Kilpatrick Attack on Cockrel Up-Close and Personal

You just knew when the Mayor turned his attention to Detroit City Council President Ken Cockrel, Jr. it was going to get ugly. As the camera settled on Cockrel, who chose a seat in the audience rather than his usual spot on stage, you could see him sink into his seat.

In a moment more Godfather than State of the City, the blast of verbal assault spewed forth. “President Cockrel, we have much more serious issues affecting our city than whether we attend a speech or not. I love you, and I love what you've done in our city, and at this moment in our history we must start to turn to each other and not on each other.”

As Kilpatrick blew the smoke away from both barrels, it was clear he was taking no prisoners. Stunned by the attack, Cockrel brought forth a tight smile – the kind that crosses the face of a prize fighter before he crashes to the canvas in a heap.

You all know the rest. The N-word, the threats, the lynch mob comments and so on and so forth. But to me this was personal.

I grew up a great admirer of Ken’s dad, Ken Cockrel, Sr. Ken’s father was a brilliant attorney and dynamic speaker. Cockrel, Sr. was an often-controversial, often-inspirational figure in Detroit politics, from his emergence as a radical black activist and lawyer in the 1960s, through a term on the Detroit City Council, to speculation that he would run for mayor before he died of a heart attack in 1989 at the age of 50.

One of the first programs I produced when I began my tenure with Black Journal was a tribute to Ken Cockrel, Sr. It was then that I first met Ken Cockrel, Jr. In a gesture of thanks and kindness I will never forget, a few weeks after the program aired the younger Cockrel sent over a framed portrait of his dad that included hand a written thank you note. It was touching and classy.

To see this man humiliated in front of the entire city was appalling. None of us know the ins and outs of what takes place between Council and the Mayor. But knowing Ken professionally for the past fifteen years I can say with certainty that he’s done nothing to merit the attempt at public castration that Mayor Kilpatrick tried to pull at the end of the State of the City address. Now we can add Ken Cockrel, Jr. to the long list of people that Mayor Kilpatrick owes an apology.

By American Black Journal producer Tony Mottley