Major Brooklyn Democratic political club endorses Harris

A day after Brooklyn Democratic Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States, a major Democratic political club in Brooklyn, of which Clarke serves as an executive member, has thrown its full support behind Harris’s bid for the presidency.

The Rt. Rev. Silveta A. Hamilton-Gonzales, the Jamaican-born interim president of the Progressive Democrats Political Association (PDPA) and founder of the Brooklyn-based QKingdom Ministries, Inc., told Caribbean Life exclusively on Friday that her club has no hesitancy in endorsing Harris.  

For over four decades, PDPA was chaired by the matriarch and President Emeritus Dr. Una S. T. Clarke, congresswoman Clarke’s Jamaican-born mother and former New York City Council Member, the first ever Caribbean-born woman to be elected to the City Council. 

“PDPA is in the campaign with Vice President Kamala Harris,” said Rev. Hamilton-Gonzales. “In this pivotal historic moment, PDPA endorses Vice President Kamala Harris to be the next president of the United States of America. 

“This Brooklyn, New York political club is in alignment with her crucial policies that resonated with immigrants,” added Rev. Hamilton-Gonzales, stating that, during her 2020 presidential run, Harris’s “progressive stances on immigration were one of the central focuses of Caribbean Americans. 

“Vice President Harris wanted immigrants who were in the country illegally to be eligible for government healthcare,” she continued. “This policy is designed to save human lives. 

“Just as important to PDPA is the intersectionality that immigrants struggled with for years, but we embraced,” Bishop Hamilton-Gonzales said. “Now, Vice President Harris’ identity is forcing the nation to engage in the complex conversation about the nuances of race and ethnicity that have often been left deliberately ignored. PDPA is a representative of diversity.”

She said Central Brooklyn, “a potpourri of ethnicity, religion and culture, has been the blueprint in anticipation for this dynamic progressive Vice President Harris’ movement – a moment that will continue to assist the evolution of America into a more democratic, progressive, inclusive nation, a more perfect Union.”

Rt. Rev. Sylveta A. Hamilton-GonzalesPhoto credit: Arthur Forsythe

Rev. Hamilton-Gonzales also said that Congresswoman Clarke is “the symbol of a progressive movement that has been traveling throughout Central Brooklyn for decades and continues to transform the communities for a moment such as this.”

She said the mother and daughter duo of the Clarkes “have been at the cusps of the political transformation in the Democratic Party and, by extension, the gatekeepers for Chisholm’s voice of truth to power.” 

The late congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, the daughter of Barbadian and Guyanese immigrants, was the first woman to seek the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States. 

Bishop Hamilton-Gonzales noted that the Clarkes are “strong supporters in the presidential campaign with Vice President Kamala Harris. 

“They have constructed an aura of political independence by their audacity for change,” she said. “It is obvious that Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black woman to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for president, will be strengthened by their legacy.

“From the inception of its existence, PDPA became the voice of the voiceless people through Dr. Clarke’s incredible leadership, and the elected officials nurtured by her remarkable counsel and political skills,” Rev. Hamilton-Gonzales added. “Her profound vision, faith and professionalism remain influential and inspirational for future political generations. 

“Now, in this unprecedented moment in America’s history, her contributions are captured and inextricably bound to this new exuberant democracy and political reality,” she continued. 

In endorsing Harris on Thursday, Congresswoman Clarke said she has had “the privilege of knowing” her “for many years, and of working alongside her on a number of issues close to both our hearts during her tenure in the United States Senate.

“But well before my first opportunity to do so, I had already heard much on her distinguished character and the dignity with which she carries herself, as well as, of course, our common Jamaican heritage,” said Clarke, who represents the predominantly Caribbean 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn. 

“Yet, it was not until I stood by her side and felt the full breadth of her energy and passion that it became clear to me that she is an individual who truly embodies the ethos of Caribbean resilience that defines our culture and community,” added Clarke, first vice chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). “She is a woman who has been pushed back, yet still pushes forward.”

The congresswoman said Harris’s “persevering spirit is what has so profoundly resonated with Caribbean-Americans, and the American people at-large. 

“As America faces this great inflection point, and its people begin to deliberate on their choice that will decide the path our nation takes on the decades ahead, there is no doubt in my mind that Vice President Kamala Harris is the leader we need to steer us through this pivotal movement, and towards the future so many are depending on,” said Clarke about Harris, whose father is retired Jamaican-born economist Dr. Donald Harris. 

Clarke described Harris as “a joyful warrior, unafraid to reject hate, and unapologetic of who she is and what her story says. 

“I will take great pride in casting my ballot in her name come November, and I am immensely grateful that she will have provided myself and tens of millions more Americans the chance to play our part in the history she is creating,” she said. 

Earlier this week, a newly-formed virtual group called Caribbean Americans United in Support of Kamala Harris for President began strongly pushing for the election of the first Caribbean-American Vice President in in the United States.

The Steering Committee of the group, which was formed on July 22, comprises members who are primarily New York residents. 

The seven-member Committee comprises former New York City Council Member Una S.T. Clarke, Congresswoman Clarke’s mother; New York State Senator Kevin Parker, representative for the predominantly Caribbean 21st Senate District in Brooklyn; Former Suffolk County, Long Island legislator Jacqueline Gordon-Davy; college administrator and community activist Sherrill-Ann Mason; educators and community activists Martin Felix and Fadhilika Atiba-Weza; and political consultant Ernest McD. Skinner. 

Dr. Clarke told Caribbean Life that Harris is “competent and has the qualifications for the position.

“I feel confident that she can win,” said the trail-blazing Clarke, an elected New York City delegate to the Democratic Convention in Chicago next week. “When all of us put our heads and hearts together, it becomes easier. 

“I didn’t go into politics for politics’ sake but to make a difference for all people,” she added. “Kamala Harris has immigrant roots. All immigrants, including Caribbean-Americans, should support and vote for her, if they can, in the Presidential Elections.”