Basil Paterson and New York Food and Politics Part 2
Sylvia's, a legendary soul-food restaurant in Harlem, New York (courtesy of the Library of Congress)
The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People founded in 1909) originally planned to hold its annual convention in Boston during August of 2020. Due to covid, the event is being held virtually. We decided to run a series as a way of educating our readers about the organization’s history.
In doing research for my forthcoming book Upsetting the Apple Cart: Black-Latino Coalitions in New York City from Protest to Public Office (Columbia University Press, October 2014), I interviewed Harlem native, former NAACP Harlem branch president, CORE member, politician, and 1199 attorney Basil Paterson. He died on April 16, 2014. During the interview I asked him the question why the opposition movement in the city choice David Dinkins as their candidate to run against the once popular incumbent mayor Ed Koch in the democratic primary? Paterson told me that labor leaders met at a New York restaurant after Jackson won New York City’s (NYC) Democratic primary for President but lost New York State in 1988. Labor viewed Jackson’s NYC victory as a democratic opening and wanted Paterson run against Koch. “I no longer had the interest and I also thought what I believed, the guy you need to induce to run is David Dinkins,” said Paterson, “David did not offend anybody. I know I had” as the former president of the Harlem NAACP and member of CORE in during the civil rights movement.
Support Fred:
Follow Fred:
