i am

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harlem, usa
same-gender-loving contemporary descendant of enslaved africans. community activist, feminist, health educator, independent filmmaker, mentor, playwright, poet & spiritual being. featured at, in & on africana.com, afrikan poetry theatre, angel herald, bejata dot com, bet tonight with tavis smiley, blacklight online, black noir, brooklyn moon cafe, gmhc's barbershop, klmo-fm, lgbt community services center, longmoor productions, nuyorican poets cafe, our corner, poz, pulse, rolling out new york, rush arts gallery, saint veronica's church, schomburg center for research in black culture, sexplorations, the citizen, the new york times, the soundz bar, the trenton times, the village voice, upn news, uzuri, venus, vibe, wbai-fm, wnyc-fm & wqht-fm. volunteered with adodi, bailey house, inc., black men's xchange-new york, colorofchange.org, drug policy alliance, east harlem tutorial program, imagenation film & music festival, presente.org, save darfur coalition, the enough project, the osborne association, the sledge group & your black world. worked on films with maurice jamal & heather murphy. writing student of phil bertelsen & ed bullins. mjt975@msn.com.

Friday, February 01, 2013

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick Appoints Mo Cowan To Senate Seat

massachusetts governor deval patrick will appoint his former chief of staff, william "mo" cowan, to be the interim pick to fill the state's vacated senate seat. cowan is the second african-american to represent the state of massachusetts in the senate. republican ed brooke was the first. brooke served from 1967-1979.

according to the boston globe, "cowan is a north carolina native & duke university graduate who came to boston to attend northeastern university law school in the early 1990's & never left the region. one of the city's leading african-american lawyers, cowan is a former partner in the politically connected law firm of mintz levin."

the globe also reports, "patrick & cowan built up a strong friendship over the years, in part, because both men have risen from difficult childhoods to prominence in boston & in the state. patrick also served as a mentor to cowan when both were practicing lawyers."

in a statement, patrick said, "mo's service on the front lines in our efforts to manage through the worst economy in 80 years & build a better, stronger commonwealth for the next generation has earned him the respect & admiration of people throughout government. the people of the commonwealth have benefited from his wisdom & good judgment during his time in our office, & will again in the senate."

once senator john kerry was nominated by president barack obama to replace hilary rodham clinton for secretary of state, there was widespread speculation about who governor patrick would appoint to replace him. some thought patrick might even select himself.

retired congressman barney frank shared his interest as a placeholder - until a special election is held this june - to fill that seat for the remainder of kerry's term. earlier last month, frank said, "i'm very well suited to do it. you're not going to have a long period to get acquainted with things."

kerry was nearly unanimously confirmed by the u.s. senate tuesday to lead the state department under president obama. republican scott brown, who lost his bid for re-election to the senate this past november, indicated he may run again this summer. recent polls have shown him leading several potential democratic candidates, including patrick.  

        

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