Checkmate: The System Working the Way it's Supposed to

Greetings!

Given the economic chaos in the United States, it’s probably hard to be optimistic about anything much less the political landscape on a local or national level.

Over the last two weeks I have renewed optimism in the basic tenets of the political system. Setting aside one’s ego, anyone who is actively pursuing or working in public service must be for his/her constituents. Quite simply he or she must be prepared to forsake their own litmus test of right and wrong and adopt the one that is going to reduce or eliminate the noise that makes it difficult for them to lead. What you do as Joe or Suzy Public may not be something Mayor Joe or Senator Suzy could do as an elected official.

This simple methodology is challenged over and over again by the folks we elect, but nothing hurts more than when this behavior comes from people in your community. What adds salt to these wounds is the fact that they are unwilling to own up to these missteps and ethical challenges by offering up arrogance, poor excuses, or wide eyed ignorance. This often disturbs me because not only are Black people impacted now, but it jeopardizes the future of our children as they are more meticulously scrutinized for the wrongs of their predecessors. It frustrates me because many of us are willing to forgive, forget and even enable this behavior to continue.

I am pleased to see Kwame Kilpatrick plead guilty, even to lesser charges so that at least he experiences CONSEQUENCE. He completed his last day in office at 12 noon yesterday and the family vacated the Manoogian Mansion once the final moving box was loaded onto the truck. This comes after a long torturous display of arrogance that started almost as soon as the Mayor took office. Now the good people of Detroit have been put of their misery as he spends four months in jail and spend many more months on probation. Even as justice was being served many in the Black community felt this punishment was too harsh because he was disbarred for being convicted of two felony counts (which by the way is a consequence for any lawyer convicted of two felonies in the state of Michigan). Many asked – how will he make a living? Welcome to our world Mayor Kilpatrick – dust off your resume, identify your skills, and figure out how you are going to explain that YES next to – have you been convicted of any felony that has not been annulled, expunged, sealed or statutorily expunged?

In Massachusetts, State Senator Dianne Wilkerson lost her seat to a young Latina woman because she continued to be “ethically challenged” – failure to file taxes, a brush with perjury charges, and a list of imaginary luminaries whose names appeared on her nomination sheets forcing a sticker campaign to get her back into office. The excuses were many – she had to pay the Fruits of Islam for a security detail, the payment fell behind the dresser, the dog ate her homework – everything but accountability and true atonement. My support waned many years back but my patience was maxed out in July 2008 when Senator Wilkerson had to shell out $10,000 and “forgive” a $30,000 debt “owed” to her from her political committee because of the poor record keeping of her 2006 campaign. That prompted me to reach out to Diaz’s campaign to do whatever I could do help her win this election. Although it was a small effort, I knew I had to be available. I couldn’t stay on the sideline and watch this trickery again. I guess this sentiment was shared by many. Sonia Chang-Diaz is now the State senator for my area and Dianne is faced with dusting off her resume and reminiscing about the days when she had the ability and the law license to join a downtown firm.

Not every battle will be won, but these two examples prove to me not to give up. It also demonstrates that we all can help to move the political machine in the right direction – conversing with people who are on the fence about your candidate, registering to vote, helping others to register to vote, canvassing your neighborhood, taking your elderly and disabled to the polls, or working your polls. Of course there is the obvious that I will not leave unsaid – VOTE.

I would love to hear your thoughts.

With that, I wish you all the best today and always.

G