Black pols hail Bam’s breakthru

ALBANY — Some of New York’s trailblazing black leaders in state government say while they are sad to see President Obama leaving office, his inspiration as the country’s first black President will continue to guide them.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, who in 2015 became the first black legislator to head the chamber, said before Obama’s election in 2008, he didn’t know if he’d ever see a black person elected as President in his lifetime.

“The more times and the more places glass ceilings are broken, I do think it’s easier for the people who come behind you, even if it’s in a different area,” said Heastie (photo).

Heastie’s own time as speaker has been affected Obama’s rise.

With the speaker’s push, New York in 2016 became the first state to enact Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper” program designed to help at-risk black and Hispanic boys and young men.

He also recalled that Obama in early 2015 was keeping tabs on just who would be replacing longtime Speaker Sheldon Silver when he was forced to give up his lofty position after being hit with federal corruption charges.

Senate Democratic Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who in 2012 became the first black woman to lead a legislative conference in New York, said Obama’s election built on the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

“We were able to imagine a future reflective of Dr. King’s hope that success due to the content of their character, not the color of their skin would rule the future,” StewartCousins said.

She said it’s up to supporters to fight to continue that legacy during the coming Trump administration. “Now, we enter a time where we must fight for those highest American ideals to make sure hate, fear and division does not replace America’s great promise,” she said.

One person who did not want to comment on Obama’s legacy was former Gov. David Paterson, who became New York’s first black governor months before Obama’s election in November 2008.

It was Obama, who through an intermediary, urged Paterson not to seek a full term, clearing the way for then Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to get the nomination.

Obama was concerned that Paterson, at the time one of just two black governors in the country, was vulnerable because of a number of scandals swirling around his administration. by