Roland Rogers, the son of Leonard and Adeline Rogers, was born and reared in Buffalo, New York. His entrepreneurial family owned and operated a number of businesses that included a beverage distributorship, meat packing company and a popular nightclub. As a four-lettered athlete in high school Roland teamed with Assistant Commissioner of the NBA Bob Lanier to establish one of the elite basketball powers in New York State in the late 1960s.
Roland was educated at the State University of New York at Buffalo where he majored in communications. He formed the first African American full service advertising and marketing agency in western New York. One of his flagship projects was the creation of advertising strategy to market a minority small business association to raise needed capital. He also became very active in street level politics as a key strategist for a well-known politician in the area in his successful quest to gain the nomination in the primary for the Mayor of Buffalo.
After relocating to the City of New York in 1981 he began to develop residential and commercial real estate in Harlem where he currently resides. Over the last ten years he has devoted much of his time in the private and public sector managing a not-for-profit community based organization and sports web network publishing business in New York and Shanghai, China.
Roland Rogers also served as President and Chairman of the City of New York 350th Anniversary Committee Inc., which celebrated the City of New York’s long and rich heritage, that expanded awareness of its proud past, and built community pride in neighborhoods throughout the City. He promoted numerous special events and was instrumental in fostering cultural community commonality on a citywide basis. During 1998, he served as a new business-marketing consultant for the Museum of American Financial History in the Wall Street District. A few years ago, encouraged by associates, friends and admirers, he took on the challenge of becoming the third African American candidate for Mayor, successfully gaining recognition as one of the accredited Democratic candidates for Mayor of the City of New York in 1997, and appeared on the September 1997 citywide primary ballot.
“Living in the City of New York to me demonstrates how a black man in America with courage and a radical way of thinking out of the box can go behind the mythical myopic facade of elitism and espouse the true historical significance of democracy. The creation of unifying events to honor the greatest modern day city in the world, New York offered hope amongst all its citizenry, black, white, rich, poor, politician or proletariat. The City of New York was born February 2nd 1653, not the arbitrary date of 1625 that dons the
current city seal. The City of New York served as the backdrop for a journey that began my pilgrimage of spiritual promise on the road to freedom with the doctrine of democracy signed by the Dutch West Indies Company in the Netherlands recognizing the first self-governing municipal charter given to the citizens of New Amsterdam in 1653. The sentiments expressed in the charter led to the 1776 Declaration of Independence from the British and Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution. The Emancipation Proclamation signed in 1863, and the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution provided the freedom to participate in this self-government to African Americans that had been wrested from their lands in Africa in the 17th century and enslaved in North Amrica”---Memoirs of Roland Rogers.
To quote author Elwin H. Powell: “Government is just an idea, not a thing. Not the building but the document contains the idea, which runs the machinery of State. When a State or City loses its legitimacy, when it is no longer supported by the consent of the governed, then it resorts to secrecy and deceit. Document the duplicity of the State and paralysis will ultimately follow”.
Roland Rogers believes that governing the City of New York should be representative of its entire people, especially the children who will inherit the challenges and opportunities of the future. “My being elected Mayor of the City of New York will offer the kind of leadership necessary to inspire New Yorkers and foster a new spirit to move forward and succeed.”
