Ah, the new class. Harlem this summer is sort of like the movie Dazed and Confused. The seniors are on their way out, and it’s time for the juniors who sat quietly to make their presence known. Instead of beating up freshmen or throwing parties at the water tower, however, they are announcing their candidacy against more well-known incumbents.
And so things continue on in Harlem, and it looks like we’re going to have another interesting throwdown in the area that comprises the 15th. One of the main criticism of Charlie Rangel and his cohorts have been that they haven’t spent much time prepping a new class. Professor Barbara Fife, who formerly served high up under David Dinkins, echoed this sentiment, and it’s been a common theme in newspaper articles about the end of the Gang of Four. Basil Smikle, 38, has been mentioned as one of those younger Harlem generation types who typically would have run for office.
Geraldine Baum wrote less than two months ago, in article that focused heavily on Smilke:
The collapse of this dynasty has pained Harlem, and there are no rising stars to carry on. The new political elite is less interested in getting elected than in having influence in a broader sphere of the community. With their Ivy League educations, button-down shirts, blazers and jeans, the next generation represents a victory of sorts for the previous one, because the younger men occupy a place in society that the old guard could not have imagined.
They’re busy as consultants to black and white politicians and as lobbyists. They teach at majority-white universities and are regulars on political talk shows. They’re connected to an array of ministers, educational reformers, community leaders, politicians and entrepreneurs across the city, not just to a handful of men from central Harlem.
Basil even said, referring to a meeting to decide what to do about Governor Paterson that place among black leaders at Sylvia’s Restaurant,
“It’s so old-school and somewhat insulting,” Smikle said, “to have a ‘summit’ like that when much of the electorate does not live in a world where they blindly abide by decisions made in smoke-filled backrooms by a few people.”
It seems, however, that Basil might have been sitting in some of those smoke-filled backrooms himself. When State Senator Bill Perkins, who wears a fedora even better than Charlie Rangel wears a bow-tie, made his power play against Rangel and Governor Paterson around the timing of that meeting, criticizing them for their transgressions, there was insider talk of Harlem and black democrats trying to find a suitable candidate to take out Perkins. It seems that everyone decided on Smilke, who himself acknowledged that he had a long meeting with including Deputy Parks Department Commissioner Larry Scott Blackmon and political consultant Rodney Capel and they both decided that he was gong to be the guy to go after Perkins.
Even before Perkins took a shot at Rangel and Paterson, he was considered a bit of a rebel for siding with Obama against Hilary, while most Harlem leaders actually supported Hilary. A key issue in the race is going to be charter schools. Smikle supports them, and Perkins is very outspoken about his opposition. While Rangel hasn’t publicly gone after Perkins, it’ll be interesting to see how he handles this situation. No more than a few weeks ago there some people assuming Perkins might make a run at Rangel’s congressional seats.
All I know, it sounds like there’s going to be a lot of heavy conversations in smoke-filled backrooms this summer, and I want in.
