In 2011, Democratic mayoral candidate John Gomes, an immigrant from Cape Verde, urged history-making voter support to elect him the first person of color to occupy the city’s top job.
A few weeks ago, Gemeem Davis, co-founder of the community group Bridgeport Generation Now, trumpeted a similar theme on behalf of State Senator Marilyn Moore for mayor.
Now comes new-guy mayoral candidate Lamond Daniels who kicked out a news release on Juneteenth Day declaring “Since its founding, Bridgeport has never had a person of color elected to represent this community as Mayor. If I win, I would be making history as the first Black man elected to represent our vibrant and diverse community.”
Gomes, this cycle, isn’t highlighting a history-making theme. In 2011 it fell flat. This time around he’s focused on heavy retail politicking, ideas and working his butt off. Doesn’t hurt that he speaks six languages to connect with voters.
History-making themes don’t work unless you embody ideas and rhetorical skills to back it up.
Did John Kennedy highlight anti-Catholic bias winning the presidency in 1960? Nope. It came up, of course. His response: “I am not the Catholic candidate for president. I am the Democratic Party’s candidate for president, who happens also to be a Catholic.”
In 1983, when Bridgeport was still largely White, one of Bridgeport’s most galvanizing political organizers in history Charlie Tisdale nearly won the mayoralty in a perfect storm set up: Incumbent Republican Lenny Paoletta and his Democratic predecessor John Mandanici, running on the Taxpayer Party platform, largely split the White vote while Tisdale ran up major pluralities in Black precincts as the Democratic Party standard bearer.
In a close general election, Paoletta won a second term, Tisdale finished second. The citywide turnout was more than 70 percent. Yes, that’s not a typo. Tisdale had a way of bringing voters to the polls for him and against him.
Tisdale was a savvy policy wonk who earned his stripes running the city’s anti-poverty agency Advancement for Bridgeport Community Development, then worked in the Jimmy Carter White House.
Tisdale didn’t highlight history as a means to win election. What’s the point?
“They know what I look like,” he’d say quietly.
You draw that line in the sand too often and then you’re only judged by one thing instead of ideas.
Did Barack Obama ever declare publicly based on race, “Let’s make history!”
Nope.
That kind of messaging works in rare circumstance, it’s best if handled organically with ideas or charisma that connects with voters.
But Bridgeport is now largely Black and Brown, right?
They should stick together?
Based on what?
The largest collective demographic group in Bridgeport be it Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, Colombian or various Central American enclaves is Hispanic.
What about us?
That’s the thing, you carve out a history-making theme who is gonna say: what about us? What is that doing for me unless you’re connecting with me?
That’s the nuanced fascination of cultural differences even within the framework of similar complexions.
Example: Bridgeport enjoys a large Jamaican community that associates within its own amazing culture, not necessarily the African American experience. They are different.
If you’re gonna broad stroke history making, marry it to a message that avoids — what about us?
The Race Card! Don’t leave home with out it!
Charlie Tisdale was a brilliant administrator and brilliantly creative — he built ABCD and made it a national model for effectiveness as an institution founded for purpose of focusing and utilizing inner-city talent and energy as a means of overcoming the oppressive, destructive inner-city forces of poverty and substance abuse.
Charlie was a Lake Forest neighbor who defied the red-lining policies that made Lake Forest a difficult place for minorities to purchase homes, and set the stage for the diversity that presently defines our neighborhood by pushing back against much resistance and buying his waterfront home in the neighborhood, where he lived for over 40 years…
I recall Lake Forest neighbors, Jack Goldring and Millie Steinhart, Tisdale friends and political supporters, prevailing upon me to get involved in politics and help to get Charlie elected. Unfortunately (for me), I was in the midst of college studies and earning a living, and didn’t have the spare energy or time to become involved in any political activity — I would have become involved, otherwise (Millie was a close family friend, and Jack was well respected and regarded in the neighborhood…).
In any event, I believe that Bridgeport would be a much happier, much healthier place today, had Charlie Tisdale been able to take the helm of Bridgeport City government at a time when we still had some real wherewithal (despite the fact that in 1983, the Reagan Administration was operating in high gear to kneecap and hobble Democratic urban enclaves such as Bridgeport…)
I haven’t heard enough out of the Gomes or Daniels camps to get excited about their candidacies or election prospects. Moore-Gen Now are simply not a viable political entity and will hardly attract any notice at all in the race, post-primary, even as they fumble about in the meantime. Ganim has the propaganda props (e.g., Steal Point, Dead-Bluefish Amphitheater, New Stamford-workertown, et al.) and the propaganda $ to create a blizzard snow-job of epic proportions that will have broke Bridgeporters hallucinating mattresses filled with money and tax-burdened homeowners thinking that they are living a tax holiday in Trumbull or Fairfield…
So, it must be said; this still looks like a “walk” for Ganim (a plank-walk for Bridgeport…). To Lamont and Gomes: you need to put out something big-time. Something new and exciting and believable. Squeezing a couple of million out of the parks to give to our massively underfunded schools is only exciting for the contractors that are going to redo the classroom space and revarnish the gyms in our 70-year-old grammar schools with the “extra” money that will be “expertly” discovered and redistributed by promised financial wizardry… And truly, all of the “honesty and integrity” in the world, working within Bridgeport City Hall, isn’t going to motivate Bridgeport students coming out dysfunctional homes where parents are working three minimum-wage jobs to pay exorbitant rents for run-down houses in dangerous neighborhoods, or in homes where substance abuse sets the tone of daily life… Something real and exciting had better come out of the Gomes and Daniels camps soon, or we’ll have a Democratic primary with 10% turnout, 70% of which will go to Joe Ganim… And after that? The Working Family’s Party will be left with no-one to work with leading up to the general election…
Good night, Bridgeport!
Kindly don’t unjustly attack our students and parents to make a point.
“isn’t going to motivate Bridgeport students coming out dysfunctional homes”
How dare you judge our students as being unmotivated. The children of today do have many struggles, but the great majority of our Bridgeport Public School students are motivated to succeed. Yes, they have challenges that many of us growing up in more privileged times did not have.
Our children survived a pandemic, gun violence, poverty, underfunded schools etc. etc…Our biggest obstacle growing up was walking through the snow.
Yes, some of our children come out of homes where people have to work multiple jobs to feed and clothe their children. How is that a dysfunctional home? Those parents working three jobs are far more resilient than the homes we grew up in where dad came home complaining of a five day work week while mom helped with the home work and had dinner at the table. Would our parent(s) be able to be as effective working 3 jobs to put food on our table?
So instead of judging our children and parents from a place of privilege, try and walk a mile in their shoes. I get the feeling you wouldn’t make it 5 blocks.
To all Bridgeport students and educators, continue to be motivated! You got this, don’t let the privileged judge you or your parents as dysfunctional. It is they with their outdated thinking that are the truly dysfunctional.
Damn Joe, all the text that I could provide, pointing out your flaws, couldn’t equal the damage you do to yourself with your own words. There are few people I respect more on this page than Jeff Kohut and there is nothing that he said that remotely resembles what you contend that he said. Try reading it again. “And truly, all of the “honesty and integrity” in the world, working within Bridgeport City Hall, isn’t going to motivate Bridgeport students coming out (of) dysfunctional homes where parents are working three minimum-wage jobs to pay exorbitant rents for run-down houses in dangerous neighborhoods, or in homes where substance abuse sets the tone of daily life…” I think you should take a break from this page Joe; you’ve been getting beat up pretty bad lately.
Lol. Beat up? Still standing. Will always call out people. It’s not about me.
I’m pretty sure Mr. Kahout could defend himself and clarify or restate his comments all by himself.
If you think his comments are ok you are part of the problem. I think from now on I’ll put you in the irrelevant useless portion of my tool box along with my carpenters pencil. Perhaps as a sharpener for when it gets dull.
Joe, you’re a member of the school board and as such you’re supposed to exhibit qualities of common sense and some ability to do your job properly. You exhibit neither. You’re the quintessential example of why minority representation is a bad idea. Why don’t you start a dog walking service or something, that would be more your speed I would think.
Thanks for having my back, Jon…
Joe: Are you for real?! You say:
“Kindly don’t unjustly attack our students and parents to make a point.
“‘isn’t going to motivate Bridgeport students coming out dysfunctional homes'”
“How dare you judge our students as being unmotivated. The children of today do have many struggles, but the great majority of our Bridgeport Public School students are motivated to succeed. Yes, they have challenges that many of us growing up in more privileged times did not have.
“Our children survived a pandemic, gun violence, poverty, underfunded schools etc. etc…Our biggest obstacle growing up was walking through the snow.
“Yes, some of our children come out of homes where people have to work multiple jobs to feed and clothe their children. How is that a dysfunctional home? Those parents working three jobs are far more resilient than the homes we grew up in where dad came home complaining of a five day work week while mom helped with the home work and had dinner at the table. Would our parent(s) be able to be as effective working 3 jobs to put food on our table?
“So instead of judging our children and parents from a place of privilege, try and walk a mile in their shoes. I get the feeling you wouldn’t make it 5 blocks.
“To all Bridgeport students and educators, continue to be motivated! You got this, don’t let the privileged judge you or your parents as dysfunctional. It is they with their outdated thinking that are the truly dysfunctional.”
***
Joe; what planet are you from? How long have you been living in Bridgeport?! Where did you grow up? What school system did you attend?
Pointing out the harsh realities of life in Bridgeport experienced by most of the families of Bridgeport school students is an “attack” on the students and their parents?! How many non-magnet school students/families do you actually know? When’s the last time you spoke with a failing student or a dropout from Bridgeport?
And you ask how I “dare” to speak of the lack of motivation of the most disenfranchised majority of our public-school population?! Do you have any clue about how the harsh, chaotic, dangerous conditions in homes and neighborhoods throughout Bridgeport suck the academic motivation right out of them?!
You are apparently a BOE member that is clueless about the greatest challenges facing your charges… Worse than just being clueless is that you are apparently deliberately clueless — in full-scale denial, with your head in the sand — as you pretend to be out there fighting the good fight for our students, turning over rocks in the parks looking for pennies to address the massive underfunding of our schools by the state, even as you would try to convince us that most of our Bridgeport students are going to class learning-ready, with no social/familial. baggage, in a highly motivated state…
Joe: Resign from the BOE! You are apparently there for your own political advancement and perhaps to earn your Republican stripes with the folks down county that don’t want to ante-up for Bridgeport’s school system… In any event, you are clueless about the system and its needs. Resign!
Now; for the record. I was born, raised, and educated in Bridgeport. I had a bird’s-eye view of the decline of the city and its school system and have a clear recollection of the beginnings of the now-pervasive chaos that sets the tone of the school day in most of Bridgeport’s classrooms. As you (should) know; the performance numbers of the school system will back up that statement… The classroom chaos comes from the chaos in our neighborhoods and homes — which derives from poverty and substance abuse, which derives from Republican economics (e.g., “Trickle Down”)… I know Bridgeport’s families and neighborhoods. I am a real Bridgeporter… You are ignorant and haven’t even bothered to learn about our city and the root- causes of our education/public school problems… Resign!…
Bridgeport kids coming out of homes where there is little time or energy for oversight of schoolwork and/or where there is chronic substance abuse are not going into the classroom from a position of strength and are all too often preoccupied with issues related to stressful home conditions. These kids are most probably not going to be learning-ready or very motivated for learning. Do you have any recollection of going to school sleep-deprived, with your head spinning, heart beating fast, and stomach in a knot because of dangerous or stressful conditions in your home/neighborhood?! If you talk to most Bridgeport kids, they could probably tell you of chronic situations in their homes/neighborhoods, not conducive to learning, that affect them in a profound way, undermining their ability to concentrate and perform academically… You, as a BOE member, should be profoundly aware of this aspect of the many challenges facing Bridgeport public school students.
For you, as a Board of Education member, to present with such ignorance of the social ills undermining the education of Bridgeport’s public school students is unconscionable. You should not be on the Bridgeport BOE. You should resign of otherwise be removed by due process…
If I were John Gomes, you are one clueless Republican that I would jettison from my mayoral campaign.
In your present state of Republican ignorance, you shouldn’t even be involved in Bridgeport politics. If you really want to be a political player in Bridgeport, hit the streets — Bridgeport neighborhoods and homes that aren’t in Black Rock or Brooklawn — and talk to the people about what life is like for them and their children in Bridgeport… And talk to the present and former school children in those families…
Good night, Joe… Good night Bridgeport!
Umm , I was elected on the WFP line first of all. Second I was born and raised in the south bronx in a single family household. Went to school and sometimes are my only meal of the day. My father was a junkie.
That motivates some. Our children regardless of their circumstances desire to succeed and have the capability to succeed in spite of privileged people like you writing them off.
I will continue to call out those who write off our children and parents. Our children are not the sum of their circumstance. Yes we have children with struggles, but wanting to be better is not one of them for most of our scholars.
So I will continue to call out the people who write off our children and even our city. They can and will do better than those privileged people born in Bridgeport that attended and graduated from our schools in a time long ago, where the biggest issue they had was walking 1/2 mile in the snow.
You would never make it if you had to walk a mile in my shoes or a mile in our children’s shoes. They will rise!
Joe: You are an ignorant, out-of-touch, big-time bullshit artist. You don’t speak for the children of Bridgeport, you speak for the political ambitions of Joe Sokolovic — whoever that really is… And you malign other people that try to bring truth to the table on behalf of Bridgeport’s children… Your proclivity for bullshit/storytelling and for otherwise distorting, maligning, and obscuring the truth puts you in a class with other zombied Trump adherents. Good luck. I hope that you eventually find your way back to Bridgeport — or should I say, “Kansas!”
Like I said, the slightest little pressure, the slightest little adversity you crumbled and acted out. Our children are far more resilient and far better people. You should really get motivated to be a better person and candidate perhaps then you’d be able to garner more than 100 votes. I know 1900 students that can teach you.
Mr. George Santos. (Alias Joe Sokolovic.) Nothing that you say can be regarded as credible — and most of it is obviously bullshit. You cannot be taken seriously.
Do the kids if Bridgeport a favor. Resign from the BOE. Do John Gomes a favor and resign from his campaign before he has to jettison you. (You might be a good fit for the propaganda arm of Gen Now…)
Resign from His campaign? I’d have to work for his campaign to resign from it. Do you ever get your facts right? Or do you just pull things straight out your rear?
http://onlyinbridgeport.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/joe-sogomes-768×955.jpg
Volunteer as opposed to working. Big difference.