Attorney Roger Wareham, Councilman Charles Barron and Viola Plummer
Plummer Will Not Sign – Federal Case Goes to Trial
By Amadi Ajamu
On Friday morning, U.S. District Court Judge William Pauley ordered the case of Viola Plummer vs NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn to trial on September 24. Plummer, Chief of Staff for NYC Councilman Charles Barron, filed the lawsuit against Quinn after receiving a “suspension / termination” letter the previous week. At the hearing, Ms. Plummer refused to sign a revised letter from Quinn agreeing to the terms of her own suspension. Plummer’s attorney, Roger Wareham deemed the revision “superficial.”
Wareham maintained that “Speaker Quinn has no authority, according to the NYC Charter or the Rules of the Council, to fire Ms. Plummer.” Wareham has charged Speaker Quinn with abuse of power, racial discrimination, violation of the First Amendment, and violation of due process. Plummer is demanding $1,000,000 in damages. He made clear that “All of these issues will be addressed at trial.”
What began as a routine street name change has snowballed into an historic saga in race relations in New York City. Two years ago the Black Men’s Movement, a constituent part of the December 12th Movement, which is chaired by Ms. Plummer, began a campaign to rename Gates Avenue to honor political activist and Black nationalist, Sonny Abubadika Carson. After obtaining thousands of signatures from community residents, business owners and churches, the organizers submitted their work to the Community Board, which approved it 39-1. The Board forwarded it to their Councilman Albert Vann, who approved it and submitted it to the full NYC Council.
The issue came to the attention of Council Speaker Quinn in April. Quinn then began a media assault on Sonny Carson and vowed to take his name out of the package of over 50 street name changes awaiting approval. Never before in the history of the NYC Council has an individual name been singled out for elimination. Although she had never met him personally, Quinn said that Carson was “divisive and anti-white.” Viola Plummer, on the other hand, had known and worked with Sonny for almost 50 years in the streets of Brooklyn and across NYC, fighting for the human rights of Black people.
Quinn’s council machinations culminated in an intense, full council vote in a stated meeting, which was determined along racial lines. Twenty-four of the council’s 25 white members voted against Sonny Abubadika Carson Avenue. Fifteen of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus (BLAC) voted for the renaming, 7 of the caucus members abstained and 4 were absent. Had all the Caucus members stood together, they would have won the vote with 26 votes. One abstainer, Councilman Leroy Comrie, was deemed particularly offensive because he had agreed, in a previous BLAC meeting, to vote for the street name change.
Later, news reports surfaced regarding remarks made by Viola Plummer on the plaza outside of City Hall, after the contentious council stated meeting,. She was said to have called for the assassination of Comrie’s political career. Comrie may be in the running for the office of Queens Borough President in 2009. After Quinn’s many calls, via the media, for an apology were unanswered, Quinn issued her suspension / termination letter to Plummer.
Today, outside of the U.S. District Court, Councilman Charles Barron declared, “Viola Plummer was hired by me and will continue to work for me. Tell Quinn to get the police, because we’re coming in (250 Broadway).”
Given the magnitude of Speaker Quinn’s apparently illegal and unprecedented attempt to fire a council members’ staff, the silence of the other council members is deafening.
By Amadi Ajamu
On Friday morning, U.S. District Court Judge William Pauley ordered the case of Viola Plummer vs NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn to trial on September 24. Plummer, Chief of Staff for NYC Councilman Charles Barron, filed the lawsuit against Quinn after receiving a “suspension / termination” letter the previous week. At the hearing, Ms. Plummer refused to sign a revised letter from Quinn agreeing to the terms of her own suspension. Plummer’s attorney, Roger Wareham deemed the revision “superficial.”
Wareham maintained that “Speaker Quinn has no authority, according to the NYC Charter or the Rules of the Council, to fire Ms. Plummer.” Wareham has charged Speaker Quinn with abuse of power, racial discrimination, violation of the First Amendment, and violation of due process. Plummer is demanding $1,000,000 in damages. He made clear that “All of these issues will be addressed at trial.”
What began as a routine street name change has snowballed into an historic saga in race relations in New York City. Two years ago the Black Men’s Movement, a constituent part of the December 12th Movement, which is chaired by Ms. Plummer, began a campaign to rename Gates Avenue to honor political activist and Black nationalist, Sonny Abubadika Carson. After obtaining thousands of signatures from community residents, business owners and churches, the organizers submitted their work to the Community Board, which approved it 39-1. The Board forwarded it to their Councilman Albert Vann, who approved it and submitted it to the full NYC Council.
The issue came to the attention of Council Speaker Quinn in April. Quinn then began a media assault on Sonny Carson and vowed to take his name out of the package of over 50 street name changes awaiting approval. Never before in the history of the NYC Council has an individual name been singled out for elimination. Although she had never met him personally, Quinn said that Carson was “divisive and anti-white.” Viola Plummer, on the other hand, had known and worked with Sonny for almost 50 years in the streets of Brooklyn and across NYC, fighting for the human rights of Black people.
Quinn’s council machinations culminated in an intense, full council vote in a stated meeting, which was determined along racial lines. Twenty-four of the council’s 25 white members voted against Sonny Abubadika Carson Avenue. Fifteen of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus (BLAC) voted for the renaming, 7 of the caucus members abstained and 4 were absent. Had all the Caucus members stood together, they would have won the vote with 26 votes. One abstainer, Councilman Leroy Comrie, was deemed particularly offensive because he had agreed, in a previous BLAC meeting, to vote for the street name change.
Later, news reports surfaced regarding remarks made by Viola Plummer on the plaza outside of City Hall, after the contentious council stated meeting,. She was said to have called for the assassination of Comrie’s political career. Comrie may be in the running for the office of Queens Borough President in 2009. After Quinn’s many calls, via the media, for an apology were unanswered, Quinn issued her suspension / termination letter to Plummer.
Today, outside of the U.S. District Court, Councilman Charles Barron declared, “Viola Plummer was hired by me and will continue to work for me. Tell Quinn to get the police, because we’re coming in (250 Broadway).”
Given the magnitude of Speaker Quinn’s apparently illegal and unprecedented attempt to fire a council members’ staff, the silence of the other council members is deafening.
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