Promoted by Liza on 23 April.

Dear Friends and Readers of TDG,

Many friends, family, community residents (and sometimes even complete strangers to me) have urged me to run in 2009 for the Council seat of the 14th Councilmanic District (Bronx), which is currently represented by Councilwoman Maria Baez.

I will say, here, for the first time in public, that I am giving it serious consideration and hope to make a decision by August or September of this year.

Many believe that I am related to Jose Rivera (Chair of the Bronx Democratic Party) his son, Joel (NYC Councilmember & Majority Leader) and daughter Naomi (NYS Assemblywoman). While I am not, I do consider myself a friend and I believe that the Bronx, City & State are better thanks to elected officials like Jose, Joel & Naomi. If I decide to run, Without any doubts, I will reach out to them for their support.

In the coming months, I will be reaching out to several unions, elected officials, community leaders and friends and get their take on a possible HAILE RIVERA FOR CITY COUNCIL candidacy.

Thank you for reading this message. If you ahve any questions, please feel free to email them to me at: hailerivera@yahoo.com  read more »

Location

If your home in the rain or at work you should check this out as the movement after Don Imus begins in dealing with the issues with the words used by him and others.

Here is the info:

KEVIN POWELL, noted writer, political activist, and hiphop historian, has been invited to lead a live radio discussion on the aftermath of the Don Imus situation AND the state of hiphop today, on New York City's number one radio station, Power 105.1 FM. In an historic move, Power 105.1 is eliminating advertising for one day to open up its airwaves to highlight the changes the station plans on making in its content and presentation.

Monday, April 16, 2007
8AM-10AM EST
Power 105.1 FM radio in the New York City metropolitan area
OR you can listen on the web at www.power1051fm.com, keyword LISTEN OR LISTEN LIVE

Over the last week the Don Imus fiasco as brought out a plethora of emotions, comments, and discussion. The one that was most prevalent is the issue of the "Double Standard".

Why is it OK for someone black to say it but not Imus? Well first as an African American I do not think its OK for anyone of any background to make such comments. Not all of Black America agrees with the music(rappers) and media(entertainers) that promote and portray the language such as what Don Imus said. Black America is as diverse as America itself on issues and ideas including this one. I do believe however with the fall of Don Imus we must turn our attention to hip hop music and other media outlets. This is the fight that will be fought long and hard on all sides.

First dealing with music. Hip Hop Music is a multi-million dollar industry. In particular "gangsta" rap and music with sexual content. This is what sells. So you now must ask not only the people who make the music to change but the people who give them millions to stop promoting it. Are these people willing to lose money to help stop the culture of violence, hate and sexism to save the children who listen to this music of all ages and ethnic backgrounds? Of course not.  read more »

Come meet some of our new State Legislators and get to the know the Manhattan Young Dems!

MYD SPRING SOCIAL
“A New Era in Local Politics” Spring Social
Wednesday, April 11th, 7 PM
Senator Bill Perkins
Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh
Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal
INVITED GUESTS

Dewey’s Flatiron
210 5th Avenue between 25th and 26th Streets
[Take the N, R to 23rd Street or 6 to 23rd Street]

COST: $5 (members) $10 (non-members)
Featuring a 50/50 raffle with Great Prizes, Drink Specials

Some time ago, we did a poll to find out what issues our readers are most concerned about. The poll received 150 responses; the poll question was What's your top New York political issue in 2007?

The results show an interesting divergence between what our readers want and what most New York blogs seem to be writing about. Nobody cares about the Presidential race (well, one respondent named it) as much as about the need to reform Albany.

Poll results and some rudimentary analysis on the flip.  read more »