Political Insider: There's still a leadership vacuum in Jersey City's African-American community

By Agustin C. Torres | The Jersey Journal
November 09, 2014 at 4:15 PM

Now and then, this column looks at the state of political leadership inside Jersey City?s African-American community because out of all the minority groups, they have been the most vocal about being ignored.

The last time I did a similar piece, the criticism was not so much about the substance but rather that I had the gall to even make any observations about African-American life. I always thought of it purely in terms of political agendas and issues that can influence the entire city.

Mid-term elections have concluded and a black leadership vacuum still exists. I?ll admit to being highly subjective in this assessment because despite some valiant attempts to improve the quality of life in these neighborhoods, the broken promises are highly visible. No one is standing by the legacies of people like defense lawyer and city activist Ray Brown and City Council members Fred Martin, Cornelius Parker and the outspoken Melissa Holloway, all deceased. The last consensus leader of the African-American community was the late Mayor Glenn Cunningham.

Let?s start the conversation with Mayor Steve Fulop?s chief of staff, Muhammed Akil, who missed the admiration boat when he ?resigned,? after the revelation of a 26-year-old speech at Northwestern that was homophobic and revealed some dark thoughts, ?all white people have a little Hitler in them.? In resigning his influential post, Akil became the invisible man before he could even be noticed.

Now the mayor has no liaison to the African-American community ? not that I ever considered Akil that link. If anything, the former right-hand man had to reach out to savvy black political operators like Eugene McKnight to make contacts. It?s difficult to get votes out of Ward F without some help from McKnight but I wouldn?t consider him a prime role model.

Yes, there are two African-American women on the City Council, Joyce Watterman and Diane Coleman. While the councilwomen say the right things, I have to wonder whether their allegiance is first to the city administration or their constituents. I?m sure they could argue that they are one and the same ? when it comes to city parks and requests for community policing. Like all council members, they understand their communities but no one is calling their neighborhoods The Sixth Borough.

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