About one year ago, on “The Politicker”, I called Brooklyn assembly-member Roger Green: “The Dodger”. This wasn’t done by accident, and it surely wasn’t meant to describe the contemporary legal woes from which he had pulled a Houdini-type exit. The nickname came into being because of an article about him, written many years ago in “Footnotes”-an esoteric political paper/website/blog, which has been covering Brooklyn’s political scene for more than two decades now. In that article, the editor/publisher (Maurice Gumbs) described Green as the luckiest politician in Brooklyn. He posited that anytime shit hit the fan, Roger was always lucky enough to avoid having it sticking to his suits. He further argued that Roger had an uncanny knack for extricating himself from very ticklish situations. Gumbs said that whenever the proverbial “political-bullet” was hurling straight for Roger, somehow he always managed to dodge it. Thus, I thought the nickname quite apropos.
Well let’s elaborate on this. In 1981, when he was elected to office at age 29, Roger Green was one of the youngest black officials ever to be elected in Brooklyn. The race itself was controversial. There were a few recounts and an unprecedented three-primary runoff. His charming smile, his boyish grin, his good looks, his charm and his superb articulation of the issues, helped him weather the storm and eventually score one for the “home-boys”. He was widely supported. He carried the hopes and aspirations of many in the “black-nationalist” fringe. His candidacy also attracted many “buppies” (the black version of white “yuppies”).
His freshman term was marked by successes. He was instrumental in passing legislation that aided any poor person seeking a college education in New York-funding streams were opened up for them. Overnight, he became a “rising-political-star”. As the years went by he had good legislative scores. Over the years he also had some district wide success-especially in the area of education. Over the last quarter-century in Albany, the delegation of black-electeds from Brooklyn has had many weak links; Roger Green was definitely not the weakest link. In fact, he was one of the better ones-if not the best.
Then something happened on the way to the forum: Roger started pulling this disappearing act. Attendance slacked off, so too did performance; both in the district and in the legislative chambers. Many said that he had some personal demons in need of exorcism. Many others covered for him as usual. Many made the perfunctory excuses. Some were friends, some were sycophants, and others were employed by him. They all probably felt that they were doing him a favor. They were wrong. The best way to help someone-especially a good friend- is to look them straight in the eye and tell them the truth; whether they like it or not. If they had done this to Roger years ago, then maybe he would have been on the way to Congress by now; he sure aint going there this year folks (ebonics/lol). I am willing to bet the rent-money on this one folks; that dog aint hunting; that bird isn’t flying.
Truth be told: Roger was always full of potential. He was congressional material; no doubt. When I say that he was one of the bigger disappointments in Brooklyn’s politics, I am not speaking only for myself; I am speaking for scores of people. I know because they told me so, many times. The sad part is Roger knows this better than anyone of us. But then, there are some who will ask, what does Rock know? I am sure they will.
After all, my detractors say that I write a ‘stupid’ blog on Room Eight, that only a few dozen people read. Ha! Well they are wrong on both counts. Judging from many objective indicators, thousands of people daily read this blog and also read the ones it is linked-up to; and furthermore, it‘s not as stupid a blog as they think (read the columns by Jerry and Larry-to name just two contributors to this site-and tell me then). But that’s neither here nor there; my detractors (usually apologists for inept incumbents) are going to attack me no matter what. It comes with the territory. So you can expect many hits on this story, let’s wait for the comment section to open up.
Twenty years ago this summer, I happened to travel to Albany, to hear election-law arguments before the high court, from candidates running for public office. These candidates had petitions that were in mortal danger. One of them was Roger Green. Another was Al Vann. The insurgent candidate (nameless) that I was working with that year, was also there facing the same situation. When the learned judges handed down their decisions, all three aforementioned candidates were off the ballot. What a calamity! Imagine two incumbents knocked off the ballot on election-law technicalities and such; both in the same election-year cycle. Al Vann had an option; he was already on the Liberal Party’s line for the November election. The Democratic nominee (by default) was a guy named Robert Hunter-a former School Board president. Al (“Rip Van Winkle”) Vann worked his ass off to prevail by about 600 votes. Whew!
But what about Roger?
Well, this is where Roger Green earned his nickname. Legally denied the line of the democrats in the then upcoming November general elections, he went out in the dog days of August and collected thousands of signatures on an “independent” nominating petition; creating a new political party-as per New York’s election law rules. I believe he called the new party “Children First”. When the election came around, thousands of people in the 57th Assembly District trekked to the voting machine and pulled the lever for Roger. He won again; and the legend was born. The Dodger had struck (again). To further edify and clarify, let me tell you that Roger repeated this scenario at least one other time later down the road. He has won again and again. Jolly ole Roger the Dodger; “teflon-guy” some may say. How can you keep screwing up your petition effort and still be in office? Ask Roger- just like “the shadow”- he knows.
The first time that the young upstart named Hakeem Jeffries showed up to challenge Roger for the seat, he dodged a bullet again. He won in an embarrassingly close race. His supporters claimed that Roger had ignored the challenge; that he hadn’t taken it seriously. The second time Hakeem showed up (two years later), Roger secured the many lap-dog unions of this state as collateral. Together, these self-serving, self-centered, greedy and selfish unions pooled their collective strengths to save his ass one more time. Deja-vu all over again.
As years went by, there was always talk that Roger would run for Congress one day; after all, which way is up? But it remained just that: talk. Until this year that is; the year he finally announced (formally) that he was giving up his assembly seat to run for Congress in the 10th district. But in the words of the well known Abu A. Q. Abu (another Brooklyn insurgent): “Wait a minute! Hold on here! Back up a bit.”
So let me do that.
A few years ago, Roger Green was indicted for essentially falsifying records in order to collect supposed reimbursements, for travel expenses he claimed to have incurred from his regular runs to Albany. Apparently he somehow forgot to account for the free trips that were being provided to him by the prison-industrial complex and their agents. Basically, he over- billed. In the year 2004, Roger Green in open court admitted his crimes and indiscretions. He definitely wasn’t thinking “children first”; this surely wasn’t a good example for kids. He was allowed to plead down from felonies to a couple misdemeanors. Another bad example. He was fined and put on probation. He also was forced to resign from his assembly seat. The district went without representation for many months during 2004.
Then, just as we were about to close the book on Roger, the Dodger reappeared again. You see in the 2002 redistricting, he had skillfully drawn his main opponent- insurgent challenger Hakeem Jeffries- out of the district. In the summer of 2004, there was no one brave enough to step forward and challenge this ex-assembly member-now circulating petitions for the September 2004, Democratic primary. Who would have thunk it?
He had no primary challenge, and as such he won the nomination by default. That November he won handily, returning to the same legislative body from which he had resigned in shame just a few months before. Needless to say, there were many people who were both shocked and amazed at how he pulled all this off. Some even questioned his unmitigated gall. But when the Dodger strikes, you don’t even know you have been hit. He had struck again. He didn’t even leave a license plate, for insurance purposes. A clean getaway for Roger the Dodger. If it wasn’t so darn real, you would swear it was a Hollywood movie script.
Way back around 1989 or so, around the time that David Dinkins was running for Mayor of NYC, he had a committee-treasurer who was caught with his hands in the till-so to speak. While the individual was being arraigned, a reporter asked Dinkins to describe the individual’s moral character (relative to his choosing the felon for treasurer); Dinkins gave a glowing tribute as to the man’s integrity and such. It was a powerful tribute; but something didn’t figure. Shortly thereafter, the individual stood in open court and copped a guilty plea in order to get some leniency. Before being carted off to jail, he admitted to stealing money and other wrongdoings. After the sentence was handed down, the same reporter asked Dinkins for his comments. Dinkins said: “he is nothing but a common thief”. With a straight face too. And he was absolutely correct. You call a spade a spade; you don’t try to spin it as diamonds. Since Roger Green’s conviction, many of his supporters have tried to spin spades into diamonds.
So, January 2005 came, and the Dodger swore in for another two-year term; seemingly oblivious to the guilty plea he had made. But what do you expect in the post-Bill Clinton era. There were very few democrats who had the balls to state the obvious, to wit: that the example Clinton had set, was going to come back and bite like pit-bulls on one not-so-fine day. When you don’t hold your elected officials to the highest standards, you are only writing the score sheet for gutter-music; eventually when standards reach their nadir, we all pay to the piper for the tasteless music to which we had danced. It’s not a pretty sight. It will never be a pretty sight. Just as Bill Clinton dodged the bullet, so too did Roger; the classic dodger.
To add insult to injury, we had elected officials like Leticia “Ostrich” James standing on City Hall steps, defending Roger’s guilty plea; as if we all had forgotten that Roger Green had offered her employment after James Davis soundly whipped her ass in the 2001 City Council elections. My mother always said: “show me who your friends are and……”
But then, when coming to think about it: don’t these black electeds do this crap all the damn time? Standing on some step somewhere defending the indefensible. Didn’t they do it at Boro Hall when Clarence Norman was indicted? Didn’t Major Owens and others say it was some kinda racial targeting (or a similar atrocious claim)? Didn’t Charles Barron go out there defending Judge Laura Blackburne, after she had fucked-up (too many times to count)? Didn’t they defend the inept directors of the Apollo in Harlem despite damning evidence? Aren’t they not now in the 40th A.D. saying that Diane Gordon was set-up? Didn’t they not go out and defend Mother Hale’s daughter, again in Harlem? Doing this after both she and her husband had looted the crack-babies and their monies, investing in broken-down Broadway plays? Didn’t they defend Jesse Jackson when he used the monies of the Rainbow Coalition organization to cover-up his dirt and his broken zipper? The list is long folks. There are many many examples of this “supposed” blind-loyalty. And it happens all over the fucking country, with no one taking them to task for it. They set terrible examples for black youth, and yet they wonder why over a million blacks (male and female) are incarcerated across the country. They bear some (not all) of the blame.
If you think-like some who read my threads- that at times I use too much profanity in my writings, let me tell you that it is a reflection of the depth of my indignation. There are times when plain words just won’t suffice. All this crap has been going on for too long. It’s not only about righteousness. It’s also about disappointments and embarrassment.
No matter what the evidence shows, no matter what common-sense dictates, it seems that there are always black elected officials defending the indefensible. To quote a famous singing-group from the sixties (the Supremes): “Stop! In the name of love.”
You see, whenever you talk to black electeds, they always profess this great love for “black people”. I am always amazed when they say this, because I know this is shortsighted. You shouldn’t love just one race, you must love the entire human-race; even with all its frailties. It’s the only way. We are all in this together. When will they ever learn? The knee-jerk reaction of black leaders to defend the indefensible has enabled white-denial in many instances of horrid racism. This shortsightedness is what highlights the mediocrity of the current black leadership. It distinguishes them from the great black leaders like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. Martin and Malcolm grew to love the entire human race. And for Malcolm that was a spiritual metamorphosis. Just like Mahatma Ghandi. Just like Nelson Mandela. All great men.
Look, I don’t profess to be perfect; I am not. If I was perfect, then I would have nothing to strive for. But I do believe this: we must hold those in elected office to the highest standards, in order to turn things around in the black community. We have to hold them to high standards of dignity, integrity, decency and morality. We must hold them to high standards of intelligence, reason, diplomacy and compassion. If we continue to fail at this, then we will continue to bemoan what has become of our society- and especially what has become of the black community at large.
Happy anniversary Dodger, what a ride; you are a piece of work.
To be concluded. Stay tuned-in folks.