Yvette Clarke represents the 11th congressional district in Brooklyn. Her mother (Una Clarke) is the former city council woman from Brooklyn’s 40th councilmanic district. When Una was term-limited in 2001, her daughter Yvette succeeded her in the council seat. Una was born on the island of Jamaica and loves to highlight her roots as a maroon. Yvette was born in Brooklyn, and loves her Caribbean-American heritage and culture as much as she loves her African-American birthright. Maroons are militant people: they don’t take too much shit. Bill Perkins was lucky that Una wasn’t at City Hall yesterday.

Look, I have had a few issues with Una along the by and by, but I have always admired her spunk; as tiny as she is she just might have decked Perkins yesterday, for the way he handled Yvette. While we know exactly who Una is most of the time, Yvette has always been “Una-lite”; sometimes it is better that way: yesterday might have been one of those times.

Just so that you know: if there is ever a “throw-down” between the uptown boys and the Brooklyn crew, I am fighting with Brooklyn. Roughing up the Brooklyn electeds is my job; and Perkins needs to stay out of my terrain/lol.

Bill Perkins is the state senator from Harlem -where he was born and raised I am told. At one point between 2001 and 2005 he was a member of the city council; so too was Yvette Clarke. I am assuming they both got along all right; especially since I have never picked up anything adverse through the grapevines. That’s why yesterday’s ungentlemanly behavior by Bill “Perks” Perkins leaves an opening for much speculation. I was surprised by Bill’s mannerisms, demeanor and tone of voice. He was angry like hell; obviously, there were many things on his mind.

Okay, let’s go to the video tape as supplied by “You-Tube”.

Yesterday a bunch of New York elected officials -on all three levels of government (federal, state and city/local) – held what appeared to be a hurriedly-called press conference on the steps of City Hall. It seems to me that there were mainly black electeds in attendance. I observed Congress members Towns, Clarke and Meeks. I also observed council members James and Liu. In the video, Letitia (Tish) James said that David Yassky was there; but I didn’t see him in the video. And of course there was Bill Perkins.

Ostensibly, the object of the press conference was to highlight the newly found courage of the overnight converts: the new Barack Obama endorsees -of which there are now many. Of course you and I know that most of these profilers in cowardice have now found a new solidarity with the Barack Obama campaign, not because of agreements with Obama’s core positions, but because the gravy-train is pulling out of the station; and as such, they hurriedly want to get on board, carrying their “after-the-fact-endorsements”. With the exceptions of Perkins and Tish James, near all of those assembled yesterday, had conveniently, enthusiastically, opportunistically and optimistically supported Hillary Clinton, from day one. Bill and Tish have supported Barack Obama from the git-go.

Sometimes I wonder if these buffoons ever step outside their thin skins, in order to and take a hard look at themselves and their antics. They should. Laughter is always good medicine for whatever ails you. Most of these jokers could never see “change” hurling down the streets toward them, even if it was coming at ten thousand miles an hour. Most of these jokers couldn’t recognize “Clinton-fatigue” even if it had pock-marks all over its body. Most of these jokers who stood up with Hillary Clinton and endorsed her -many times over- during the last year and a half or so (which was their prerogative), now brazenly expect us in the general public to respect this sudden switch. As if we don’t know that it is all about positioning for jobs in the new administration; jobs for their husbands, wives, sons, daughters, relatives, friends, cronies, supporters and fundraisers; most of whom have a track-record of ineptitude while pigily feeding at the public trough.

What is sad about all this though is that most of the time, “business as usual” (like cream) generally finds a way to the top. And jobs that should be filled by imaginative, educated, experienced, committed, talented, creative, concerned and dedicated individuals end up in the wrong hands; and hardly anything substantial gets done at all three levels of government- and in all three branches of government. And then every four years we hear all the promises during the presidential campaign debates. We hear some of the same ole same ole at the town hall meetings. We see issues unsolved and unresolved that were leftovers from presidential campaigns past. Well, Mr. Barack Obama needs to be told in no uncertain terms: not his time. No sir; not this time. We all voted for “change”: real change. We didn’t vote for loose change or small change.

All these “Frankie and Johnny-come-lately” electeds need to step back and allow the genuine supporters of Barack the front stage. Those who were in the trenches during the cold winter days of 2007 and 2008; those who faced the dog days of summer 2007, organizing, organizing, organizing. Those who sent small donations every month or every paycheck. Those who attended the regular meetings, where we saw intelligent and intensely committed white youngsters spur this movement for change; long before enough reasonable blacks, Hispanic, Asians, Native Indians and others, had the intestinal fortitude to say: later for the Clintons, their drams, flaws and shortcomings. But enough eventually did say it, and that’s why this genuine rainbow-coalition of Barack’s has succeeded in depriving them of the nomination.

So yesterday, just as congressman Towns was finishing up a quasi-soliloquy of sorts, Yvette Clarke stepped in to seize the mike, the moment and the podium; that’s when Bill Perkins interjected. And this one Harlem bad-boy (a member of the Harlem “uptown” crew which has always done well for themselves -politically and otherwise), showed that he is no punk. This one solitary member of the Harlem uptown crew -which over the past fifty years or so in NYC politics has done way better than their black, Asian and Hispanic political counterparts in the Bronx, Staten Island, Queens and Brooklyn- basically said to a member the Brooklyn crew: “you are crowding my turf”. And I must admit that it took some balls; after all: he was alone.

Look, if I were there as a member of the Brooklyn posse, I would have had to step to Perks –if only for chivalry sake- since he was a bit disrespectful. I have a few lil issues with Yvette, but I do like her enough to step into Bill Perkins bumpy face to defend her honor. I also would have had to hold the “Brooklyn-pride” thing together (if only for a moment). Only Tish rose to the occasion by pushing for another speaker (Yassky): sometimes I swear she is the only one wearing pants in that Brooklyn council delegation (besides Barron most times). And yet, even those two leave a lot to be desired.

But then, maybe there is no political pride in the collective Brooklyn delegation (fed/state/city/local) anymore; maybe that’s why we have languished at the wayside of political power for too long -without any end in sight. And it is time for someone to again step up and call a spade a spade. Maurice Gumbs tried for years, and he was ostracized. Don’t even try to call my name as the one to do it: I am hated more than an unplanned pregnancy. I couldn’t get a political job even if I bribed the hirer. He or she will probably turn me in to the nearest auxiliary cop; or treacherously do a citizen’s arrest. I have been in the political wilderness of Brooklyn, longer than John the Baptist was back in his time. My input in terms of exposing Brooklyn’s political dysfunctionality is limited now, since I am losing the will, the zeal and the inclination.

This Harlem crew, which has given us, three black borough presidents in Manhattan, our only black mayor (no Hispanic or Asian), a black state Democratic party chair, our first black state comptroller, our first black secretary of state, and our first black governor of New York, is probably about to give us our first black speaker of the New York city council. Look, there are other firsts from the Harlem crew, but I am not getting to enumerate them right now. Neither am I getting into why these successes seem to elude minorities in the other boroughs; it is just that Brooklyn’s political impotency showed itself on center stage yesterday; again.

If Barack Obama becomes the president of the USA, expect the Harlem crew to still be influential in White House circles; and this will happen despite the fact that David Dinkins, C. Virginia Fields, David Paterson, Charlie Rangel and Bill Lynch, all lined up with Hillary Clinton from day one. What can we hear (or expect) from the Brooklyn crew if Obama wins? Look, although Bill Perkins may have been a bit gruff (in terms of handling a lady), it was obvious that he was trying to make a point to the latecomers here: I was first on this gravy-train, so have some respect. He was obviously sending Yvette to the back of the train (or the bus).

But didn’t Yvette Clarke’s district vote for Obama? And when she was publicly told by Chris Owens and others, that she should switch her endorsement from Hillary Clinton to Obama, just to stay in tune with her constituents (not that I agree with this in principle): she ignored everyone. And wasn’t Ed Towns an early Hillary backer? And how many times do some of us have to tell Ed (my buddy) that he bears some responsibility for what Brooklyn’s politics has become? Ed has been promising to call me for over a dozen years now, so that we could have that “deep” political conversation/lol. So here is my question for my friend Ed Towns: beyond wanting to replace yourself in that seat with your reluctant son Darryl, what is your vision for Brooklyn’s politics over the next decade? And what role do you intend to play in the facilitation of whatever that vision is? You have my number Ed; call me.

The one person notably missing in action yesterday was my personal favorite gangster-politician: Kevin Parker. Could be that this was fortuitous for all concerned. Kevin is a relatively good friend of Yvette -as far as I know- and given that he is just one loose screw from becoming a runaway freight train, who knows what he would have done on observing Perkins lack of finesse and decorum. Geeze; I would have paid big money to see that. Damn!

Stay tuned-in folks.

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