For those who don't know her, Letitia James is the tall, outspoken black City Councilmember who is impossible to miss in a crowd. She ran and won on the Working Families Party line against a terrible, corrupt Democratic machine candidate. I like her because she stood up against the machine and won. She has been one of the most vocal progressives on the City Council, tirelessly representing her community and opposing development plans that do not adequately protect the community and guarantee real affordable housing. I like Letitia James because she stands up for community over developers. I like Letitia James because she is progressive and proud of it. These are the reasons I like Letitia James and support her. But why I love Letitia James is because she is one of the best people I have met. I see this not in how she interacts with those who support her, but in how she interacts with those who oppose her.

I was helping out the Ferrer campaign on Friday morning by the Atlantic Yards terminal, handing out fliers and urging people to meet Freddy Ferrer. Ferrer was shaking hands and talking to people, making the personal connection with voters that he is so good at and which does not show up on television or when he makes a speech. A friend commented on how surprised he was at the warm reaction Ferrer was getting. By now I have seen that warm reaction every time Ferrer goes out and personally meets people.

Along side the Ferrer supporters were a handful of loud Ratner/Bloomberg supporters. I suspect some of them are hired to go around pretending to be community members supporting Ratner’s mega-development projects, and some are probably genuine supporters who see Ratner’s plan as a necessary evil. The Ratner/Bloomberg folks were playing an odd good cop/bad cop act where a couple of super loud, obnoxious idiots would chant and be confrontational while a few other people would come up and politely and reasonably engage people. One obnoxious guy called me a hypocrite for no good reason and mostly just yelled. He really wasn’t doing Ratner and Bloomberg any favors because he will just turn people off to the Ratner mega-development plan. However another guy came up and respectfully discussed the issue with me.

So the Ratner/Bloomberg folks were there playing good cop/bad cop. They were putting down both Ferrer and Letitia James, the Councilwoman who represents the area being destroyed by Ratner’s Altlantic Yards plan. They were pretty mean in their comments about Letitia James and I wondered what would happen when Letitia showed up to support Freddy. I mean a tall, imposing, outspoken black woman who doesn’t take BS is certainly not going to take crap from a bunch of Ratner bullies, was my thinking.

Letitia James did show up, coming to show her support for Freddy Ferrer and to meet voters. A cheer came from her supporters, which she met with her typical big smile. Then she saw the Ratner/Bloomberg folks who were just putting her down and who she has probably met dozens of times as they go around opposing all who oppose Ratner.

Here come the sparks, I thought.

But what Letitia did shows her character better than the sparks I was expecting. Her smile broadened when she saw her opponents and she went up and gave each of them a big hug. She went into the midst of her opponants, and showed that she didn't fear them and didn't hate them just because they opposed her. She showed the issues are issues, they don't have to be personal. I don’t know what they were thinking, but those tough bullies sure seemed momentarily charmed by Letitia's grin and big hug. The tension dissipated and we all went back to what we were doing—most of us campaigning for Freddy Ferrer and a handful of people campaigning for Ratner/Bloomberg.

THAT is why I love Letitia James. It was a moment that few politicians could have pulled off and she did it naturally and smoothly because that is who she is.

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