OpEdNews - Diary: Yetta Kurland, NYC Candidate for City Council, A Photo Tour

Yetta Kurland is a refreshing and highly-liberal anti-corruption candidate for the City Council in NYC from the 3rd district, which runs from midtown to Canal along the West Side.

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I went with her and her supporters for a tour of the dog runs of her district, which follows the Hudson River in Manhattan, and took these excellent photos. I hope you can get to "know her" through my photographic efforts below.

Yetta is about organization, rights, education, and especially community empowerment. She will (probably) replace Christine Quinn who started out as a peoples' person, but is now firmly in the pocket of the purely pro-capital mayor: Bloomberg. Yetta is an old school community organizer, a liberal's liberal. She is a civil rights lawyer specializing in tenants rights, runs two small business in the community, is an educator of 20 years, and adjunct professor of law and a founder of a local school for disadvantaged kids.

Her website (Click)

More Yetta Kurland pictures below.
Note: these pictures can be freely used with credit to John Bessa

After my "walk" with Yetta and her supporters, I joined the campaign as a canvasser and "dialer." By now I think I have spoken to much of the third district's voters, and I have gotten a pretty good idea of the situation that is actually independent of the campaign strategy. From what I learned from the district's constituency is that Christine Quinn has gone to sleep at the wheel, and most important, has forgotten about the young students of the community: there are about only half the seats available in the schools for the community's youth. Even the KKK supports education for children, I know this because as a trucker I got to know Southern culture pretty well.

Instead of supporting the community, Quinn supports the Mayor, who has completely positioned the city as a vehicle for the benefit of global capital. This model is presented along the lines of the "trickle down theory" of economics where the wealth is "spread around" by the wealthy making everybody happy. Yeah, right, the inflation caused by the "wealth" nullifies any gains and drives the good people into poverty. And, unfortunately, even the "trickle" had dried up: Quinn is committed to keeping poverty rates high in this exceedingly successful community that includes Times Square, and borders on Wall Street's district, District #1.

From what I have learned from talking to "the people" is that there is tremendous anger for Quinn for her move, in conspiracy with the Mayor, to nullify the two popular referendums by the people of the city to keep fresh blood in the system. Bloomberg and Quinn did this, obviously, so that they can get re-elected! Add this anti-democratic move to the education issue above, and we have a serious corruption problem in the City's government surrounding Quinn.

By joining the campaign, I have been able to get to know the crew pretty well. The campaign's manager spent a year with Obama, and exudes campaign strategy. There is also an unquestioned parallel between Yetta parallels Obama in that she speaks nearly purely for change, perhaps even more so. When elected (we know Yetta and Quinn are running neck and neck), change will be the best way to describe New York. Unfortunately, however, Obama's talk about change may have been posturing

This makes Yetta the only choice: the level of parasitic corruption, the corporate liberalization that has legalized what used to put people in jail, the shift to the right of the so-called liberals of New York (which I have detailed in other articles) has necessitated need for change that can no longer be ignored. In America, death has become part of life: America kills. And historically, the legalization of corruption, today called liberalization, has been resolved with the guillotine or the firing squad. New York's role in the destruction of the planet through globalization, along with the destruction of Native peoples everywhere (such as the Palestinians) needs to be noted, since, historically, the only way to resolve these kinds of corruption issues has been through extreme violence.

I am a pacifist, but also a realist. To me objectiveness is also subjective because I know that only a healthy (and NOT corrupt) mind can conceptualize the real effects it has. Yetta fits this neurological criteria, and Quinn certainly does not.

The people of the district say that Quinn has "gone bad," but I believe it is impossible for people to change despite the adage about power corrupting completely. She started out the way she is now, but her liberalness was simply pure posturing. Or perhaps her being lesbian was mistaken for being liberal because gay causes are always associated with liberalness, but not all gays are liberal! Saying so is of course bias.

Yetta Kurland meeting supporters

Yetta Kurland "passing the baton" to a neighborhood runner

Constituent makes a good point!

Yetta Kurland with John Phillips meeting with dog lovers at a neighborhood run. John is a vote-getter for animal causes with the New York League of Human Voters

More John and Yetta at a dog run

Yetta Kurland knows that taking out the trash is big responsibility espeically when dealing with corrupt politicians.

Yetta leading her supporters

Here we got kicked out of a NY State-run event in complete violation of our civil rights. Yetta draws the line for the First Amendment, and I believe that she will follow-up on this incident. The private security all seemed to be on drugs.