Major Owens, representing part of
Brooklyn in the U.S.
House of Representatives since
1982, hails from one of the safest Democratic Congressional district in the country. It includes the heavily black and Caribbean neighborhoods of
Crown Heights,
Flatbush, and
Brownsville, as well as progressive
Park Slope and
Prospect Heights.
Owens, who is described as 'gentle,' was a librarian before becoming involved in public service. He was a New York City commissioner and a state senator before his 1982 election to Congress. Owens is currently the ranking Democrat on the Workforce protections subcommittee of the Education and Workforce Committee, where he has been a champion of OSHA. He is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus.
In the 2000 election, Owens faced a nasty challenge from Una Clarke, a city council member. The contest had an unusual ethnic theme. Clarke, as a Jamaican-American, in contrast to Owens as a native born African-American, tried to rally the largely Caribbean inhabitants of the district around this difference. This was ultimately unsuccessful, but it highlighted the diversity of the Brooklyn Black community.
Owens' district misses my house by one block.