Bronx-based African community leaders endorse Adams for mayor

Moses Kuwema

A group of Bronx based African community leaders and the clergy on Wednesday endorsed Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams for mayor.

During the event which was held on the stairs of the Bronx Supreme Court, a number of community leaders were in attendance, among them was Community Peace Building coordinator Sheikh Musa Drammeh, Bishop Angelo Rosario, Chairman, Bronx Clergy Task Force; Sadio Yaya Barry, President, Senegalese Association.

In his endorsement speech, Drammeh said Adams has all the experience needed for the position of mayor.

"He is a New Yorker born and bred. Every experience that we need our next mayor to have he has it. This guy can get us through the challenges we are faced with, that is why we are here," Drammeh said.

"We don't need to sell him. He is already sold by his background but we have to let New Yorkers who do not have the opportunity to know him the way he should be known have the opportunity.

"We are telling them, if you want New York to rise through this challenge, we have a man who can do it, a man who has done it and that is Eric Adams…

"Our endorsement is real, we are going to campaign, we are going to raise funds, we are going to register new voters."

"This New York City mayoral election is the most important election in the city's recent history, due to the ongoing pandemic, difficult economic conditions, public safety concerns and the growing political ideological divide among New Yorkers,” said Drammeh.

“After going through the backgrounds, qualifications, experiences and leadership skills needed to unify our city and overcome the daunting socioeconomic and health challenges it is facing, Mr. Eric Adams comes out on top among all other candidates running to be our next mayor.

"Special times require the special leadership skills that Mr. Eric Adams possesses. I therefore wholeheartedly support Mr. Adams to be our next mayor."

Ramatu Ahmed, Leader in the African Community and activist, said the African women were behind Adams.

"We are going to make sure that we vote you in and even after we vote you in, we are going to support you. Continue doing the good works, your ancestors are behind you. If we don't want Eric then who do we want?

"He has all the qualities. As Africans, we appreciate that during his time as Brooklyn borough president, he declared the African Day," Ahmed said.

Barry said the Senegalese community in New York was ready to support Adams because he was the right person for the position of mayor.

"We will invite everyone to join your campaign. It won't be easy but if we work together, we will do it. We have no doubt you will be the right person to run the city," Barry said.

“Working class New Yorkers are facing tremendous hardships right now, and they want Eric Adams in City Hall because he’s always been their champion.

We must elect Eric as the next mayor to ensure our city recovers the right way, lifting communities of color and other blue collar New Yorkers up as we rise out of this pandemic.”

“This city desperately needs leadership that both understands the struggles of New Yorkers and who has the ability and ideas to move our city forward for every community—and Eric Adams is that leader,” said Bishop Angelo Rosario, Chairman, Bronx Clergy Task Force.

“With Eric in City Hall, we will finally have a leader who can deliver for the people who need help the most.”

“Eric Adams has fought side-by-side for our communities for decades to make sure our voices are heard—so when he is mayor we will not need to tell him what we need because he will already know,” said J. Kwabena Adinkra, Chairperson, African Heritage Affairs Committee, NY.

“I am proud to endorse Eric Adams for mayor on behalf of my community and all hard-working New Yorkers who need their voice to be heard at City Hall.”

Latina Moslem of New York President, Tusha Diaz said when everybody was indoors at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Adams was all over going to places other people could not go.
Meanwhile, in accepting the endorsement, Adams said, “I am so proud to have the support of the city’s African leaders and clergy for my campaign for mayor. New York needs immediate action and bold leadership to stop the spread of COVID-19, turn around our economy, and reverse declines in public safety–and it is the people of color represented by these leaders today who will suffer the most if we do not. I know the struggles of New Yorkers because I have lived them. I will continue to fight for the underserved and forgotten communities in New York when I am in City Hall, just as I have as Borough President and throughout my life.”

Adams said white collar workers were responsible for the mess the city was in and that it was time to try a blue collar worker like himself as mayor.

"It is time for us to have someone that has gone through a lot so they can help people who are going through a lot. That's the difference from our campaign and any other campaign. I know your story and most importantly you know me. I am going to fight for you everyday," Adams said.

"And when COVID hit the city, I didn't go to the Hamptons, I went to housing. I have 35 years of uninterrupted years fighting for the people. I have been with you all this time. The only question you should ask everyone else that is running, where were you when Amandu Diallo was shot and killed? Where were you when you saw millions of black and brown children being stopped and frisked in the city? Where were you when we were having a lack of healthcare in our communities? Where were you when we were fighting for minimum wage with our union? The only thing I know for sure, I know where I was, I was with these people."

Adams has been endorsed by a diverse group of local elected officials and leaders already, including Bronx Deputy Borough President and longtime Assembly Member Aurelia Greene, Sen. Roxanne Persaud, Assembly Member Jaime WIlliams and Council Members Laurie Cumbo, Daneek Miller, Ydanis Rodriguez and Darma Diaz.