By Nelson A. King
After her resounding victory in the
preliminary New York Primary Elections
results, Brooklyn Assemblywoman
Diana Richardson has expressed
profound gratitude to her supporters.
“Because of you and your support,
we won a resoundingly large percentage
of the early and Election Day
vote, over 70 percent,” Richardson,
the daughter of Aruban and St. Martin
immigrants, told supporters in an
email message.
“While absentee ballots won’t be
counted until July 1, it is clear that the
voters in Assembly District 43 have
overwhelmingly thrown their support
behind my campaign to continue the
important work we are doing together,”
added Richardson, who was challenged
in the Primary for the 43rd
Assembly District, in the heart of the
Caribbean community in Brooklyn,
by African American Jesse Hamilton, a
former New York State Senator.
In Tuesday’s New York Primary
Elections, Richardson defeated Jesse
Hamilton, her lone challenger, by 43.0
percentage points.
With all 87 precincts reporting,
Richardson received 8,885 votes, or
71.6 percent, to Hamilton’s 3,516 votes,
or 28.4 percent.
Hamilton was defeated a year ago
by New York State Sen. Zellnor Myrie,
whose grandmother hailed from
Jamaica, in the 20th Senatorial District
in Brooklyn.
“The results of this Primary show
that when the people elect a true blue
Democrat, who is out there every day
helping working people, who isn’t
afraid to stand up to the real estate
developers, big money interests and
machine politics, they want to see that
work continue,” Richardson said.
“The voters of the 43rd Assembly
District know that I will never stop
fighting for them, because they know
my heart is in this community,” she
added. “They have seen the results in
Albany (New York State capital): protections
for renters, criminal justice
reform, police accountability, support
for children, families, small business
owners, healthcare and public education.
“As we work to ensure that every
ballot is counted, I am honored and
humbled to receive such strong support
from across the 43rd Assembly
District, and I can’t wait to go back to
Albany to keep fighting for my constituents,”
Richardson continued.
She said she had co-sponsored a
long list of bills to increase police
accountability and end police brutality.
Caribbean Life, JULY 3-9, 2020 5
A section of the crowd at the Father’s Day Rally and march. 67th Precinct Clergy Council / GodSquad
Brooklyn faith community continues march
for justice, police reform and end of racism
By Nelson A. King
As protest marches continue across
the country, faith leaders in Brooklyn
celebrated Father’s Day with a #LetMe-
Beathe March and Rally through the
Flatbush community.
In solidarity with the Black Lives
Matter movement and support for the
families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor,
Rayshard Brooks and others whose
lives were lost by police, people of faith
on June 21 joined their sons in letting
their voices be heard.
According to organizers, the march,
which began at Nostrand and Church
avenues, travelled to Utica Avenue then
onto Synder Avenue for a rally on the
steps of Rugby Deliverance Tabernacle,
4901 Snyder Ave.
Along the way, pastors from various
houses of worship, along with elected
representatives for the Flatbush and
East Flatbush Districts – namely Congresswoman
Yvette D. Clarke, Assemblymember
Diana Richardson and State
Sen. Zelnor Myrie – led marchers with
chants, prayers and declarations.
The rally at Rugby Deliverance Tabernacle
featured members of the clergy
and youths, organizers said.
In her emotional presentation, Chaplain
Nicole Langlise shared that watching
the video of 8 min. and 46 sec.,
with a white police officer kneeling on
George Floyd’s neck, triggered memories
of her disabled brother who was
brutally beaten by police over 30 years
ago after having a seizure.
“George Floyd’s death made me realize
that we as a people are traumatized
and we have been repressing our trauma,”
Langlise said. “But no longer will
we sit and suffer in silence! No longer
will we watch our brothers and sisters
and our children be disrespected in a
country that was built on our backs!
“No longer will we ask for permission
to breathe!” she added. “We are seeing
firsthand that there’s power when we
organize and come together as one.
“This is our time! Let us embrace it. Let
us unite and not grow weary in welldoing.”
Ten-year-old Prince Amar captivated
the crowd in eloquently articulating
the gamut of emotions he was experiencing.
“I am angry because when I sit in
school, they teach me about racism as if
it is in the past,” he said. “But how am I
living it right now? I am angry because
I am told all lives matter. But how, when
all I see is my people being killed in the
streets.
“I’m happy because I see my people
coming together to fight for what’s
right,” he added. “I’m even happier to
see that there are some white people on
our side and are fighting with us.
“I’m scared, because what if I’m the
victim of a crime; but, then, a racist
white cop shows up and thinks that I am
the bad guy,” Amar continued. “Then,
instead of helping me, he ends up hurting
me. I know you are hurting. I am,
too, because, instead of having to worry
about simple kids’ problems like getting
a pass in my tests, I have to worry
about worse things like how I could end
up in jail or dead because being Black
is worse than the thing I did or did not
do wrong.”
Other rally speakers and participants
included: Archbishop Sidley Mullings;
Bishops Mervin Harding and Orlando
Findlayter; Pastors Donna Baptiste,
Louis Straker, Jr., Wilmouth Seaton
and Richard Edward Hinds; the Rev. Dr.
Charles Galbreath; Min. John Williams;
Chaplain Monique Waterman of East
Flatbush Village; and Joshua Griffith of
Flatbush Leadership Academy.
The Father’s Day #LetMeBreathe
March and Rally was organized by Bishop
Findlayter; Rev. Galbreath; Bishops
Harding and R.C. Nelson; Rev. Terry
Lee; Pastors Gil Monrose and Straker,
Jr.; and Chaplains Langlise and Monique
Chandler-Waterman.
A section of the clergy at the Father’s
Day march and rally in Flatbush,
Brooklyn. 67th Precinct Clergy
Council / GodSquad
Richardson
thanks
supporters