what we’re doing.   Break it down into a community level and get the word spread that way. 
OTP:  You’re out of Harlem?
FD:  The upper west side, but I did most of my work in Harlem because most of the people who we are going to get are from Harlem and parts of the Bronx.  That’s where I got the bulk of my signatures during the petitioning process.   Without those areas I doubt that we would have gotten as much as we did. 
OTP:  What do you see as the importance of this campaign in the African American experience?
FD:  The importance I see in this particular campaign, is the fact it’s come out of the grassroots.  I’ve been involved in other campaigns but I’ve not been involved in one like this, where we just have ordinary folk, out there trying to accomplish something, really on little more than just guts.   No money.  But just determination and grit to get something done.  We know there is a groundswell of sentiment out there but there’s no one who’s tapping into it.  That’s the greatest importance of this campaign.  It gives people a choice.
OTP:  How much money did the campaign spend getting those 20,500 signatures to get on the November ballot?
FD:   We figured that we spent about $3,000.
OTP:  $3,000. That’s good to know, and you got 20,500 signatures?
FD:  Yes.  That’s right.
OTP:   That’s a lot of hard work.  You must really want this thing to work.
FD:   It’s why I get up in the morning and get out.  Its’ going to come down to getting the name out there and letting people know what it’s about.   I felt the same way about the signatures, I was up every day.  Out there.  It doesn’t work any other way.   You’ve got to do it, just hit the streets. 
OTP:  You have to work to make it happen?
FD:  That’s right.  A lot of folks talk about it.
OTP:  Could you speak on that aspect for a moment because I see more folks talking about it than actually working.
FD:   Well you can’t judge people too harshly.  I think that people, even though they know that they want something different, they’re not always sure of how to go about doing it. 
OTP:  I see.  Of course you’re right.
FD:  When we get together and talk, we give them that structure.  Give them something to enable them to go out and do something.  Go out and make something real happen.   That’s why people get so enthusiastic when they realize they’ve found something they can latch onto.   You have to know how to do certain things.  You have to know what to do, who to talk to.  This just isn’t common knowledge.   I think that’s why many people get frustrated because they don’t know how to do it.   For those who want to help all they have to do is call the office to find the coordinator in their borough, or come down to Dynamics of Leadership at 26 Court Street in Brooklyn, any Wednesday at 6:30pm. 
(Note: The office number is 718 624-7941.)