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July 7, 2011
The Battle for Brooklyn: Forty Years of Minstrelsy is Enough
The Icehouse Gang
by Kevin Baker
[Battle for Brooklyn] looks as if it finally is coming to an end of its run—at least at the Cinema Village—at the end of tomorrow, Thursday. If you haven’t seen this remarkable documentary yet, go and do it.
I’ve been through many of the reasons why in this space: the valuable lesson in community organizing it provides; what’s likely to happen when we don’t pay attention and let the powers that be disport themselves as they please. The spotlight this film shines on the craven, venal practices of so much of New York City’s permanent government, from weaselly politicians, to ravenous developers, to gullible and self-interested construction unions.
Time for another harsh dose of truth for “our side,” whatever that means anymore. Some of the most predictable yet still depressing antics exposed in The Battle for Brooklyn are those perpetrated by the city’s presiding black power structure.
Posted by eric at July 7, 2011 11:20 AM