Summary
Overview
This episode chronicles an intense political battle within Brooklyn's Democratic Party, where reformers attempt to overthrow an entrenched machine led by party chair Rodneyce Bichotte Hermelin. What begins as a story about copied pink hair evolves into a deep dive into patronage politics, power struggles, and questions about race and political control in America's second-largest county Democratic organization.
The Pink Hair Precedent: A Parable About Power
The episode opens with Anna, a Fordham student who dyed her hair hot pink and became known as 'the pink hair girl' on campus. A year later, she returns to find numerous others have copied her distinctive look, but nobody acknowledges her as the inspiration. This seemingly trivial story about hair becomes a metaphor for the larger political battle to come—about who gets credit, who controls narratives, and the pain of losing perceived ownership over something you believe you created.
- Anna dyes her hair hot pink before junior year and becomes the recognizable 'pink hair girl' on Fordham's small Lincoln Center campus
- Upon returning for senior year, Anna sees 7-15 new people with pink hair, including some with identical haircuts and bangs
- The copycats refuse to acknowledge Anna as their inspiration, which drives her nuts on the small campus
- Reporter fact-checks Anna's premise by interviewing other pink-haired students, who cite Pinterest and COVID-era desires as their inspiration, not Anna
" It's really not that hard. It's really not that hard. And it's not like, even, honestly, these days I'll take like, oh my god, I love your hair. I'll take that. "
" Heavy is the head that refuses to share the crown. Because the more you cling to it, the more you ignore the reality on the ground, cling to your own version, the sharper the pain of losing it. "
The Brooklyn Democratic Machine and Its Challengers
The story pivots to Brooklyn's Democratic Party, the second-largest county party organization in America with over 2.5 million residents. Despite being in a deeply blue borough, the party is described as dysfunctional and focused on patronage rather than winning elections. Tony Malone and the New Kings Democrats represent reformers who want to transform the party from a jobs program into an actual electoral force, while party chair Rodneyce Bichotte Hermelin represents the establishment machine.
- Brooklyn's Democratic Party is the second biggest county party in the country, but is the least functional party in New York City
- After Trump's 2016 election, Tony Malone got activated and found the Brooklyn party was 'not focused on winning elections' but rather operating as 'an antiquated patronage machine'
- The New Kings Democrats want the party to prioritize campaigning for Democratic candidates across the country, not just dispensing jobs to friends and family
- Reformers realized they needed to take over the Executive Committee (42 district leaders who elect the party chair) to force change
" Our party in Brooklyn was not focused on winning elections. Instead of an energized, mobilized party of a million-plus members working together to elect Democrats, what Tony saw was, in his words, an antiquated machine that had ceased to mean much to anyone in Brooklyn. "
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