In a move that could mark a turning point for the residents on Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn, Yvette Clarke has written a letter of support for the preservation of their homes. The properties, purportedly part of the historic Underground Railroad movement of the Civil War era, are threatened with seizure by the New York Economic Development Corporation (EDC). The EDC wants to build in their place an underground parking lot and access road for a hotel.

Yvette Clarke was recently elected to Congress, beating out three other candidates in a grueling contest. This move suggests a growing sense of leadership for Clarke. In the wake of Clarke's letter, David Yassky and Congressman Ed Towns have expressed their intention of standing up in favor of the Abolitionist homes. The Brooklyn Papers published Clarke: Save Duffield Houses in this week's edition.  read more »

As Speaker Quinn, and the Attorney General decide if Dr. Eugene is worthy of his seat "Team Clarke" as put the word out as shown in the letter that follows she is sending out:

Rally for Justice and Democracy
Thursday, March 8th, 2007

Greetings:

The Supporters of Dr. Mathieu Eugene, the Progressive Democrats Political Association, as well as a broad support of community leadership is organizing for a show of strength to demonstrate our firm and passionate demands for fair representation at City Hall. We support and ask for the prompt swearing in of Dr. Mathieu Eugene, the undisputed winner, immediately upon the certification of the election results.
Thursday, March 8th, at 12 noon, at City Hall
Your participation is crucial. Democracy and justice do not come to you. History has taught us that we must actively seek, demand, and fight for it. Always.

Share this with 5 of your friends and ask them to share with their 5 conscious friends who support this just cause for the representation of our district in the on- going business of our city government.

Representation delayed is Representation denied!
This is an un-precedented situation, and we believe that there is no reason to deny the immediate seating of our elected representative.  read more »

Coming off the Special Election in Central Brooklyn my ideas about voting slightly changed. Matthieu Eugene winning the 40 City Council on the ticket of first Haitian City Council person to galvanize turnout made me wonder about voting on a national level.

We talk about picking the best candidate yet when asking people why the voted for Eugene or another candiate some state "I am Haitian and I will vote for Eugene" or "He is Jamaican and I am Jamaican too" There is nothing wrong for voting for someone who can relate to you on that level but does that guarantee the best candidate for the community at large.

Obama now running for President sends the same signals in my opinion. Most people will be supporting Obama because he is black. The idea of the First African American President ever does get people excitied. However is he the best qualified candidate?

The question I pose here I guess would be do we vote more with our hearts and emotions than our minds and good judgement?

P.S. Congrats to Matthieu Eugene on his victory.

The increasingly acrimonious debate over the proposal, recently announced, to name a stadium within the Atlantic Yards complex after the British bank Barclay's is turning shrill, with cries of race war emanating from Room Eight. To condense these cries somewhat, thereby avoiding the necessity of quoting at length, the author (who enjoys the distinction of being the sole individual ever to have his account at this site terminated because of unacceptable behavior) argues that African-Americans shouldn't take offense at Barclay's history, because to do so would unnecessarily reopen old wounds. And besides, 'playing the race card' opens the possibility of a 'race war'.

This is by no means a new argument; it should be hauntingly familiar to anyone who followed last year's primary in the 11th District.

And truth be told, I'm not even entirely sure how I feel about the outrage; but then again, I'm of British descent, an Anglophile, and my ancestors didn't come here as slaves. That does provide a difference in perspective. I certainly don't feel qualified to dictate an authoritative frame of reference to anyone else on the matter.  read more »

Sexism and racism are getting talked about quite a bit on our companion site Culture Kitchen. And they are getting A LOT of readers. Though my favorite discussion of race on the site right now isn't getting much attention. But I do recommend Margaret's diary down memory lane.

To me, any discussion of race or gender has to start from the realization that America was FOUNDED with racism and sexism included in its foundation. Too often excuses are made that ignore this: things like "slavery wasn't so bad," or "the Civil War wasn't about slavery," or "that is all in the past, things are equal now."

As long as people ask questions like "are we ready for a woman president" or "are we ready for a [fill in your favorite ethnic, religious or racial minority] president" we still have a long way to go. I like to point out that if we are still asking if we are ready for a woman president this long after Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, etc. have ALREADY had women presidents/prime ministers, we should be embarrassed.

About 10 years ago I was living in a great place in the Hollywood Hills. We had a dinner guest one night who identified himself as a "libertarian." Now I have known some pretty smart and well meaning libertarians. But this guy was basically a fool who used libertarianism as a way of blaming society for his own shortcomings.  read more »