Harlem —
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Grassroots credentials

City Limits Magazine


Spring 2009:
A Week in the Life of the New York City Council

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Curtis Stephen
Curtis Stephen
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These days, observers are looking to the grassroots for prospective black political candidates. It's a place that newly elected Brooklyn City Councilman Jumaane Williams, 33, is familiar with. For years, Williams was a community organizer who worked on affordable housing issues in East Flatbush. After launching a challenge for the Council seat held by incumbent Kendall Stewart, who was also tainted by scandal, Williams won by more than 1,100 votes in the Democratic primary and is now one of the city's youngest legislators.

“I didn't come from nowhere,” says Williams. “The community that I represent was tired of the leadership that we've had in New York City and they spoke loudly. I'm proud to be a small part of that and hope to live up to what the people voted me in to do.”

For Councilwoman James, whose background includes a stint as a public defender, local community-based service is an important proving ground for wannabe pols. “I know we're seeing plenty of individuals with strong ties to the banking industry who want to run to the front of the class. I have a problem with that,” says James, echoing complaints about former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, Jr., a relatively new New York resident who considered a bid to challenge New York’s junior U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. “There are already people who have been doing the advocacy work on the ground for a significant amount of time. And as the civil rights generation retires, they'll be serving to carry on the legacy.”

But Vincent Morgan (who, among those rumored to be gunning for Rangel’s seat, is the only one presently admitting to his ambitions) sees his banking resume as an asset for public service, and insists that his candidacy represents an urgent need to bring new leadership to central Harlem. “It's not about folks getting elected and retiring in office,” he says. “We need to get away from that.”

Ultimately, political experts point out, New York's black electoral candidates – incumbents and newcomers alike – increasingly won't have a choice. “Just supporting the person who's black may have worked 40 years ago, but the mindset of voters is changing dramatically,” says Smikle. “The candidates of the future won't have that element of personal nostalgia to draw upon. Voters will be looking for one thing regardless of what you look like – results.”

Correction, March 12: City Councilwoman Letitia James is now in her third term on Council, not her second as previously reported. It is her second full term, as she was first elected in 2003 to fill the unexpired term of assassinated Councilman James Davis, then re-elected in 2005 and 2009.