Member-only story
Mamdani Visits ‘Little Caribbean”
Why his voice and vision matter to all immigrants—including Caribbean-Americans
By Michael Derek Roberts
Editor, CARIBBEAN TIMES NEWS
Recently, Democratic Party mayoral candidate and frontrunner Zorhan Mamdani visited “Little Caribbean” in Brooklyn and visited a number of small, Caribbean-American-owned businesses. Organized by veteran Trinidad-born political operative and community leader Ernie Skinner and Assemblywoman Monique Chandler-Waterman, the event was noticeable for the elected and other community leaders who did not show up, most still in the Andrew Cuomo political camp.
In this context, kudos to Assemblyman Brian Cunningham and City Councilmember Rita Joseph, as well as District leader Anthony Beckford, who came out to support. To be sure, the former governor won the Caribbean-American vote in the June Democratic Primary after almost all of the borough’s Black elected officials lined up in lemming-like lockstep and threw their political weight behind a deeply flawed candidate. And despite him just starting to visit the community (besides one or two flash-in-the-pan primary show-ups), it may be a case of “too little, just too late.”
“I’ve heard from small businesses about the many obstacles that they face, the endless struggles with New York City government, and its…
