By Nelson A. King
After announcing his bid last August
to contest the 21st State Senate seat in
Brooklyn, Haitian District Leader Josue
“Josh” Pierre has terminated his campaign
for that seat, disclosing instead
that he will be vying for New York City
Council in the 40th District in Brooklyn.
The 40th District is currently represented
by Pierre’s compatriot, Dr. Mathieu
Eugene, the first ever Haitian to hold
elective office in New York City Council.
Dr. Eugene’s term of office ends next
year.
“After several weeks of deliberation,
I have decided to run for City Council
in 2021 and end my campaign for State
Senate,” Pierre, a twice-elected New
York State Democratic committeeman,
representing Flatbush, Brooklyn, told
Caribbean Life on Monday.
“Since the summer, I have talked
with countless community members in
Flatbush about the need for progressive
leadership with initiative and an understanding
of the most pressing issues we
face locally,” he added. “However, it has
also become clear that there is continued
concern about the future leadership
of the 40th City Council District. This
district has bound Flatbush, Ditmas
Park, Kensington and Prospect Lefferts
Gardens for decades.
“By running for City Council, I will be
able to continue my years-long collaboration
with community leaders, activists
and non-profit groups who are fighting
for affordable housing, education equity,
small businesses and a better overall
quality of life,” Pierre continued.
“Time and again, people I’ve met in
Flatbush, while campaigning for the
State Senate seat, expressed the need
to fill the void of effective representation
that will push the City’s government
to create significant, real affordable
housing opportunities for our seniors,
resources for homeless working
families, fund safe recreational spaces
for our children, advocate for affordable
health care for all, improve our subways,
and push for a robust presence of mental
health professionals in our public
schools rather than over-policing our
kids,” he said.
Caribbean Life, Feb. 28-Mar. 5, 2020 3
Praise Team sings “There’s a Spirit in this Place.” Photo by Nelson A. King
Fenimore church celebrates
Black History Month
By Nelson A. King
Parishioners and visitors at the predominantly
Caribbean Fenimore Street
United Methodist Church in Brooklyn
were treated on Sunday to an exhilarating
all-day celebration marking Black
History Month.
Commencing with a near-four-hourlong
Worship Service in the church’s
sanctuary, the celebration culminated
with a cultural package in the Fellowship
Hall that spanned almost three hours,
as congregants and guests feasted on
Caribbean, African and African American
delicacies, and were enthralled by
speeches, singing, dancing and drumming,
among other things, reflective of
Black’s heritage.
The Cultural Committee, headed by
retired Trinidadian Registered Nurse
Marlene Ferguson, also honored church
members, Jamaican mother and daughter
Lola Clark and Diane Mitchell; Trinidadian
Brenda Hutto-Lucas; and African
Americans Dr. Marguerite Thompson
and Mildred Hurlock.
Fenimore Street United Methodist
Church, on the corner of Fenimore
Street and Rogers Avenue, is considered
a mini United Nations, with members
from several Caribbean countries, as
well as from countries in Central and
South America and Africa.
With a sampling of African Americans,
Vincentians, Jamaicans, Barbadians
and Guyanese, however, predominate.
“We are kings and queens, princes
and princesses,” said the church’s African
American pastor, the Rev. Dr. Maxine
Nixon, during the closing ceremony.
“We thank you for coming out. We had
a preaching sermon to remind us of
who we were and whose we are.
“We not only had a good time; we
went to Motown, to Huntington Playhouse,”
she added. “Tell your neighbor
we are in this church for a purpose.”
During the Worship Service, Jamaican
born guest preacher, pastor Audley
Allen, associate pastor of the Community
Worship Center for the 7th Day
Adventist Church in Queens, told congregants
that “whatever our creed or
color, we came from a generous God.”
Preaching on the topic, “We are
Still Here”, Pastor Allen said that “if
you stand out and claim your Royal
Heritage, you’ll be stigmatized and
demonized,” but he added: “We are
made in the image of God.
“However God made you, that’s beauty,”
he affirmed. “However God made
you, you’re beautiful.
“You are more that what people may
see of you; you are a child of God,”
he added. “God has given you love
and power and a sound mind. Creative
impulses are tingling in your body.
“You’re a royal priesthood, a peculiar
people,” Pastor Allen continued.
“Reclaim your royal highness. Preach
the gospel of spiritual and social liberty.
We’re royal.”
Rev. Nixon agreed, stressing at the
end of Pastor Allen’s message that
“we’re a royal people. We have a Royal
Heritage.
“We came out of Africa, and we’re
proud of it,” she said. “We have royal
blood in us. No matter what people say
about you, you are royal. We’re kings
and queens.”
New York City Councilman Dr. Mathieu
Eugene, the Haitian-born representative
for the 40th Council District
in Brooklyn, urged congregants,
in brief remarks, to continue to fight
for the realization of the dream of slain
African American civil rights leader, the
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“It is the spirit of God that we have
come so far,” he said. “For our friend,
Dr. Martin Luther King, it was the spirit
of God that motivated him.
“There are people who are retired,
and they cannot afford to live,” he
added. “But we have to continue to fight
what Martin Luther King started, and
others. I am Black and I am proud, and
I will continue to fight.”
The service was punctuated with a
liturgical dance by the church’s youthful
dance troupe, and singing by the
Mass Choir and Praise Team, as well as
by Sharlene Etienne, “one of the song
birds” at Pastor Allen’s church.
Pastor the Rev. Dr. Maxine Nixon,
her husband Bobby (left) and Pastor
Audley Alleen during cultural
celebration in the Fellowship Hall.
Photo by Nelson A. King
Pierre vies for
compatriot’s
district seat
Haitian District Leader Josue
“Josh” Pierre. Jonathan Ystad