What is your understanding of POLITICAL POWER?

[Clifford Black]

Please research all of the "so called black mayors"----once done, list them in order.  Make comment on sequence of elections. In other words, who was elected first and what year did it happen? In what city did the event (elections) happen and in what year? What happened after the election and was the election the cause? Are there any obvious patterns that should be discussed? What benefits were received because of the election? If there were benefits who received them? Use youtube, yahoo, google search, wikipedia and anything else that you might think of to find information.  Try to find data in the 60 minute forum post, also look into the history channel and time online mag-us news-discovery--use anything and everything that you can think of --- as a suggestion--- in youtube--- you may want to watch Ghost Town 'Gary Indianna'  Rember, electronic sources for data may be the easiest but is not the best way of learning about an issue.  You should learn to be aware of fact vs. fantasy---opinion vs. evidence. There is much more that needs to be developed regarding this post but we will wait until it starts to happen and then expand.  If you are interested in finding out about some of the events that have happened in your life and understanding WHY, you may want to participate in this thread.

B.

[Lumumba Ali]

1868 First African-American elected mayor of a U.S. town: Pierre Caliste Landry,  Donaldsonville, Louisiana Pierre Caliste Landry (April 19, 1841 – December 22, 1921) was an American slave who later was an attorney, politician, and religious leader.

He was named Caliste; and was reared by Pierre Bouissiac and his wife Zaides, free people of

colour, until he was 13. As a boy, he was sent to school on the plantation and attended classes conducted by

Mrs. Reno, for free children of colour. At the Provost succession sale in May of 1854, Landry was offered to the

highest bidder and became the property of M. S. Bringer, one of Ascension's wealthiest sugar planters. He was

sold for $1665.00.

Donaldsonville had a black coroner, postmaster, school board president, and tax collector

Also an all black police jury was elected in 1872.

His election was during Reconstruction...1872  the Civil War was over in 1865.

Donaldsonville was occupied by the Union Army during the Civil War, and they were able to fight the confederates off, ohhh and did I mention these Union solidiers were colored, so I'm sure that set the stage for the presence of a city with people of color positioning themsekves for a position of power.  The city afterwards begin to grow and educate people and children of color, so this brother was an asset to the city and its people.

This is just the first one...I'll make the others shorter

[Clifford Black]

What were the circumstances and the events that were taking place leading up to the elections. What was the environment that was being lived before and then after the elections.

B.