A Mayor's Life

August 15, 2013
A former New York City mayor recounts his personal journey from humble roots to running America's most iconic metropolis. With the assistance of Knobler (co-author: Fairy Tales Can Come True: How a Driven Woman Changed Her Destiny, 2003, etc.), Dinkins (School of International and Public Affairs/Columbia Univ.) reflects on his unexpected path from poverty to the mayor's office. At 18--after a childhood spent enamored with the entrepreneurial spirit--Dinkins traded in his business ventures to enlist as a Marine. After being honorably discharged when the war ended, he returned stateside to face the same racial discrimination he had known before. When he was refused service in a bar, Dinkins learned the power of the legal system, deciding to become a lawyer soon after. With memberships in the Harlem Lawyers Association, the Urban League and the NAACP, among others, it wasn't long, however, before Dinkins became "part of the fabric of New York politics" as well. In 1985, Dinkins was elected Manhattan borough president, a position that gave him good footing for the mayoral office, a post he won in 1989. After defeating Democratic incumbent Ed Koch in the primary and Rudy Giuliani in the general election, Dinkins became the first African-American to hold the office. Despite the historical first, his tenure as mayor was not without its difficulties. Though he attempted to tackle New York's crime problems, racial strife continued to plague the city. No example better illustrates this strife than the mob-induced murder of Yankel Rosenbaum, a Jewish man killed at the hands of African-Americans. Though the story's complexities run deep, the result was a borough more racially divided than ever--feelings that soon reverberated throughout the city and cost Dinkins his re-election bid. "Of course I wish it never happened," Dinkins writes. "But I never did, nor will I start now, blame anyone else for what occurred on my watch." A frank, unique look at the many challenges in New York City politics.

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September 15, 2013
In the 1980s, with black mayors in major cities from Chicago to Cleveland to Gary, and Jesse Jackson making a historic bid for the presidency, local Democratic Party leaders considered another historic possibility, a black mayor of New York. With a long career in politics, including time as Manhattan borough president, Dinkins, despite a courtliness atypical of the rough-and-tumble of New York politics, seemed a logical candidate. His father, an African American pioneer in New York politics, influenced Dinkins to get a law degree and go into public service. In 1990, he replaced the irascible Ed Koch at a time of high crime, racial conflict, and financial crisis. Dinkins recalls his career as a moderate in a town of more flamboyant political figures, including Charlie Rangel, Percy Sutton, Shirley Chisholm, Abe Beame, Mario Cuomo, and Rudy Giuliani. Dinkins trumpets his accomplishments as mayor and offers some insights into the boisterous New York political scene, the rise of Harlem's political influence, and the evolution of black political leaders during a turbulent period.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)