Last night in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Al Sharpton held an event akin to a citizen’s forum. I really hope that Rev would travel all around the state and do one of these every month. It is sorely needed: believe me. This was another good moment for the Reverend. He needs more like this. He brought out a few electeds, plus the education chancellor (Klein), to face the citizens and answer questions pertaining to the stimulus package monies about to flow down from Washington. The questions and answers went all over the place. One minute they were talking stimulus, next minute it was green jobs. One minute it was education, next minute it was job-development. One second it was about crime, another second it was about the police. But that’s okay, since the needs of the black communities are all over the place: we are in trouble in many a predominantly-black neighborhood: serious trouble.

Now, given that Sharpton and others of his ilk know the problems all too well, you would think that they would use their influence to insure that communities of color elect the right representatives to go to City Hall, Albany and/or Washington; but do they?

Almost five years ago Al Sharpton endorsed Ms. Darlene Mealy for the city council seat in the 41st district. That was his prerogative. The Transit Workers Union put together a coalition of unions (including 1199) to support their candidate (Ms. Mealy); and then Acorn and the Working Families party -amongst many other organizations- joined in to ensure that Ms. Mealy Mouse won the seat. 

There were at least a dozen other people in this race. Where was the screening process to guarantee that a candidate is at least minimally fit to represent almost two hundred thousand people?  It must have been non-existent. 

From the first candidate’s forum you could tell that Ms. Mealy-Mouse was just a “cute lil thing” and that was all; but cute lil things are for the beauty parlors not City Hall. What we need in the corridors of power are competent people who are brave, intelligent, dedicated, hard-working and honest in tackling the big issues of the day. Darlene Mealy is one small pin-prick away from being an airhead. They all know this; black electeds, white electeds, Hispanic electeds and Asian electeds. Labor knows this; county leaders know this; and so too most newspapers and media outlets. Trust me: they all know this. 

But would they do something to insure that she be replaced by someone better qualified; well, we will see. The primary election is coming up in September. Political junkies like me, see her all the time displaying her incompetence, ineptitude and non-savvy. She can hardly punctuate a verb, far less string together two coherent sentences in a row. She is definitely on David Letterman’s top ten list of worst electeds in the country. Last night -at the Sharpton forum- Darlene Mealy’s ineptitude was glaringly on display. She was an embarrassment. I will say no more. If you don’t believe me then ask Al Sharpton himself; let’s see what he says about her performance. 

Other electeds who showed up were: Al Vann (rather late), Tish James and David Yassky. Tish James is smart, competent, capable and articulate. I have had my issues with her going back to when she was a young lawyer knocking off insurgents from the ballot; and I will probably never forgive her for the way she treated my friend (and now judge) Desmond Green in 1996. That year Tish did everything imaginable to get Judge Michael Fienberg elected to the Surrogate Court. This is the same Feinberg who had to resign under a cloud. Tish tormented us (insurgents) that year. 

And yet, Tish is a very intelligent woman; and quite fit to hold her seat and represent her constituents. In fact, if I were to get to the council, I might just support her for Speaker (truly). And I know that statement may piss off some of my insurgent friends. I think Tish will make a fine speaker -she is tough as nails.  Politically speaking, if you compare Tish James to Darlene Mealy, then Tish is Albert Einstein and Darlene is failing the first grade block-building class. It’s that bad.

Al Vann belongs to Christmases past, so I won’t dwell on him. I have written on him before. Al has paid his dues and let’s respect that here; but I still think he has overstayed his welcome in the council. What did he come down from Albany for, if not to be the first black speaker? 

David Yassky is a brave soul -and I have pointed this out before. I could possibly vote for this guy, if only because he never shies away from engaging the black community. He has a tiny piece of Anthony Weiner’s spunk: I like that, just as I like Weiner’s chances against Bloomberg. But Yassky isn’t Weiner; he isn’t feisty enough and he also needs to do a course in political passion. 

But Darlene Mealy: OMG. 

Someone near to me said: WTF (truly). People were asking what she was talking about. Some folks even laughed while she spoke. Sharpton had to even admonish her a few times to be specific and answer the questions (directly). 

She needs to go home. Truly. Last night, one of Mealy’s opponents (Tulani Kinard) exposed the council woman for exactly what she is: an empty hairdo. Any of Mealy’s present opponents can do better than she in the council. These opponents also include Tracey Boyland -who Mealy replaced; Anthony Herbert -an energetic community activist; and Janelle Hobson -as far as I know. Now Tracey I can’t support, since I believe she had her two terms and needs to step the fuck off. Ms. Hobson, well, I know too little about her at this point in time. So to me, it comes down to choosing between Tulani Kinard and Tony Herbert -who has been slowly and admirably paying his political dues for some time now. 

I am going to make an early endorsement here for Tulani Kinard. I have known the Kinards for more than a dozen years. I have worked with them politically on many a campaign and initiative. Her husband (Stan) is an industrious educator, with a passion for educating youngsters from the hood. He has devoted his life to public education and political activism. His wife has one of the most beautiful auras of any human being I have met. She is a highly intelligent lady and is the total flip side to Darlene Mealy. She is a cultural nationalist whose political activism isn’t just confined to local issues. She is concerned about the whole wide world. She is also an artist. She sings well and does many things quietly and without fanfare. With Tulani Kinard you get two for the price of one -since her husband comes with the package (for more info go up to www.tulanikinard.com). 

The point of all this is simple: many influential people in this naked city know that Darlene Mealy is a travesty. Behind her back they joke about her; they need to stop doing that. Tell her to her face: go home lady. She might get the message. The idea of letting her publicly embarrass herself -like she did on the Bethany Baptist Church stage last night- is not a nice one. Ms. Cenceria Edwards -the attorney and erstwhile leader of Sharpton's Brooklyn Chapter of the National Action Network- must be commended, along with her daughter (Deon) and other members of the oragnization, for staging a much needed community event. There were about three hundred people in attendance. Next time I hope they make competence a pre-requirement for electeds in attendance. Are you hearing me Rev?

Stay tuned-in folks.