VOTE FOR COMMUNITY CANDIDATES

Early voting begins Saturday, October 29 thru Sunday November 6. General Election Voting Day is Tuesday, November 8 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. We urge our readers to get out and vote in Honor of Our ancestors Who Fought, Bled and Died So That We Could Have the Right!

Currently there is only one African American male on the City Court Bench. Because most of the people who come through City Court are people of color, it is critical that we increase the Black representation on the bench! Support the following community candidates! Vote early to ensure that your vote counts! •Judge Pridgen became the city’s fist female chief Judge this summer when Mayor Brown officially appointed her to the post. She's replaced judge Craig Hannah, who was recently appointed to the New York State Supreme Court. Judge Pridgen has served on the city court for more than seven years, after starting in 2015 as the youngest City Court Judge.

•Attorneys Samuel Davis and Gary Wilson were also appointed to filled the two vacancies on the city court bench his summer by Mayor Brown. Davis, a Chicago native, moved to Buffalo in 1999 to practice criminal, family, and personal injury law.

•Wilson, a member of the LGBTQ community, previously served as principal law clerk to a State Supreme Court justice. •Judge Craig Hannah was appointed to the Buffalo City Court in January 2006 by Mayor Brown. Later that year, he was elected to a 10-year term and in 2016, Judge Hannah was re-elected to a second 10-year term. In 2019, he was appointed Chief Judge of the Buffalo City Court and Supervising Judge for the 11 City Courts within the Eight Judicial District. On June 3, 2022, Judge Hannah was appointed Justice of the New York State Supreme Court by Governor Kathy Hochul. He has risen to national fame as the presiding judge of the first opioid intervention court in the United States, established in May 2017. He has been featured by such major publications as the New York Times, NBC News, the Denver Post and HBO Vice New York Times, NBC News, the Denver Post and HBO Vice News -School Board Candidates-

This year is also the first year that school board candidates will be on the ballot. All of the community candidates - including Paulette Woods, Central District; Terrance Heard, Memberat-Large; Sharon Belton-Cottman, Ferry District; and Dr. Kathy Evans-Brown East District - are running unopposed except for West District member Jennifer Mecozzi.

Support your school board candidates!!

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR QUESTIONS:

EARLY VOTING LOCATIONS

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR QUESTIONS: Phone (716)858-8891 Website: elections.erie.gov

Roland Martin Speaks Truth to Power at NAACP Awards Dinner

Five months after one of this nation’s worst racist fueled massacres at the hands of a young White supremacist took the lives of 10 of Buffalo East side’s most beloved citizens, award-winning journalist Roland Martin delivered a message at the 54th Annual NAACP Awards Dinner unlike any we’ve had the opportunity to hear in a very long time.

His words – plain and straight to the point - echoed Malcolm and Martin, Fannie Lou and Frederick, and placed the madness in historical perspective. And for those of us who had become weary of the political grandstanding, the truths and confirmations he shared left us reenergized and hopeful.

His address was, in essence, a call to action. -What’s Going On?-

“We’re living in a time in this country where folks are operating on ‘White fear' of a changing America,” he said in his opening statement. “Twenty-one years from now we will be a nation of color and there is a segment of White America who cannot handle the fact they won’t be in full control of this country.

“We need to understand what is literally happening right now politically … and really what the blowback is all about,” Martin continued, “It’s all about power. Power means resources. It means control.”

Throughout his talk he touched upon every oppressive condition Blacks have suffered since we reached these shores from enslavement and lynching to Jim crow and voter suppression.

“We’ve been hopping over hurtles and dodging bullets trying to vote – Don't act like we’ve had a free pass...." He pointed out that not only are the Red states “in the wrong” – but even New York State "had some of the worse voting laws” until recently.

"When I talk about changes that should be made there are also some Blue states and Democrats that need to be gut checked,” he said to applause. He continued: “If you are standing in the way of Black progress – Democrat or Republican – trust me I will try to mow you down because I don’t care if you have a D or R or elephant or donkey - I do understand that there are some folks… who are Democrat and progressive who are actually more of an obstacle to our progress than some folks who are Republican.”

He said that the next step after having a clear understanding of what we’re up against is to look at public policy in a different way and basically ask, “how are things changing” and if you want to understand what is happening economically “you should always follow the money.”

“What you should be asking here in Buffalo is how much money are we getting from the state, county, city etc. We've got to challenge political leaders and say if you want Black votes then I need to see Black dollars, because our communities cannot and will not be rebuilt if based upon White philanthropy.”

“I can guarantee you if you start having money conversations in Buffalo its going to be a whole different attitude the way People look at you…" -Strategy-

Martin reminded us that Dr. King in his classic book “Where Do We Go From Here” cited four institutions that are key to Black liberation: The Black church, the Black press, Black fraternities and sororities and Black professional organizations.

"What are we doing with all these organizations? Are we simply having meetings and talking among ourselves, feeling good talking about the same old stuff ?

“The only way we are going to literally change our communities is if we are willing to use the collective power that is in this room – not individual power - to change it.

"Now the question is what kind of America do you want your children to grow up in …and their children’s children? So your focus should not be trying to hold on to the America of the past but embrace the America of the future.

"I’m warning everybody in here – this is going to be a fight we’re going to have to deal with. January 6 was not an aberration. We see election deniers running for office as we speak. We’re seeing folk who want to rewrite the constitution to limit access to the ballot,… who want to hold on to power as much as they can and the only way we’re going to stop them is if we get down, dirty, and grimy and fight and it's not going to happen over night….this is literally going to be a multigenerational battle.

"My suggestion to everyone…you’ve got to be willing to fight…this is a battle that we have been prepared for; that our ancestors have fought for us. Now its our time to step up in battle and if anybody understands how serious this is tell them exactly what my Alpha brother Vertner Woodson Tandy said, 'We will fight till hell freezes over and then we will fight on the ice!' "

(Roland S. Martin, renowned journalist, is the host and managing editor of #RolandMartinUnfiltered, the first daily online show in history focused on news and analysis of politics, entertainment, sports and culture from an explicitly African American perspective. His latest book, “White Fear: How The Browning Of America Is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds" is available at Zawadi. Books .