Activating Social Solutions: Essential Keys to Progress, 2nd Ed. (2020) pp. 128-130
“Community Development Corporations are politically linked to the elected Official/s of the day and have become their community conduit for resources. Federal and State funding projects are approved and promulgated through their offices. Voting patterns are changing as more and more new residents will vote for others, and those who have assisted in the disenfranchisement of local Kemetic residents as Elected Officials will become outvoted and disenfranchised themselves lacking a voter base. The name of the neighborhood, Oceanhill-Brownsville has been changed to Saratoga Square and there is no historical continuity with which to bind original residents. Crooked politicians have done no good for the community residents who voted them into office. It’s a royal mess! Another travesty! S-O-S! How can we Save-Our-Selves?
As recently as 2017, there is the case of John Sampson, the former New York State Senate Democratic leader, District 19, in southeastern Brooklyn. He formerly served as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary and Senate Health Committees. Sampson was sentenced to concurrent 5 years for embezzlement of public funds. This leads to another major concern: Redistricting – the reason political and community development fell apart in Central Brooklyn. Check out the “Brooklyn Waffle.”
https://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/john-sampson-corruption-sentence-1.30511983
The Brooklyn Waffle
District 19 is located in southeastern Brooklyn, including some or all of the neighborhoods of Canarsie, East New York, Brownsville, Mill Basin, Sheepshead Bay, Bergen Beach, Marine Park, Flatlands, and Ocean Hill.[1][3]
The district overlaps with New York's 7th, 8th, 9th, and 11th congressional districts, and with the 41st, 42nd, 45th, 54th, 55th, 58th, 59th, and 60th districts of the New York State Assembly.[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Sampson
These overlaps of Election Districts were designed to prevent local community development by disallowing plans for new projects. Throughout the 1990s I was a resident of Ocean Hill Brownsville and member of the East Fulton Street Redevelopment Corporation – also known as The East Fulton Street Group, Executive Director, the late Rev. James H. Daniel, Jr. We presented development projects and were sent from one Community Planning Committee or politician to another and were told, “That does not fit our plan.” When we inquired of the plan, they responded, “It’s still in development and we’re not ready to make it public.”
A 30-year retrospective reveals that all of Central Brooklyn was slated for funding “In Fill” housing in the vacant lots, business development for new immigrants supported with publicly and privately funded resources – Also Known As – Gentrification. Local residents were not included in the plans.””