Recently I blogged about how we should do more to celebrate the people who make our city and our world a better place and not "cancel" them.
So here's a great example: Velmanette Montgomery.
She was a State Senator for 36 years representing Brooklyn until she retired last year. When she was elected, she was one of the only black women in that entire legislative body which, at the time and for years and years afterwards, was a white Republican boys club. In her four decades of public service, Montgomery dealt with the challenges of being a minority in the minority party yet she was an effective representative of her district, city and state. She worked to reform the criminal justice and foster care systems in the state -- including making sure that incarcerated woman couldn't be shackled during childbirth. She pioneered needle exchange programs to help reduce HIV/AIDS. She also strengthened laws against "deed theft" to help people from being tricked out of home ownership.
Velmanette Montgomery is the kind of public servant and New York who, quietly, makes our city a better place to live.
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