Thursday, October 30, 2008

A Diane Wilkerson resignation would be good

There seems to be a crisis in black political leadership in my old home town of Boston. With calls Massachusetts Senator Diane Wilkerson's resignation after being busted by the FBI there are black politicans and a few Roxbury residents that seem to support her culture of corruption.

It seems like old school black leadership wants the status quo, while Latino Americans are ready to take on the old school black leadership, who have failed black residents of Boston to a large degree.

Bloggers from the left, and right, newspapers from the center, the left and right, along with TV outlets have been following local and national reaction of the arrest of State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson. This is the first time, in many months that this AAPP has agreed with a black Republican, particularly a black republican who called, what he termed, a rat named Dianne out.

One of the more strange aspects of this story is the fact that a number of black leaders are backing this crook. These black leaders, in my hometown of Boston are sounding like the moonbats who say, the GOP racist made Senator(D) Dianne Wilkerson take bribes. WHAT! You have got to be kidding me.

Oh, there is more...

diane wilkerson fbi photodianne wilkerson accepts cash bribedianne wilkerson stuffs cash into bra

The Boston Globe is reporting that a Democratic lawmaker is expected to move today to expel Dianne Wilkerson from the state Senate after she was ensnared in an FBI corruption probe and accused of accepting $23,500 in bribes.

The Boston Globe reports, State Senator Michael W. Morrissey will move to expel Wilkerson from the Senate today when Democrats caucus behind closed doors, according to a senior State House source whom Morrissey consulted. The move by the Quincy Democrat will put his colleagues on the line and test whether Wilkerson has any goodwill remaining in the Senate.

Wilkerson was spotted in a car on Bowdoin Street outside the State House at 10:30 a.m., but she did not enter the building. A member of Wilkerson's staff informed State House officials that she will not attend the caucus.

It is highly unusual for a lawmaker to be expelled from a legislative body before they have been convicted of a crime. No one has been thrown out of the state Senate for corruption since the 1970s, when two members were convicted of extortion for accepting kickbacks from a construction firm building the campus of the University of Massachusetts at Boston. In what became known as the MBM scandal after the McKee-Berger-Mansueto construction firm, Joseph J.C. DiCarlo, a Democrat from Revere, and Ronald C. MacKenzie, a Republican from Burlington, were both thrown out of the Senate after their convictions.

Morrissey was one of several lawmakers whose records were subpoenaed in the FBI probe of Wilkerson. The subpoena asks for all records reflecting the daily activities from May 15, 2007, through June 1, 2008, of Morrissey, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing. He is cochairman of the Consumer Protection Committee and is alleged to be among the politicians Wilkerson persuaded to help her secure a liquor license for a Roxbury nightclub.

"I am cooperating fully with any requests the US attorney has, and I'd be happy to meet with them to discuss the case," Morrissey said in an interview on Wednesday. More HERE

There is even more

Now Chuck Turner has the US vs Them, Old blacks Vs. New Blacks, Old Latino Vs. New Latino thing going on. the old school leadership playing old school games that create conflict within communities.

Get this, As reported in My South End.com, Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner is having none of this. Mr. Turner says, "My support for Senator Wilkerson’s sticker campaign is not based on race but on my view that those of us who live in the "old" part of the District in the tough times ahead need someone in the State Senate who has a history of leadership and working familiarity with our community, organizational concerns, and needs. While times have changed, the community of interests for the majority of people in the Roxbury-Dorchester part of the District remains much the same as in the 70s-racial justice, economic parity, and the development of a network of institutions that will help us with the development of our children.

Since Ms. Chang-Diaz, whose base is in the "new" part of the district, has had little contact and familiarity with the people and organizations of the "old" part of the District, I do not think she will be able to provide the leadership or protection of our interests in the Senate that we need. That’s why I continue to support Dianne Wilkerson for State Senate.

WANT MORE? Read more of the surprising US vs Them letter from Black City Councilman Chuck Turner.

Letter to The Editor:

I resent the accusation that my support and the support of other African-Americans for Dianne Wilkerson’s sticker campaign in the November Second Suffolk Senatorial District (District) race is based on the thought that an "African-American" is entitled to the seat.

The District was created to enable the Black and Latino community in the geographical heart of Boston to elect a State Senator to represent the "community of interests" that held us together. While race was a significant part of our shared interests, the shared interests also included our economic and social situation and the fact that we were actively engaged in a fight against racial discrimination.

Remember, the seat was created in 1974 on the eve of the busing era. We were struggling in the courts to desegregate the MBTA, the Boston Police Department, the Fire Department. Discrimination was rampant not just against Blacks but all people of color. The District was consciously created as a safe seat to give the Black and Latino community and its organizations a base in the Senate to support our fight against the ongoing racial oppression in Boston. Senators Bolling, Owens and Wilkerson were elected to the seat not because of their race but because they were viewed as leaders in Boston’s Black and Latino struggle for justice.

Mel King and Kay Gibbs in a recent commentary on the creation of the Second Suffolk Senatorial District and the race for the seat said, "The objective was to create a new district that was a ’community of interest’ among voters of similar backgrounds, interests, and needs, just as other neighborhoods in the proposed new district map were ethnically, economically, ideologically, and politically cohesive."

That statement speaks to the heart of the dilemma. The reality is that the Second Suffolk Senatorial District is not the same District that was created in 1974. In order to create a second Senate seat where a person of color could be elected (a seat now occupied by Senator Hart), Senator Wilkerson designed a new alignment for the District by dropping precincts that were predominantly Black while adding precincts from Jamaica Plain, Back Bay, and Chinatown that were collectively predominantly white. Also, the addition of Jamaica Plain and Back Bay changed the economic demographics of the district. The reality is that the community of interests that brought the District together in 1974 is no longer there in the "ethnically, economically, ideologically, and politically cohesive" manner referenced by Mr. King and Ms. Gibbs.

My support for Senator Wilkerson’s sticker campaign is not based on race but on my view that those of us who live in the "old" part of the District in the tough times ahead need someone in the State Senate who has a history of leadership and working familiarity with our community, organizational concerns, and needs. While times have changed, the community of interests for the majority of people in the Roxbury-Dorchester part of the District remains much the same as in the 70s-racial justice, economic parity, and the development of a network of institutions that will help us with the development of our children.

Since Ms. Chang-Diaz, whose base is in the "new" part of the district, has had little contact and familiarity with the people and organizations of the "old" part of the District, I do not think she will be able to provide the leadership or protection of our interests in the Senate that we need. That’s why I continue to support Dianne Wilkerson for State Senate.

I find it ironic that after a decade in which leaders in Boston’s African-American political community a) played a leadership role in the development of the New Majority to empower people of color politically across racial lines; b) provided active support for the candidacy of Felix Arroyo who topped the City Council At-Large ticket in predominantly Black precincts; c) provided active support for the candidacy of Sam Yoon who came in second to Felix in the Council At-Large race in predominantly black precincts, we are now being accused of supporting Dianne because she is African-American. Good Grief! Give us a break!

Chuck Turner
District 7 City Councilor

AAPP: So what do you say readers? Is this the future of black politics in this country? Us vs Them. Black vs Latinos.Or do old school folks need to stop living in the 1960's and 70's? Is there something bigger going on? I personally agree with many who have called on Wilkerson to resign immediately.

As I noted in a recent post, She has shown significant character flaws and she needs to resign. although some in Boston may disagree, I think she has disgraced her district and the black community long enough.

Throughout America and around the world your her name is political mud. She needs to let it go, go away... to prison.

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