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Community Corner

The City's First Black Councilwoman Represented Ft. Greene

Mary Pinkett had a 28-year career.

Mary Pinkett was a labor advocate, a women’s rights activist and the city’s first black councilwoman.

A Brooklyn native, Pinkett was intrigued by politics from an early age, traveling to Miami in 1972 for the Democratic National Convention. Pinkett was elected to the City Council in November, 1973 going on to represent Brooklyn’s 35th District — now held by Councilwoman Letitia James — for 27 years before term limits forced her to retire in 2001.

Pinkett was a formidable personality on the Council; a skilled and spirited debater with a particular concern for workers rights, small businesses and social justice issues, according to her nephew, Derek Glover.

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She earned many admireers during her lengthy career.

"When I first got elected to the Senate, I went to see Rabbi Rosenfeld in Crown Heights to ask him what I could do for the residents of his community," said Borough President Marty Markowitz in 2005. "He said, ‘Just do what Pinkett does.’"

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Pinkett was instrumental on issues such as Medicaid reimbursements for city employees, the fight to save the Franklin Avenue Shuttle from closure, gathering funds to reconstruct Fort Greene Park during the 1990s and the revitalization of Myrtle Avenue.

“She paved the way for other women of color to run for office,” said former Councilwoman Una Clarke, citing the success of James and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke as examples.

In 2003, Pinkett died of heart failure brought on by cancer.

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