Brooklyn Ron

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams spoke with anger about gentrification. Criticism was largely from whites, including the mainstream media. Video is here. Controversial part begins toward end, at about 6 minutes. Thoughtful comments welcome

Boston Globe: Wed. eve, Deval meets with hundreds in home state, Mass, an ‘event (that) came after 15 different events in 3 states this week.’ Attendees cite his book, saying he’s ‘a Reason to Believe.’

[caption: BOSTON, MA - 01/22/2020 Governor Deval Patrick speaks on stage during a community celebration at Prince Hall in Boston, kicking off the Deval for All campaign in Massachusetts. Hundreds of supporters filled the hall to celebrate the Governor's campaign, which came on the heels of the campaign's announcement of six Massachusetts staff members. Erin Clark / Globe Staff THE BOSTON GLOBE/GLOBE STAFF]

 

(Note: The reference to Deval's book, "A Reason to Believe: Lessons from an Improbable Life", comes from Deloris Richardson, who's cited in this Boston Globe article saying, "I'm going to volunteer for his campaign because I still believe in him.")

 

 

On MLK Day-2 Black ‘First Ladies.’ Diane Patrick told ABC News she sought advice from Michelle Obama before husband Deval entered race. Diane wants to ‘emulate’ Michelle. Both are power lawyers and focus on education, mental health, women's rights

[Diane Patrick at campaign event in Nashua, N.H., Jan. 18, 2020. Credit: Christopher S. Donato/ABC News]

Diane gets personal here about her past life, pre-Deval, and her struggles as Deval’s wife during his first term as governor of Mass. Her quality of openness drew expressions of love back then from crowds all around the state.

BOSTON GLOBE ARTICLE

Deval Patrick, in Nevada on Fri., Interviewed by The Review-Journal. Patrick’s 8 Years as Mass. Gov. Were State’s Only Dem Years Since 1990. He Says He was Term-Limited by Wife Diane, Who Said, ‘Come Home!’ Now Diane Says, Let’s Go Take D.C.😂

[tap image to see/hear the interview]

Washington Post Editorial: ‘Democrats Should Be Pleased There is Still Time in Their Tumultuous Campaign for [Deval Patrick] to Make His Case.’

Here find the Post editorial. You'll also find a transcript of the Post interview with him, and audio. Deval is himself, open, funny, self-effacing, erudite, proud of being from the South Side of Chicago

Brilliant. Deval Plays Up Background as Dem Gov. of a State That Was Republican and His Up-the-Ladder Climb From South Side of Chicago to Venues of Power. (This Ad Ran During Tuesday's Debate.) But, Dev, Don't Forget Your Years Living in Brooklyn!

The only Black presidential candidate left won’t be on the debate stage - but he’ll have an ad running on CNN as the CNN debate takes place tonight!

Deval Patrick puts it bluntly: "I am trying to win New Hampshire and South Carolina. We are building up to that."

 

CNN reports Patrick raised $2.2 million in the final six weeks of the fourth quarter and says that figure is “a decent haul for a nascent campaign.”

 

Here’s the trip: The money will “allow the governor to air an ad touting his candidacy on CNN in New Hampshire during Tuesday night's CNN debate...”

 

[CNN caption: Former Massachusetts governor and current U.S. presidential candidate Deval Patrick greets volunteers during the Manchester Day of Action Canvass Kickoff in downtown Manchester, NH on Dec. 20, 2019.]

CNN says a super PAC is slated to spend at least $2 million on ads supporting Patrick in New Hampshire...

 

Patrick will host a top-dollar fundraiser, including an event hosted by Marty Nesbitt, an American businessman and Barack Obama's 2008 campaign treasurer...

 

Regarding personal bonds and overlapping of respective political strategies, Obama is arguably closer to Patrick than to Biden, who was Obama’s super loyal Vice President. It’s known that Obama’s affection for Patrick runs deep.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/13/politics/deval-patrick-raises-2-million/index.html

Time to Shed a Tear? Kim and will.i.am

If you have time, this 13 minutes is worth watching. If you’re like me, you’ll pleasantly remember Black Eyed Peas. If you’re like me, you might have no recollection of Kim Hill. Here she may make you fall in love again with truth-telling, and maybe even make you want to shed a little tear.

https://youtu.be/KkSDNxM1w58

Rest in Peace, Professor William McFeely

At least I got a chance to see him this year and thank him for all he did for me.

Professor William McFeely was the advisor on my senior essay, which I did 49 years ago. He was steeped in nineteenth century history, and history somehow led me to journalism.

McFeely was extraordinarily generous over the decades. He’d read and comment on anything I sent. He’d write recommendations as I moved from job to job with seeming endlessness.

This past March, Jeremy Travis, a criminal justice scholar and former President of John Jay College, reached out and suggested we visit Professor McFeely up in Sleepy Hollow. We spent the day with him, going out for lunch and chatting with in his apartment. He was living alone. His wife Mary Drake McFeely had died last year.

Rest In Peace, William McFeely. Thanks again, Jeremy.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/13/books/william-mcfeely-pulitzer-winning-historian-dies-as-89.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Left to righ: Jeremy Travis, William McFeely, BrooklynRon