Please don’t think for a minute that I am angry about losing my race last Tuesday, because I am not. My mind is at ease. I am at peace with myself. I am back to walking around the apartment in the nude. And I am writing poetry again. I am glad I ran. I wouldn’t trade the strange experience of this campaign for anything. It was rather informative and revealing. It’s just that I have to get a few things off my mind and that’s why I am writing this particular two-part column: that’s all. And by now some of you must know that I hate to keep hot things on my chest unless it is a female human; so here goes. (BTW: my comment section is closed).

A wise man once said that success usually comes after moving from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. Another one said that the best way to succeed at something is by increasing your failure rate. Either way, both sages lauded tenacity and persistence. I concur; and that's one of many reasons why I am formally announcing today that I will be running again next year, despite my defeat at the polls last Tuesday 15th September, in the 40th city council district democrat's primary.

Next September (2010) I intend to run for two positions in the Democratic primary election. Firstly, I will run for the 42nd Assembly seat in the state legislature, against the incumbent Ms. Rhoda Jacobs. The incumbent is presently getting a salary for the position, and a pension for the same position: at the same time. I believe that what she is doing is wrong. This is double-dipping. She filed her resignation papers last year but has stayed in the post while collecting two checks.

I expect to win my race for the 40th council district. I expect to get the votes of more than half of those who show up to vote in this race. I will say no more on this right now. I also expect that the turnout in my race will be higher than usual. I will say more on that at another time. Expect the highest raw number for a Dem primary winner in this district since the lines were cut in 1991.

Right here and now, let me formally endorse Billy Thompson for mayor. After the primary we democrats have to throw down big time to make Billy the next mayor of this city. Believe me when I say that Billy Thompson has a tremendous chance of being our next mayor. No matter how much money Mike Bloomberg spends it won’t help him escape the wrath of voters from his overturning of the term limits referendum. The vulgarity of his money splurge for more power will be his downfall this time around. New Yorkers will show Mike B that they won’t be bought. Watch!

In last week’s Sunday’s Daily News, Errol Louis wrote about my problems with one of my opponents in this race (Leithland “Rickie” Tulloch). I didn’t blog about it before, mainly because I didn’t want to sensationalize the issue of intimidation in politics. But since Errol used his column to put it out there, I will now elaborate: albeit in a nutshell. Believe me that there is a lot more to this and I will blog on it eventually. 

Way back when this race was shaping up and there were many potential candidates, I had a few short conversations with Mr. Tulloch. And after a while all he seemed to want was for me to get out of the race. I found him to be disrespectful. I used to have him on my e-mail list, and would even send him my blog column long before it was openly published. I took him off my list because I don’t think he is a nice person. I arrived at this conclusion after he berated a few people when they told him that they were supporting (or considering) me over him for the 40th council seat. There is much more to this. 

Caribbean Life’s endorsement of Rock Hackshaw: “our endorsement goes to Rock Hackshaw who promises to bring his activist role to resolving issues of education and crime, and seeks more sweeping powers for the Civilian Complaint Review Board”.

Many people have called up since it was announced that I had snagged the endorsements from the editorial boards of the two largest local newspapers (weeklies): Flatbush Life and Caribbean Life. They are suddenly excited about my prospects of winning this race. Most people had seen me as a long shot, given that incumbents get re-elected at a 98% rate. Most people had questioned my decision to run for office again after a nine year hiatus. Many had selfishly proffered that I should stay blogging: since they enjoyed my columns very much and felt that I would stop writing once in the council.

Yesterday the Flatbush Life Newspaper -with an aged tradition in the area's politics- endorsed me for the 40th city council seat. The newspaper had this to say: "Two and a half years ago, a whopping ten candidates ran for the open City Council seat in the 40th district. This year, that number is down to three -the incumbent, and two community activists with long records of involvement in the neighborhood. While all three candidates are worthy, the one who stands out is Rock Hackshaw.

Hackshaw -well known to many as a political blogger, who has spent upwards of three decades involved in neighborhood issues- brings to his candidacy a strong intellect and a fresh perspective on community concerns, from health care to education.

The announcement today that Rock Hackshaw has secured the endorsement of the Caribbean Life Newspaper came as a surprise to many: including yours truly. After all I arrived late for the three-way debate amongst the candidates running for the 40th council district and only participated in the second half of the event. I believe that CL endorsed me beacuse of my lengthy track record in the Brooklyn community: a record with which they are quite familiar.

The newspaper has a readership of close to a million people and is the premier weekly serving the Caribbean-American community in New York City. It is circulated in all five boroughs and belongs to the CNG media chain.

You can assume from the title of this piece that I may be running out of titles/lol, after hundreds of columns here. But I try to remain imaginative; don’t I? Even if I may not be creative enough for my Room Eight quarterblack Howard Gatemouth. 

The title is taken from one of the many tunes Paul Simon wrote and sang, and there is a part in it where he says: “my mama turns around and spits on the ground every time my name gets mentioned”; I thought of this line when I saw Tracy Boyland at the NYC Campaign Finance Board (“the schoolyard”) yesterday. (They sure take candidates to school at the CFB; don’t they? But that’s another column). 

Okay; confession time is here. My quest for the 40th council district seat has been rather challenging over these past six months (surprise…surprise…lol). Those of you, who have been following this race via both mainstream and non-conventional media, have probably kept score on my manager changes, fundraising obstacles (I limited any one contributor to only 200 dollars/ max), my fights with campaign staffers, lawyers and advisors, and the other issues that have swirled around this campaign. Those who have been following it through the grapevines probably have heard even more outlandish stories circulating the district: don’t believe the hype.

Over the past decade or so, the cable television station New York One (NY1) has emerged as a prominent source for local news in this city. They break many stories. They also highlight many pressing issues facing this city; plus they permanently keep their fingers on the pulse of New York’s politics: much more so than all the other news stations here. Political junkies in this city try not to miss Dominic Carter at 7pm on weekdays; it’s a political high most nights. The “Road to City Hall” program is definitely one of the best ways to find out about the citywide races for mayor, comptroller and public advocate. It is also informative as to races for borough president, district attorney and/or city council member. 

It’s almost a month since Michael Jackson died (June 25th, 2009), and yet the news media’s obsession with this individual ceases to wane. Day after day we are inundated with news items about some aspect of his life and legacies; sometimes sordid tidbits emerge about things more speculative in nature than factual. And lately, a few New York politicians have waded into to the news stream with their condemnation of the deceased as a pedophile (Rep. Peter King for example). Well; was he? 

Was Michael ever convicted in criminal court of pedophilia? The answer is no. But then that doesn’t say that he wasn’t one either. Many criminals have beaten back criminal charges against them even when it was ostensible that they had indulged in criminal activity. In Michael’s case, I don’t believe we have enough info in order to condemn him as such. And remember this: a man is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law (for whatever that’s worth). 

Earlier this week -and without much fanfare-a city council candidate for this year's elections, went up with a brand new website; that candidate was yours truly. Although the site is a perpetual work in progress, and will be frequently modified and updated until I am fully satisified with it, viewers can still get a comprehensive look at my personal history, my political activism, my record of public service/community involvement, and also my political vision. 

I hope many of you will go up and take a look at my positions on some of the many issues facing this city -and also the district in which I seek public office (again). 

When I first ran for public office (state assembly) in 1998, I was called for an interview by the Brooklyn leaders of the Independence Political Party; so I showed up. I was reached out to by some people within that party, with whom I was politically connected. We met in a Brooklyn Diner (Lindenwood). I thought it was a strange venue for such an interview, but I held my sometimes-wayward tongue in check that night. There were many candidates seeking office(s) that year, and quite a few insurgents showed up to be interviewed. I thought I did well in the session, and their officials must have concurred since they offered me their line on the November ballot. 

The race for the 40th City Council District: Rock Hackshaw gets the endorsement of the Independence Party. Is this an epic of things to come? 

By now most of you know that I am running for the New York City Council, in the 40th District. That’s one of many reasons why I haven’t been writing much here lately. I have been so busy with this race -and the requirements of campaigning, etc. - that I have been writing very few columns lately. And yet -despite my busy schedule- I hope to intermittently keep you up to date on my campaign and other political developments. So do stay tuned-in folks. 

Everyone knows that I worked on the re-election campaign of congressman Ed Towns last year; and most of you on the blogging scene also know that I have had a long friendship with him, which has helped shield him from some of my wicked political slap downs.  Although I have taken one or two parting shots at him whenever I felt he wasn’t on the right side of an issue or political race (Ken Evans v. Diane Gordon or Inez Barron /for examples), I have been pretty easy on Ed, when compared to say Charles “Chucky B” Barron, Al Vann-winkle or Darlene Mealy-mouse. In some Brooklyn political circles, I have taken big flack for not going after Ed much harder: and probably rightly so. But there are things I do know that are about to show. I suspect that Ed won’t be around in this seat too much longer. For years now there have been forces wanting to replace him. The forces are gaining momentum folks.