Guyana-born US legislator gets support from Haitian colleagues in Democratic Primary

Tuesday, September 13, 2016, http://www.jamaicaobserver.com...cratic-Primary_73720

Roxanne Persaud represents the 19th Senatorial District in Brooklyn, New York. (Observer)

NEW YORK, USA (CMC) – Haitian-American New York State legislators have thrown their support behind a Guyanese legislator here who is seeking re-election in today’s Democratic Primary.

Roxanne Persaud, a Guyana-born New York State Senator, who represents the 19th Senatorial District in Brooklyn, New York, is being challenged by Haitian Mercedes Narcisse.

The district – which covers the Brooklyn districts of Canarsie, East New York, Brownsville, Mill Basin, Sheepshead Bay, Bergen Beach, Marine Park, Flatlands, Mill Island, Georgetown, Ocean Hill and Starrett City – was previously represented by Guyanese American lawyer John Sampson.

New York State Assembly members Rodneyse Bichotte, Michaelle Solages and Kimberly Jean-Pierre – all Haitian Americans – say they have endorsed incumbent Persaud.

“It has been important for us to join with other legislators to ensure that the Haitian community gets its fair share of funds for housing, good schools, and safe streets,” they said in a joint statement.

“This is why we have come together to endorse a dear friend and colleague whose work we have witnessed and trust that she will continue to deliver in our fight for a better quality of life. The Haitian community in New York City, Long Island and other parts of New York State has become a vibrant political force,” they added. “Each of us now serve in important capacities in the State and City level. In this capacity, we have been strong advocates for our people and have fought hard for the special needs our community requires,” they addded.

The Haitian American legislators said Persaud has “stood in the fight to raise minimum wage, improve our children’s education, implement better staffing for nurses, support our seniors, make our streets safer and backed the Paid Family Leave Act.

“Senator Persaud makes a difference,” they said. “She has been a longtime community activist.”

Last month, Persaud honoured five outstanding community figures at a fundraising reception at the Jamaican-owned Trelawni Restaurant on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn.

Persaud presented New York State proclamations to St. Kitts-Nevis native Edmund Sadio, a realtor in Brooklyn; Gerald Dawes, the Jamaican-born director in the Business Ethics and Compliance Department at Con Edison Company of New York; and Panamanian American Kira N Brereton, an attorney with Dechert LLP, an international law firm with 26 offices located throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.

The others were: Patricia Jordon-Langford, president of The Guyana Tri-State Alliance, Inc.; and Jamaican Leithland Rickie Tulloch, senior director, New York City Health and Hospital (Office of Facilities Development) and chair of the Brooklyn-based Visionary Political Action Committee.

Persaud described the fundraiser as “a success,” adding: “These are people who put their money where their mouth is.”

“Running a campaign requires a lot of money,” she told the Caribbean Media Corporation.

James Connolly, the Cayman Islands-born chairman of the Roxanne Persaud Re-election Campaign, said: “As an immigrant, especially when immigrants are under attack, we have to come together to support immigrants.”