Democratic Mayoral Candidates Appear at ‘Follow Black Women’ Forum

Activists (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor’s Office)

Seven Democratic candidates running to become the next mayor of New York City appeared Tuesday evening at a virtual town hall event to share their agendas for tackling the systemic obstacles facing Black women, who are doubly affected by racism and sexism and are often referred to as the backbone of the Democratic Party.

At the “Follow Black Women Mayoral Candidate Town Hall,” billed as the first-ever mayoral forum created by and for Black women and hosted by Community Voices Heard Power, the candidates discussed centering Black women on important issues, while also pitching themselves as the most qualified to craft a comprehensive plan that will implement broad and structural change to empower Black women. The candidates discussed a range of topics, including racial disparities in health care, vaccine distribution, job scarcity, affordable housing, economic recovery, the public school system and higher education, police reform and incarceration, homeownership, supporting small business owners, and more.

Participants included Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, former federal housing secretary Shaun Donovan, former Citigroup executive Ray McGuire, former nonprofit executive Dianne Morales, city Comptroller Scott Stringer, Maya Wiley, a civil rights attorney and former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, and Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur and former Democratic presidential candidate.

The virtual town hall was moderated by Dr. Christina Greer, political science professor at Fordham University, with some questions coming from Community Voices members. Some questions were addressed to all candidates, other questions were directed to specific candidates.

In her opening remarks, Afua Atta-Mensah, the executive director of Community Voices Heard Power, reflected on the importance of Black women voters in the mayoral race. “In New York City, just like in many other communities across the country, Black women are in fact the margin of votes needed to win an election. I have it on good authority that Black women intend to show up and show out in this primary election. We will have something to say about who gets the privilege of living in Gracie Mansion.”

She continued, “Our communities are not a monolith. There is no one answer that is going to magically conjure the Black woman vote. We are sisters, daughters, mothers, essential workers, providers. But most importantly, we are New Yorkers, and we helped build this city.”

After Greer told the candidates to throw their stump speeches out and focus their opening remarks and answers to questions on Black women, some did so more than others.

“My opening statement is relevant to Black women because I am a Black woman, and so everything that I have to say is connected to that,” began Morales, who kicked off candidates’ opening statements. Morales differentiated herself as a political outsider with non-profit expertise “managing large human service organizations because the city’s leadership continues to fail the needs of our people of women, children, Black and brown people, queer people…The time is now, I believe, for those that are closest to the problems drive the solutions.” Morales highlighted her Afro-Latina roots, giving her opening remarks in Spanish as well as English.

Yang, who is the son of Taiwanese immigrants, used his opening statement to acknowledge the record turnout of Black voters in Georgia’s Senate runoff election, in part powered by Stacey Abrams, LaTosha Brown, and other Black women leaders, which cemented wins by Democrats Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in the historically Republican state to flip the U.S. Senate to Democrats. Yang spent time in Georgia campaigning with the two Democratic candidates.

“I am totally sure that the next mayor is going to be determined by Black women voters here in New York City,” Yang said before lamenting the gap in maternal death between Black and white women, as well as the disproportionate job losses among Black women as a result of covid. He spotlighted his “anti-poverty agenda,” designed to “change things fundamentally,” before concluding, “you [Black women voters] are going to lead us there.”

Wiley began by thanking the panel of Black women members of Community Voices Heard Power, recognizing Atta-Mensah in particular as “a leader who has inspired me,” as well as Greer. “I’ve been Black all my life,” said Wiley, pitching herself as the best candidate to tackle issues important to Black women because she’s experienced them firsthand. Wiley described growing up as “a little girl in segregated, underfunded, overcrowded public schools.” She also discussed “the trauma of watching my community start to disappear” as a result of rent hikes and displacement. Wiley spoke of herself as a political outsider, citing her experience as a civil rights lawyer and racial justice activist.

McGuire credited his…