With President Barack Obama in the White House as the country's first African American commander-in-chief, one may think Harlem, a center of black politics in this country for decades, would be soaring. Harlem produced New York's first black governor and the city's first black mayor.

Instead, the power base of black politics is shifting to elsewhere in the country and the city, according to an article in Tuesday's New York Times.

As the article points out, two of Harlem's, and the nation's most well-known, black politicians--Congressman Charlie Rangel, chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, and New York Gov. David A. Paterson--are experiencing difficulties. Rangel is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee regarding his financial disclosures, and Paterson is polling so poorly that the White House has requested he not seek the Democratic nod for governor next year.

According to the New York Times:

Nationally, Harlem is increasingly eclipsed by Chicago, the home base of President Obama and much of his inner circle, while the power Mr. Rangel and others once wielded in New York City affairs is rapidly dispersing to Brooklyn and Queens, home to a younger generation of elected officials eager to assert themselves. If Mr. Paterson goes, some black leaders say, the Harlem machine goes with him.

Younger politicians in Brooklyn and Queens who supported Obama's unlikely candidacy over that of Hillary Rodham Clinton are now stepping up to fill the potential power void:

But while Harlem and its voters remain influential, Governor Paterson and Mr. Rangel have few heirs. The president pro tem of the State Senate, Malcolm A. Smith, is a product of southeast Queens. His likely successor, John L. Sampson, the Democratic leader in the Senate, hails from central Brooklyn, part of a close-knit group of younger black lawmakers with overlapping districts and ambitions. The party's standard-bearer in this year's New York mayoral race, William C. Thompson Jr., is also from Brooklyn, as is the chairman of Albany's Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, Assemblyman Darryl C. Towns.


"That's how it is. The younger generation will challenge the older generation, and that's how it should be," said Ronald Walters, professor emeritus of government and politics and former director of the African American leadership Center at the University of Maryland. "Back in 1984 to 1988, when Jesse Jackson ran for president, a new generation of people came aboard and learned the skills needed to make it into politics and worked their way in to the media and policy."

The reluctance of some African American elected officials to support Obama's candidacy, combined with the failure to groom the next generation of African American leaders, is being cited for the shift.

Hakeem Jeffries, 39, a freshman New York assemblymen from Brooklyn chatted with AOL Black Voices about the future of African American political leadership. He was one of a few local New York lawmakers to back Obama.

BV: Charlie Rangel is still chair of the Ways and Means Committee and Gov. Paterson has resisted President Obama's call not to run. Why do you think the Harlem political power base in trouble?

Hakeem Jeffries: The perception remains that the black political power is still heavily anchored in Harlem; however, the reality is that the bulk of black electorate has shifted to Brooklyn and southeast Queens. The reality is now black political power is dispersed throughout the city more so than before. The failure to support Barack Obama hurt the credibility of the Harlem political machine with the black electorate. The support of Barack Obama by several younger black officials helped to signal the transition in leadership. It was clear to me that Barack Obama possessed the talent, integrity and inspirational character to be a great president, regardless of the political consequences. The problem was that the Harlem political machine made it clear that the only candidate to support was Hillary Clinton.

BV: What message do you think was sent, with the lack of support for President Obama, from the Harlem power base?

HJ: The biggest problem was that the established black leadership did not believe that a black candidate like Barack Obama could be president. If the black political establishment didn't believe, how could we expect others to believe the mood had shifted enough to open the doors to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave? I would never criticize elected officials for not supporting Barack Obama based on the belief that Hillary Clinton was the better person to represent their community, but I was extremely disappointed by the attitude to not support Barack Obama because they did not believe he could become president. That unwillingness to accept his legitimacy did a great disservice to the aspirations of people out working and representing the community.

BV: Is the decline of the Harlem power base a good thing? Rangel is a chair of a powerful committee, and Paterson is only the third African American governor since Reconstruction.

HJ: Harlem will always remain important culturally and politically, given its long history in black America, but its significance has diminished and will not return to the heights it once held, and that is probably for the betterment of the community. The concentration of power does not permit for equitable and just sharing of resources in many communities. There are communities in New York and beyond that are just as needy as Upper Manhattan. There are some in New York that will argue they didn't get everything they needed, because the machine fed itself. But Charlie Rangel has been a lot more open to leadership in central Brooklyn and southeast Queens. Coming out of this, I would expect him to engage young leadership even more. Gov. Paterson still has some time to turn around the ship, and he has my full support until he makes a decision.

BV: How has President Obama's election changed the landscape for young African American leadership?

HJ: President Obama's candidacy set a standard for other young black elected officials by shattering the ultimate glass ceiling. His rise to power in many ways symbolizes the transformation going on in inner cities, with a new generation of young black officials rising to power with the hopes of providing a new level of representation. As President Obama gets deeper into his first term and continues to deal with the challenges of the economy and health care, I expect more aggressive efforts to promote professionals of all color, with sensitivity to African Americans trying to position themselves to reach higher offices.

BV: What are you doing to groom the next generation of African American leadership?

HJ: Young folks interested in politics in New York City's outer boroughs made the determination to challenge the political machine. I am constantly looking for opportunities to work with talented young people dedicated to community service. Whether that includes people on my staff or those laboring in the vineyard of community activism, there are people of my generation and younger who are ready to step into these roles.