Southeast Queens Clergy
For Political Awareness:
Bringing Church And State Together
To Better Southeast Queens

By ANGELA MONTEFINISE

All politics is local and in Southeast Queens one local group is helping to bring church and state together for the good of the neighborhood.

For the past 12 years, the people of Southeast Queens have depended on the Southeast Queens Clergy for Political Awareness to be their eyes and ears in the political realm.

By sponsoring events allowing residents to meet and question candidates, the Clergy has made politicians accessible to Southeast Queens, and have helped to make sure that  politicians do what’s best for the area once in office.

The Clergy for Political Awareness, a subsidiary of the Southeast Queens Clergy  for Community Empowerment, is a coalition of several local organizations in Southeast Queens, all with the goal of furthering the interests of Southeast Queens residents. The coalition is made up of the Clergy for Community Empowerment, the Jamaica NAACP, the United Black Men of Queens, and the United Black Women for Change – four major organizations for African-Americans in Queens.

The United Black Men of Queens and the United Black Women for Change are both organizations of professional African-Americans looking to better the situation of blacks in New York City.

The Jamaica NAACP is the largest local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Clergy for Community Empowerment is a group of African-American churches working together to help Southeast Queens.

Reverend Charles Norris of the Bethesda Baptist Church in Jamaica is the chairman of the Clergy for Political Awareness, as well as one of its founders. He said, “We examine and analyze candidates, making sure their interests  match those of residents of the area. We talk to the candidates, hold events featuring them, and after primaries, we endorse some of them. We think this service is extremely important. We are the political arm of Southeast Queens. We work hard to help people see who will serve the area best. During elections, we’re there to teach people the issues and how candidates are addressing them. Whoever addressed them best, that’s our candidate.”

Norris is a member of every group in the coalition, except, he said with a laugh, “The United Black Women for Change. I’m not with them. I just don’t fit in over there.”

He added,  “Seriously, we work together to maximize our efforts at helping the Southeast Queens community. All of the organizations want  to help Southeast Queens, and together, we can do more.”

The Clergy for Political Awareness  after a series of events forced the Clergy for Community Empowerment to create a separate organization to deal with candidates in elections.

The Clergy for Community Empowerment to support the election of Reverend Jesse Jackson for president. In 1988, the Clergy supported Jackson again, and also decided to support candidates in all elections.

Norris explained, “At that time, we decided it was important for someone to work with the candidates of Southeast Queens. The problem was that the Clergy for Community Empowerment received city, state and federal funding for several of its programs, including housing for AIDS patients and the construction of affordable homes. If we supported candidates that lost, the winners could cut off our funding. We didn’t want to create a conflict of interest, so we broke away. We’ve been working hard ever since.”

In recent elections, the Clergy has successfully endorsed Councilman Thomas White, State Senator Malcolm Smith, Assemblywoman Vivian Cook and Councilman Archie Spigner. The Clergy was also instrumental in the election of former Southeast Queens Congressman Revered Floyd Flake. “We were key in Reverend Flake’s election,” Reverend Norris said. “We strongly promoted him, and we were very proud of that success.”

According to Reverend Charles Norris, director of the Southeast Queens Clergy for Political Awareness, his group has played an important role in elections of the past and present.

The Clergy for Political Awareness’ work has also played an extremely important part in City Council elections this year, according to Reverend Norris, because there are so many people running.

“There are so many candidates this year, the people definitely need some direction,” he said. Newly placed term limits on council members have left all three Southeast Queens council seats up for grabs. Before primaries, there are 34 candidates in the running for those three seats in districts 27, 28 and 31. Reverend Norris said, “We won’t endorse until the primaries.We can’t. There are too many candidates!”

The Clergy holds monthly meetings for members and the public at Norris’ Bethesda  Baptist Church to keep the group unified in their purpose. The group also holds meetings when needed at election time. Reverend Norris added, “It’s important to keep everyone on the same page.”

During non-election time, the Clergy for Political Awareness monitors candidates in office try and insure that they are doing what’s best for Southeast Queens. Norris exclaimed, “We make sure that the promises that candidates made are fulfilled. We make sure that a candidates goals don’t ‘change’ while in office. We protect the people by trying to stop corruption.”

In addition to monitoring candidates, the Clergy keeps residents of Southeast Queens informed on issues. The most important issues to the Clergy currently are affordable housing, health care, and development in Southeast Queens.

Between all of the organizations in the coalition, the Clergy has over 1,500 members and 75 churches. Norris said the group reaches about one-third of a million people each Sunday through church services. The churches are of all faiths, although all are African American.

The Clergy raises money for its events and endorsements through volunteer contributions from members, politicians, and residents.

This August, the Clergy will be holding a series of “candidate nights” at various locations in Queens to allow candidates for different positions in Queens and the city to discuss the issues. The “nights” will take place at member churches, and all residents are welcome. Reverend Norris said, “We have these nights so we can get to know candidates personally and understand their positions on the issues. This helps us decide who to endorse.  On the other hand, the nights are also for the public to meet the candidates and make their own choices.” Norris said.

Candidates for public advocate, comptroller, Queens borough president, city council, and mayor will all participate in the candidate nights. The Clergy will do more in the 2001 elections after it decides who to endorse.

“We’ll be around,” Reverend Norris said. “We’ll be speaking to residents and helping candidates. Anything to help the neighborhood. That’s what we do.”

Schedule of events

The Coalition of Southeast Queens Clergy for Political Awareness, United Black Men of Queens, United Black Women for Change and the Jamaica Branch NAACP is sponsoring a series of candidtae nights.
The schedule will be as follows:
Tuesday, July 31 - 7:30 p.m.
Candidates for Public Advocate, Comptroller and Queens Borough President.
45 minutes will be allocated for the three offices each for which the candidate sare running.
Place - Amity Baptist Church
164-12 108th Avenue, Jamaica
Reverend Dwight Jackson, Pastor 

Thursday, August 2 - 7:30 p.m.
Candidates for Councilmanic
District 31
Place - The Church of the Nazarene
1414 Central Avenue, Far Rockaway
Reverend Les Mullings, Pastor 

Friday, August 3 - 7:30 p.m.
Candidates for Councilmanic
District 28
Place - Rush Temple AME
119-48 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica
Reverend Eldridge Gittens, pastor 

Monday, August 6 - 7:30 p.m.
Candidates for Councilmanic
District 27
Place - Maranatha Baptist Church
112- 46 Springfield Boulevard,
Reverend Charles Mixon, pastor

Thursday , August 9 - 7:30 p.m.
Candidates for Mayor of new York City
Place - Cavalry Baptist Church
111-10 Guy R. Brewer Boulevard
Reverend Victor Hall, pastor