(I am going to do at least four columns over the next two weeks. One is going to be VERY EXPLOSIVE. So do stay tuned-in: now on to this column.)
I have made many comments about Charles Barron over the years. Some have been written, some have been verbal, and some haven’t been flattering at all. Many have asked why I slammed the brother so hard -given that I claim to be the one person outside his wife, who was singularly most responsible for him being elected. The answer is simple: I knew of the brother’s political potential going in; and I now fear what it will be when he comes out.
Charles Barron has been in elected office since January 1st, 2002. And a decade is a long time. That’s when you truly evaluate what an elected has accomplished, and what he or she is really all about. This column is not an evaluation of his tenure in the council. Come September, if I am still a regular contributor to Room Eight New York Politics, The Daily Gotham, and/or other blogs in this half-naked city, I may consider doing such an objective piece: but I doubt it.
My future in blogging is another story anyway. Lots of folks are asking me to keep writing. Many claim they want to hear my voice; others say I will be sorely missed; but the level of disrespect coming from many on these sites leaves me very little wiggle room. Sure I could ignore the constant (possibly racist) attacks; or I can go into the underground for justice and/or my mental health (lol); or I can deal with dispensing justice in my own way(s) -since this is always a natural option: no matter how extreme; or I could keep appealing to others to be decent and humane (probably to no avail); or I could keep appealing to the editors and powers that be -over and again; or I could become an occasional contributor (and probably still be subjected to this crap); or I can do any of the many things I identified as options in my last column. Look; time will tell. There are conversations going on that may even force me out of this sphere anyway.
All I am asking again is this: just let me keep my comments-section closed for now. That’s all I ask. It is my prerogative. It is truly a simple request of my editors. Plus, I have requested that they stop Gatemouth from acting the fool ; since I don’t need to be disrespected by someone who will go up and open a deliberately-provocative comments-section so that others could flame me with all kinds of nonsensical personal attacks. The constant constant stream of invectives has no place in the political discourse we have tried to develop here. Sure there are those who defend me personally (and my political honor), but it shouldn’t have to be like this column after column after column: COME ON NOW!
Anyway; back to the features of this column.
I have really said enough about Charles Barron over the years. If I say more it probably won’t be what people expect. Beneath the exterior is a guy who means well (I think/I hope). Beneath the façade is a serious black-warrior who believes everyday is a battle. But as I have said many times:”virtues are often vices in disguise”.
Some of the sycophants who shadow Charles may not believe this, but there are places where he comes from in his heart that I truly admire. It’s the places and spaces in his head that at times -which over the years- have been troublesome for me intellectually: pragmatically, tactically, religiously, ideologically, philosophically, et al.
For close to a dozen years, Charles and I argued almost every day -like no two friends probably ever did. (Now some of the upcoming words are mine: they are my interpretations and recollections of the things that were said between us from 1996 thru 2008. I am sure his recollection would be (at least) minimally different.)
I would be rich right now, if I had a hundred dollars for every time Charles told me that I was ignorant; or arrogant; or brainwashed by the white-boy’s ivy-league education; or that I try too hard to be ”objective” (I should be looking for an “edge” for black-people); or that not growing up in the USA, doesn’t allow me to fully understand, comprehend or appreciate the scope of the “black struggle” or its full dimensions; nor racism USA-style; and that I have no idea of the things I talk about; and that I don’t make sense; and that I am an educated fool from some pretty fancy stupid schools; and so on, and so on, and so on. Sometimes we even cussed each other out. Other times we even played the dozens. We never physically fought. Maybe it was because our wives would interrupt before it got really out of hand. We both have very healthy egos. Back then we both ran up large phone bills. This was long before you had those forty-five-dollar-a-month unlimited-calls phone plans.
We argued politics, philosophy, culture, anthropology and religion. We discussed Pan-Africanism, Liberation-Theology, History, Art(s), Geography and/or Economics (you name the topic or subject). We also talked at length about sports (all kinds). It is the reason why I always tell folks, that I have no regrets in helping Charles get elected; and that I would gladly do it again. It was painful being his only paid advisor/consultant all those years; but it was some experience.
If I could do it over, I will only change some of the post-victory outcomes, actions, statements and decisions. I wouldn’t want to change the actual experience since I think it made me a better person; and I do thank him for that. You would think that Charles would introspect and realize that my critiques have always been coming from a serious place, but I suspect that he feels it is all personal. C’est la vie.
Charles Barron is a charming witty guy. He is very intelligent. He is also a “wee bit” radical. I cannot tell you that Charles is more (or less) radical than I am, when it comes to certain aspects of my overall political philosophy. He is one of the great “Ebonics” speakers of all time. He is also one of the few electeds fully committed to radically transforming American culture, economics, history and society. In his estimation it will be for the better. He is partly right about that. Charles Barron’s biggest problem is his friggin humongous ego and his inability to introspect and be retrospective: he has serious tunnel vision. He concedes very little (or nothing). He is very aggressive and forceful. He tends to be intimidating: especially to those who are weak. That’s why we fought so much: he tries to overpower you intellectually.
I also suspect that some of the people around Chucky Bee (Charles Barron) are xenophobic. Over the years he has changed people and followers (he can’t keep them too long) more than Paris Hilton has changed panties after sex-romps. The objective of many -who worked with him during the nineties- was to build a movement for transforming the political culture of NYC (especially in communities of color). Over the decades of his political activism (going back to his days as chief-of-staff for Rev. Hubert Daughtry), he has lost people by the hundreds. Followers come by the score but eventually leave in droves. If you were to debate him as to why, you will find an individual who wouldn’t even acknowledge such a phenomenon.
Anyway; despite his many flaws and warts (and I have written about some of them), most of the time he makes more sense than a vast majority of the other black electeds in New York City. He is very knowledgeable on public policy. I could only name (maybe) a half-dozen who I can say makes good sense (to me). I am sure I miss a few who probably do -but to whom I am not as exposed to as I should be. It’s a pity that so many of his colleagues have chosen not to engage Baron on an intellectual plain. And maybe that’s the reason he has made more political mistakes than all the others combined.
Last Wednesday -at the stated meeting of the city council- Charles Barron eloquently spoke truth to power. And in so doing, he skillfully undressed (and exposed) Mayor Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn for what they really are: gatekeepers for the rich, the powerful, the wicked, the oppressors, the greedy, the racists and the status-quo. You have to give the man credit when credit is due. Try to catch his contribution when Channel 74 (cable) runs it.
This was the Charles Barron many of us came together to help get elected to the city council. This was the Barron that many of us had hoped would emerge as a true black leader of the struggle; a person who would focus on the right things and emphasize the right issues. A person supremely capable of making the compelling case for governmental intervention sorely needed in the metastasizing communities of color.
We had hoped to elect a person who could check his ego in the coat-room and just deliver: without being concerned as to who is the head nigger in charge of this council, city or state. Charles may not want to admit this but he often gets sidetracked on the silly “mundane” stuff. He also tends to let his “blackness” cloud his better judgment and basic goodness sometimes. Look; this is just my humble opinion. That’s all it is. It comes from as honest a place as anyone who ever called himself a friend (former or present).
We have been somewhat estranged for years, but I will tell you straight that I still consider him a friend. And by the way; our estrangement was mine in the making. My suspicions are that he is probably still puzzled that I have kept a distance from him politically, socially and culturally. And yet I follow him all the time: via media and via the grapevines. I have to: I pray for his redemption and enlightenment. I truly believe that everyone is redeemable (even Howard “Gatemouth” Graubard, Mary Alice Miller and Charles Barron).
Some people think that because you are a friend, relative, or colleague of someone, you cannot be so philosophically opposed to some of their positions that you would rather keep a distance. You can; and you should if you suspect that things could end up in blows.
Charles Barron took apart the budget last Wednesday; showing up a process which is nothing short of an annual ritualistic dance where the rich gets richer and the poor get poorer. The city budget should explain our priorities here and every year; but this year -as usual- it failed to make sense of the Bloomberg-nonsense.
This is the mayor for whom the newspaper editorial boards of this half-naked-city, helped scuttle term-limits, just so that he would be in office for another term. The rationale was that we needed him at the helm because of his business acumen; and also because of the desperate economic conditions we inherited in 2008. Mike Bloomberg is just another lucky rich white boy who benefited from his white-skin privilege. His deceased mother was a thousand times better as a human being than he ever will be. Read her life story and tell me if you disagree.
Has Mike Bloomberg advanced any new economic ideas wherein the city is better off? Has he?
Hasn’t he and his rich cronies gotten fatter and richer since he took office in 2001? Go check the facts for yourself?
Have women or minority business-people benefitted under his watch? Have the conditions under which minorities in this city live been improved? Has the education-service-delivery for ALL New Yorkers improved since 2001? Has the housing situation for poor and middle-class city-dwellers improved? Has crime really and truly gotten better since he took office? Really? Under the reigns (and/or reins) of Ray Kelly and Michael Bloomberg, haven’t the NYPD violated the human rights of city-dwellers worse than at any time in their history? HELLO?
Do you really think it is a coincidence that NYC (along with the state too) loses people every census? What are the new development ideas coming out of the Bloomberg administration? This mayor has just continued the drift started somewhere during the Koch administration whereby this city is slowly becoming an enclave for the rich. And it’s not just Manhattan I am referring to. Downtown Brooklyn and certain parts of Queens are no longer affordable to John Legend’s ordinary people. Next thing we will eventually see, are more gated communities protected by electric fences and heavily armed security guards (like in Brazil). After all, given that disparities in incomes (and the gaps between rich and poor) keep widening, what are we to expect.
When you have a president (Obama) who is aggressive in military matters, but pusillanimous when it comes to social and economic issues; then the pattern is set for the same ole old, same old, classic class divisions of injustice and unfairness, which has afflicted the American society from jump. Ask Ralph Nader, or Bernie Sanders, or Dennis Kucinich: is life getting easier in the USA, for Sly Stone’s everyday people and other regular folks?
In NYC, we are supposed to go through this fiscal game every year. This annual budget dance is getting to be a boring foxtrot. The mayor paints a doomsday scenario threatening to close fire stations, close senior-centers, lay off teachers, reduce the police force, cut library hours and such; then we all run around on pins and needles hoping somehow it will all be averted.
Are city-workers to cringe in fear of layoffs every friggin year? Are NYC residents to be stressed out every time the Mayor threatens drastic cuts in essential services? Is it fair for seniors to go through this annual ritual, wherein their advocates have to mobilize people older than Methuselah, for protest rallies at City Hall? Where are the summer jobs for our needy youth? Where are the educational programs and vocational training centers? Where are the new funding streams for city-coffers? Where is the stock-transfer tax? Why do we give away billions of dollars every year to rich and greedy so-called-developers? Why do we give away billions to those who don’t need it, but take away hundreds from those who do? Let me stop before they think I am trying to emulate Barron.
NYC’s perennial budget problem stems from the need to identify more funding sources/streams for city coffers. We need to tax the rich some more: PERIOD. We need to tax corporations more: PERIOD. We need to transform our economic system whereby it takes into account the need for wages-prices and profits controls: PERIOD. YOU HEARD ME.
No matter how much I try, I can’t seem to find any brave souls willing to tackle ideas around the radical transformation of capitalism. Wages, profits and prices controls are ideas whose time has come. It is time for academia to start this debate; we cannot push this off as if it is impossible to transform a system we created. Economics is not a pure science.
In my next column I will go into some of the specifics of Barron’s speech/position(s). Do stay tuned-in folks.