WAKE UP BROOKLYN! TUESDAY JUNE 26 VOTE OR DIE

by Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Just in case you didn't get the memo; just in case you haven't been keeping up with time it is, I am going to take the opportunity to say WAKE UP BROOKLYN - Your lives are on the line - Literally.

Perhaps the most pivotal date, prior to the actual general election, will take place on Tuesday, June 26, which is the day we vote for our new congressman - either Charles Barron or Hakeem Jeffries; and re-elect our congresswoman Yvette Diane Clarke.

By the way, gone are the 9th, 10th, and 11th Congressional districts you are accustomed to. Now that the lines have been redrawn, you may find that you're in completely different districts, with completely different congressional candidates to vote for - so check to see if you are in the 7th, 8th or 9th. Manhattan check for the 13th, which combines several districts. Make sure you check out who is running in your community, so that you don't pull the lever for the wrong candidate, or end up at the wrong polling place.

With the Rep-ugh-blicans trying to institute voter nullification, you have to do your own due diligence to make sure you're not a victim instead of a victor.

This is no time for a day at the beach; this is no time for sleeping in, or going about business as usual. Yes we can still celebrate Black Music Month, Caribbean Heritage Month, and all the other good stuff.

But we also have to remember we have a job to do and we can't be weighed in the balance and found wanting AGAIN!!

You need to get to those poles as though you are voting to re-elect President Obama, because this is a precursor to his re-election on November 7, 2012. You have to vote as though your very lives depend on it, because, in point of fact, it absolutely, positively does.

Don't get it twisted - EVERYTHING WE DO FROM THIS POINT FORWARD COUNTS AND MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN WHAT HAPPENS IN THE FUTURE OF BROOKLYN, OF NEW YORK CITY, AND IN THE FUTURE OF THE UNITED STATES. Make no mistake about it.

And if you think it doesn't matter, just look at what happened as a result of the lack of cooperation during the 2010 Census. The very real effects of losing a whole seat in Congress, budgetary cutbacks, and a string of other negative consequences are because we sat back and did not take care of business.

Look at what happened when we didn't show up at the polls for the Mayoral Election!

I know you folks don't like to hear this; I know it's easy to point fingers of blame at everybody else. But we are the largest borough, with the largest Black population. We have a big responsibility to not let each other down. The thing to do now is learn from this harsh lesson, go forward and not let it happen again on our watch.

So ministers - this Sunday in your churches, make sure in your sermons you tell your congregation to get out and vote; community leaders, make sure you're going door to door to make sure those who need help can get to the polls. Seniors, if you need assistance, call your local center, or your Assemblymember or your City Council Representative.

This is no time to stand on ceremony. This is absolutely imperative that everybody who is breathing votes.

And for you first time voters, 18 and over, you are pivotal in this upcoming election. Make it your business to show up and make your vote count.

For those of you old enough to remember, it's only been since 1965 that Black people had the right to vote in many parts of the US. There were actually people who fought and died to make sure you had the right. You have absolutely a responsibility to make sure they did not sacrifice their lives in vain for you.

For you newly minted citizens, who have had the good sense to register to vote, don't be shy about asking where the polling places are, and getting your neighbors to assist you.

Not only is this a wake up call for BROOKLYN, but for all the boroughs - for the nation. While this message is aimed toward Black people and people of color, I am also urging all American citizens not to leave your right to a country that works for all of us on the table. Democracy is under siege, and if we don't stand up, we get what we deserve.

I am patently partisan in my stand - totally on the Democratic line, so don't even ask me who the Rep-ugh-blican candidates are. We don't have the luxury of equivocating. We've already had the bitter taste of what it's like to do otherwise. They've pretty much put the brakes on the good that President Obama is trying to do.

College students especially should be making sure that a Democrat majority is in congress, now that the Rep-ugh-blicans have tried to hi-jack your financial aid and your right to a decent education. The fact that they are trying to keep you from voting in the community where you attend college should indicate that they mean you absolutely no good whatsoever.

If there are other primaries in other states where you have relatives, friends, acquaintances, please make sure you reach out to them and insist they get up and that they take the time to vote.

We've got too much at stake.

Below are a list of the candidates running on the Democratic party line for the State of New York:

OFFICE: REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
NOTE: ALL OFFICES ARE FOR CONGRESS UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED
PARTY: DEMOCRATIC
NOTE: ALL CANDIDATES ARE DEMOCRATS UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED

DISTRICT: Part of Nassau and Part of Queens
CANDIDATES: GREGORY MEEKS – St. Albans,NY 11427
Other Candidates:
Allan W. Jennings, Jr.
Joseph R. Marthone
Mike Skala


DISTRICT: 6th
COUNTIES: Part of Queens
CANDITATES:
Rory I. Lancman
Robert Mittman
Grace Meng
Elizabeth Crowley

DISTRICT 7th
COUNTIES: PART OF KINGS, PART OF NEW YORK & PART OF QUEENS
CANDIDATES:
DANIEL J. O'CONNOR – NEW YORK 10022
GEORGE MARTINEZ - BROOKLYN 11233
NYDIA M. VELAZQUEZ – BROOKLYN 11231
ERIK MARTIN DILAN – BROOKLYN 11207

DISTRICT 8th
COUNTIES: PART OF KINGS AND PART OF QUEENS
CANDIDATES:
HAKEEM S. JEFFRIES - BROOKLYN 11238
CHARLES BARRON – BROOKLYN 11207

OFFICE: REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
DISTRICT 9TH
COUNTIES: PART OF KINGS
YVETTE D. CLARKE - BROOKLYN 11225
SYLVIA G. KINARD – BROOKLYN 11230


DISTRICT 13TH
COUNTIES: PART OF BRONX & PART OF NEW YORK
CANDIDATES:
CHARLES B. RANGEL
JOYCE S. JOHNSON
CRAIG SCHLEY
CLYDE EDWARD WILLIAMS, JR.
ADRIANO ESPAILLAT

OFFICE: REPRENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
DISTRICT 16TH
COUNTIES: PART OF BRONX & PART OF WESTCHESTER
CANDIATES:
ELLIOT L. ENGEL
ANIELLO GRIMALDI


DISTRICT 18TH
COUNTIES: ORANGE, PUTNAM, PART OF DUTCHESS & PART OF WESTCHESTER
CANDIDATES:
SEAN PATRICK MAHONEY
DUANE JACKSON
RICHARD H. BECKER
MATTHEW C. ALEXANDER
THOMAS WILSON

DISTRICT 19TH
COUNTIES: COLUMBIA, DELAWARE, GREENE, OTSEGO, SCHOHARI
SULLIVAN, ULSTER, PART OF BROOME, PART OF DUTCHESS, PART OF
MONTGOMERY, & PART OF RENSSALAER
CANDIDATES:
JULIAN SCHRIEBMAN
JOEL TYNER

DISTRICT 23RD
COUNTIES: ALLEGHENY, CATTARAUGUS, CHATAUQUA, CHEMUNG,
SCHUYLER, SENECA, STEUBEN, TOMPKINS, YATES, PART OF ONTARIO
& PART OF TIOGA
CANDIDATES:
NATE SHINAGAWA
MELISSA K. DOBSON
LESLIE DANKS BURKE

The Above Candidates were certified by the Board of Elections as of May 22, 2012

New York is the tail that wags the dog; we are the financial, cultural and intellectual capital of the world. We, however, have let ourselves be hijacked by deep pocket, fast talking, megalomaniacal despots, instead of standing up for what we know is right.

Time to draw that line in the sand and make sure we emerge victorious - so when the smoke clears we've gotten our state and community back.

See you at the polls, TUESDAY, JUNE 26 - DON'T KEEP THIS INFO TO YOURSELVES. PASS IT ON. MAKE IT VIRAL.
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson

NACA'S BACK IN BROOKLYN BY POPULAR DEMAND

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

I am so proud to announce that we will be bringing NACA - the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America - back to Brooklyn on Saturday, March 20, for two back to back seminars at the Bed-Stuy Multiservices Center, 1958 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY

WORKSHOP I
The HOME SAVE SEMINAR from 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon, for those who are facing foreclosure or who are suffering from toxic mortgages. This workshop is specifically tailored for you to begin the process of providing you with counseling services and having your mortgages completely restructured.

WORKSHOP II
FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS, from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM will be specifically tailored for those who are looking to own their own home, and who are in need of the down payment, closing costs and mortgage to do so.

Participation in the workshop is mandatory to access NACA’s services, so participants are required to be there for the entire length of time. Of course, those who are facing emergency situations with their mortgages should bring their paperwork with them.

It is recommended that you go on line and sign up with NACA in advance, get your unique I.D. number ahead of time. While NACA provides free books, it is advised that you bring a notebook and be prepared to take notes. The concept is to educate you while assisting you, so this is not a passive process, but a participatory process.

Participating in NACA’s training is mandatory. NACA is very strict in their formulation of helping people maintain affordable mortgages - they have to be; otherwise the problem becomes a recurring one. Concomitant with their foreclosure prevention program is their home buyer program, which provides first time home buyers with “the best mortgage,” which includes free down payment and closing costs, as well as a mortgage that is 1% below the current prime rate. The services are for primary residential purchases of 1-4 family homes - you must live in the home you purchase. It is not for investors. NACA's programs are predicated on an informed and prepared consumer. The mandatory two-hour workshop that NACA requires their clients to participate in before they provide any service to them.

NACA’s East Coast Regional Director, Ben Codjoe, and Newark, NJ Directors Kerrey Campbell and Darwin Munroe, in conjunction with the offices of Congresswoman Yvette Clarke’s, Assemblymembers Hakeem Jeffries, Annette Robinson, Nick Perry, Frank Boyland, Jr., Councilmember Al Vann, and the cooperation and support of Wayne Devonish, Executive Director of the Bed-Stuy Multiservices Center, are working to provide a permanent NACA office in Brooklyn, NY.

The last time we presented NACA in Brooklyn, it was a bitter cold Saturday, January 2, 2010 - the day after New Years! 700 Brooklynites and people from other communities braved the intense cold to come to participate in the first phase of a comprehensive foreclosure and mortgage restructuring program. So intent were these families to be part of the program, many actually started arriving at 7:00 AM. The temperature was 16 degrees!!  Fortunately for them, the Boys and Girls High security and custodial staff did not force them to suffer outside, but let them in to wait in the warmth of the auditorium. Fortunately, (hopefully) the week end of March 20 (the day before my birthday, March 21) will be beautiful, sunny and balmy.

It's a prelude to what used to be called the homebuying season. There are many "bargains" to be had now that the prices are beginning to come back down to reality, and the interest rates are low. You can actually purchase a home where the mortgage will be the same or less than your rent. This is the time to gather yourselves, family members, friends, and be there to take proper (notice I said proper) advantage of these opportunities to actually own a home that you can afford, live in and enjoy. NACA also controls your interactions with realtors to ensure you are receiving appropriate service in finding an affordable home, and are not being steered by some realtor into a purchase that is more motivated by their commission check than by your ongoing ability to pay and remain in your home. A prepared consumer is a successful consumer. So come out, learn to purchase a home the "NACA" way, and join the ranks of those who are becoming a force for good in your community, your neighborhood, your borough.

NACA was formed 23 years ago to address the then predatory practices that homebuyers faced in Boston, MA. Bruce Marks, at that time a union leader, began leading union members against banks that were guilty of redlining or charging overly high interest rates for homes in certain neighborhoods. Their success in forcing banks to provide equitable services through guerilla methods has saved thousands of homes, and has provided even more opportunities for low and moderate income hardworking Americans to be home owners. However, their program is neither based on income or credit rating. The premise is to control the cost of the property, to make sure the home is the primary residence and affordable.

Tensions that usually arise amongst individuals and families because of being victimized, are mitigated. The counselors from NACA make them realize that all have been ripped off by an uncaring system; that turning on each other does not resolve the problems.  The inordinate amount of cooperation to remedy toxic mortgages will be done as a community, as neighbors, not as adversaries. Divide and conquer has been the ruin of so many good intentions. NACA brings the cooperation, coordination, muscle, money and empowerment to help Main Streeters regardless of whether it’s saving or purchasing a home.

Of course the goal is to establish a permanent NACA Office in Brooklyn, NY. Currently the closest NACA center is in Newark, New Jersey,  in the Robert Treatt Hotel, 50 Park Place (next door to NJPAC).  It’s been there for nearly 10 years.  Needless to say they are inundated.  They are literally handling two states -- New York and New Jersey.  There are also three NACA Centers in Connecticut, one in Philadelphia, and one in Washington, DC.

For twenty-three years NACA has been in existence and has been in the service of fighting for people who have been ripped off by predatory lenders, red lined by banks, or whose mortgages started off low and ended up totally toxic.  NACA is a HUD approved non-profit organization.

To view the interviews with the participants at Boys and Girls High, NACA or the Javitts December Home Save workshop, log on to ON THE SPOT, www.onthespot.com.  For further detailed information on NACA, log on to www.naca.com. 

As new events are brought to the community, you can also check out this blog, gloria-dulan-Wilson.blogspot.com.  Make sure you spread the word and keep the knowledge going and growing. If you have recommendations or knowledge of other programs that would be beneficial to the Eclectically Black community, please feel free send it to us on the blog. We look forward to hearing from you.

Again, NACA in Brooklyn, Saturday, March 20, 2010 at the Bed-Stuy Multi-Services Center Auditorium, 1958 Fulton Street, between Ralph and Howard. Take the A/C train to Ralph Ave., the B 25 Bus to Ralph and Howard Stop. See you there.

Stay Blessed &
ECLETICALLY BLACK

Gloria Dulan-Wilson