By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
Hello All:
CONRAD TILLARD IS A CANDIDATE FOR BED STUY'S 36 CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT.
Some were admittedly stunned by the announcement. To others it came as no surprise - in fact it came with a sigh relief of something akin to joy: CONRAD TILLARD has thrown his hat in the ring to become the next city council representative for the 36th Councilmatic District of BedStuy Brooklyn.
The big question on everybody's mind is Can Conrad Tillard upset the apple cart and win? According to Rev. Tillard and his supporters, the answer is resounding YES! From his opponents and detractors, however, there is a fearful "Oh no!"
The big question on everybody's mind is Can Conrad Tillard upset the apple cart and win? According to Rev. Tillard and his supporters, the answer is resounding YES! From his opponents and detractors, however, there is a fearful "Oh no!"
Notice
I said “Oh no!” not
as in “No” but as in, “Oh no! Why now? Why
him? What do we do now? Tillard's entry into the already
hotly contended race is definitely a game changer – one that places
Bed Stuy squarely on the winning side, should he emerge the victor.
He is far and beyond the best candidate for the job, when you
consider his vast experience, resources, savvy and ability to
interface with people of all origins; and problem solve issues at
the highest and the most grass root levels.
Conrad
Tillard may have come "late" to the table, but he didn't come without
an appetite, and he certainly didn't come without gifts – he brought with him his vast
resources, contacts and the capacity to stand toe to toe with those who have
been instrumental in trying to keep Bed Stuy below the bar.
Like
the old saying, “Better Late than Not At All.” And “late” is a
relative term that implies there were some assumptions made that now
have to be readjusted in light of the fact that it would take five
opponents, pooling their experiences to equal the track record
Tillard has garnered over the past two and a half decades.
Tillard
has been observing the competition and the terrain for the past year
to ascertain whether or not the candidates would be able to address
the issues confronting Bed Stuy's 36 CD. “I wanted to be sure
that my candidacy would be an asset to the community, not just
another face on the poster. I searched my heart; I spoke with
the Almighty, and I was told that if it was to get done, I would have
to be the one to do it. I could not wait for someone else to do
the job that has yet to be done to make Bed Stuy whole. And
that's why I'm entering; and that's why I will win."”
With
nearly 30 years of experience under his belt, and looking way too
young for a man approaching 50, Conrad Tillard means to do Brooklyn
some good. Bringing his experience and resources to the table, the
race is about to rachet up a notch.
While
his opponents are each heavy hitters in their own right – a
testament to the caliber of residents in Bed Stuy, they are clearly
outmatched in this regard. He's an activist whose experience goes
back to his early teens when he worked in the campaign for then
Presidential candidate Jesse Jackson. That early foray into the realm of
political warfare had him interfacing with the Kennedys, and other
major players of the Democratic National Party.
After Jesse Jackson's defeat, Tillard's interest and commitment to the Black
community took him to the Nation of Islam. Having completed his
BA in African American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, he volunteered to work with the Hon. Minister Louis Farrakhan, who subsequently
appointed him to Muhammad Mosque No. 7 in Harlem, changing his name
to Conrad Muhammad.
He's interfaced with gangs in their strongholds, from the Crips and
the Bloods and has persuaded them to interface with each
other. While at the same time confronting the police on issues of
abuse of power and profiling. According to Tillard: “I have a
strong relation with the NYPD, and also their biggest critic. I have absolutely no problem in
saying what's on my mind, and when they are wrong. As a pastor, he has also grieved with families whose children were innocent victims gunned down by both those factors. "There is far too much Black on Black violence; and racial profiling targeted at our community. This will stop under my watch."
Tillard has an aggressive, affirmative, affective blueprint for Bedford Stuyvesant. He understands more than most the heavy mantel that is being passed down by Al Vann, who not only has blazed a path, but left some mighty shoes to fill. The person who succeeds him cannot be weak willed. He has a great legacy to follow, while at the same time moving forward to expand and empower Bed Stuys' residents even more. It will take someone who has already garnered the trust of the stakeholders, who has no hesitancy about taking principled, appropriate stands. Vann's seat is pivotal for all the other elected officials, who can draw strength from his leadership.
Tillard's taken principled stands on the following issues:
Employment:
Ending under employment; providing training and entreprenurial opportunities;
Ending under employment; providing training and entreprenurial opportunities;
Education:
Protecting and rejuvenating Boys and Girls High School; ensuring equitable distribution of funds
and resources; save and transform Medgar Evers College
Protecting and rejuvenating Boys and Girls High School; ensuring equitable distribution of funds
and resources; save and transform Medgar Evers College
Health and hospitals:
Ensuring quality of care, upgrading, not closing hospitals in Central Brooklyn; increasing
strict sanitary condition and better patient care;
Ensuring quality of care, upgrading, not closing hospitals in Central Brooklyn; increasing
strict sanitary condition and better patient care;
Affordable housing:
Putting teeth in Project Reclaim, repurposing and upgrading vacant properties; financial
assistance for low/mod income families;
Putting teeth in Project Reclaim, repurposing and upgrading vacant properties; financial
assistance for low/mod income families;
Parenting skills:
Providing parenting skills trainings to young parents; better day care facilities;
Providing parenting skills trainings to young parents; better day care facilities;
Recreation facilities:
Upgrading and re-establishing facilities and programs for youth, seniors and families through
out Central Brooklyn;
Upgrading and re-establishing facilities and programs for youth, seniors and families through
out Central Brooklyn;
Ending the crime corridors;
Ending racial profiling and police brutality.
He states: “The beautiful thing about life is that I've had exposure to life at a lot of different levels – from the poorest of the poor, to the elite. There are not a lot of people, in terms of the human condition, that I cannot sit down and talk to. I have been in crack houses, in prisons, in populations – not in the waiting rooms, when I go I go into the populations. Gang meetings, but I've also sat down with the elite of society. I've sat in classrooms, I've sat in meetings; and so I really understand life in a broad way. All my life I've been involved in issues of importance and concern to African Americans. People ask how I'm going to attract white voters; I don't think white voters are any different than anyone else. They evaluate people's experience and credentials. And they just want to know that a person can serve. My experience allows me to engage people at every level of life.”
With
all the foregoing thus far state, we would be totally out of line if
we did not mention that under Tillard's direction, during his tenure
at Muhammad's Mosque No. 7, he and Rev. Calvin Butts gathered and organized more
than 250,000 African American men, providing travel and
accommodations for them to participate in the Million Man March in Washington DC, the largest
such gathering ever of its kind. That kind of effort required
resourcefulness, intraction with various groups, economic and
educational backgrounds. “It was during this time that I was
introduced to President Clinton by the Hon. Louis Farrakhan as his
right hand key person for the organizing of the March. I met
congressmen and women, media, police, security – it was perhaps one
of the most pivotal events in my life.” (and needless to say, the
lives of the two million Black men who attended, as well.)
All
this goes to the measure of the man who, by some accounts, may have
come late to the party, but certainly did not arrive without a ton of
gifts. So, Rev. Conrad Tillard is running for City Council in the
Borough of Brooklyn, for Bedford Stuyvesant's 36th
Councilmatic District. With all that he's been through and all that
he's accomplished, you might say he's the epitome of the meaning of "Bed
Stuy - do! or dieNow that you know, what will you do?
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
Just a footnote: for those of you who are cynical or ignorant about the importance of this or any other election taking place anywhere in the world, but especially in Brooklyn: You can't afford to sit on the margins or sidelines and gripe and withhold your vote and support for whom ever is running. We are rapidly losing ground because we seem to have more grousers than voters. They spend the rest of the year complaining, but don't get off their backsides to make a change. We can't wait for 2014 for regime change in Congress. We have to be the change we want to see. Whether you vote for Rev. Tillard or any of the other candidates, and they are, by the way, all good people who care about Black people, you owe it to yourself and the rest of us to vote. A whole bunch of Black people died so you could do so, so don't be the one to make their sacrifices be in vain.
By the way, BILL THOMPSON FOR MAYOR - DON'T GET IT TWISTED - HE IS THE ONLY CANDIDATE FOR US. CAPICHE? SB & EB - GDW
