I have place I call home. New Jersey where I was born and raised and LA where I lived for nearly 20 years.
I’m from North Jersey – right across the George Washington bridge – so I spent a lot of time in Harlem. My dad took us to cultural events; my mother worked on 125th St. across from the old Cotton Club and she loved taking us to the Apollo. We had friends in Harlem and,of course, we did a lot of shopping there. I lived in my second home — Los Angeles, CA – for nearly 20 years and loved every second.
I have followed the politics in both places and know how much Congressman Charlie Rangle and Congresswoman Maxine Waters have done for their communities and how much they are loved. I’m usually lukewarm on politicians, especially Democrats & Republicans. And yes, I have a list of concerns with President Obama. But, Rangle and Waters, I am very prayerful that it turns out that they have done nothing wrong.
I understand the rage of some people that a black man who has devoted his life to serving the community has a vacation “villa.” Of course he has no right! Just like First Lady Michelle Obama has no right to take a vacation in Spain. “We” have not earned a right to vacations yet.
But I digress. This is a great show of support in the SF Bay View newspaper. The statements are by Joseph Debro, president of Bay Area Black Builders and founder of the National Association of Minority Contractors; Danny Bakewell Sr., chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the Black Press of America; and Len Canty of the Black Economic Council
Black leaders stand strong for Congresswoman Maxine Waters, champion of economic justice
Congresswoman Waters has no ethics violations – by Joseph Debro, President, Bay Area Black Builders
Congresswoman Maxine Waters, champion of economic justiceBecause Maxine Waters and I are very good friends, I have gotten many calls regarding the story in the press about a possible ethics violation. The press is doing the work of its right wing owners. There was no ethics violation.
This story when run opposite the Charlie Rangel story makes good theater. It makes the Democrats look corrupt. There are more than eight ethics investigations being pushed against members of the Congressional Black Caucus. This is 20 percent of the Black Caucus. If there were justice in the application of the Office of Congressional Ethics, the number of white members being investigated would be 80. There is in fact only one such investigation.
Such investigations erode confidence and make our Black politicians even more reluctant to help Black people. I would like to set the record straight. This story is more than a year old. The New York Times asked Maxine how could a Black woman and her husband accumulate $500,000. The Times would be amazed at how much wealth there is in the Black community.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner or some member of his staff ratted Maxine Waters out. They are upset that Maxine criticizes them for an all-white staff and an all-white distribution of the $700 billion worth of TARP money. Treasury reported that Maxine had a conflict of interest when she advocated for Black banks. She advocated for the Black Bankers Association, who got almost no TARP money. One of its member banks is a bank in which her husband has a stake. The bank at issue eventually got $12 million out of $700 billion. She did not influence that decision.