“The cuffs are off,” says JoLinda Ruth Cogen with a smile and sigh of relief. On June 30, Cogen wrote her last correspondence as president of the 32nd Precinct Community Council. After five years of leading many of Harlem’s community activists, her hands are now free to take on different activities in this new phase of her life.

“I have always been impressed with JoLinda’s commitment and connection to our community,” says Franc Perry, who as chairman of Community Board 10 has known Cogen for many years. “She truly wants the best for Harlem and works to see that we get the best.”

During the last 15 years, Cogen has played a key role in creating opportunities for Harlem residents to learn and contribute to their community. She introduced programs such as the Harlem Toastmasters and the district’s first Community Emergency Response Team. As a black Republican woman, Cogen has been criticized as being out of touch with local political ideals. Her reputation is mixed among officers at the 32nd Police Precinct. Her critics say she is pushy and too outspoken. Nonetheless, the overwhelming majority of Harlem’s residents support and applaud Cogen, first electing her as vice president of their police community council, then as president for two terms. Along with religion, this has given her the strength and motivation to keep defending her beliefs.

Now that she will be spending less time advocating, a lot of Cogen’s energy will be focused on her new career, working for Prudential Douglas Elliman as a licensed real estate salesperson and Harlem specialist. In early August, four months after obtaining her licence, Cogen’s grin is up to her ears when she finds out she will soon be planning her first open house.  “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail,” she says. “I have plans for this new phase of my life, and I’m excited about them.”

Although Cogen spent time in Harlem during her childhood and today lives near Dorrance Brooks Square, she is not originally from Upper Manhattan. Born in Brooklyn on March 4, 1956, she was raised in Flatbush on Sterling Street by a police officer and a paraprofessional teacher’s aide. In 1974, while her younger brother joined the U.S. Marines, Cogen received a scholarship and studied political science at Boston College.

“I wanted to be an attorney, but I would have been too arrogant,” she says, taking the last bite of her pizza at a popular Italian restaurant on Amsterdam Avenue. Humor aside, she explains law school would have been too expensive; her undergraduate education was funded though her college’s Black Talent Program, which helped around 80 percent of underprivileged black students graduate from her class in 1978.

“Back when I met JoLinda, there were few black women who demonstrated that kind of leadership and success,” says Leroy Baylor, WHCR radio talk show host who met Cogen at a training seminar for inspirational speakers. “JoLinda was never a follower. She’s a person who speaks her mind and who is dedicated to what’s right.”

Indeed, lacking a graduate degree did not stop Cogen from making her way to the top. She excelled as a sales representative for such Fortune 500 companies as Xerox, AT&T and Wang Labs. She purchased a house in Somerset, N.J., at age 27, and enjoyed all of what New York had to offer a thriving young professional. Although she had been a Democrat in college, Cogen registered with the Republicans when they rang her doorbell. “I was making money and identified more with those values,” she says. “I didn’t vote for Obama. I didn’t think he would be a good leader, and I still don’t. Palin would have done a better job dealing with this oil spill.” It’s no secret Cogen voted for Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona in the last presidential elections.

Not all Democrats in her community see her political stance as negative. “Of course the fact that JoLinda is a registered Republican automatically sets her up for criticism,” says Baylor. “But it’s a good thing JoLinda works for black people’s needs from the other party. It gives balance. I’m happy she’s a Republican.”

Due to the economic recession in the early ‘90s, Cogen could no longer afford her house and moved into a smaller apartment in New Jersey. “I’ve been outsized, rightsized, and downsized five times,” she says, tightening her face. “You learn a lot from people who try to minimize you so they can equalize you.”

Her independence and strength stems from skills she learned from her father, with whom she was very close. “I’m a daddy’s girl and a man’s woman,” she says. “I’ll admit this has gotten me in trouble more than once.” Cogen does not deny being a flirtatious woman; this afternoon her coquetry helped get better restaurant service and extra cheese on her pizza.

The most important man in Cogen’s life was her father, a dedicated police officer who took risks to help others. “He was at work one day when a woman came in with her infant, asking for her welfare check,” Cogen recounts. “When the woman found out the check wasn’t available yet, she threw her child far and high up in the air.”

Cogen’s father leaped across the room and caught the baby, breaking several bones in his upper body. He was put on disability for two years, suffered from depression and alcoholism, and died three days before his 55th birthday. Cogen was deeply affected by his death, but found appeasement in religion on April 23, 1983.

“Growing up I was not very religious, even though I went to Catholic school,” she says. “I had a couple of meaningful relationships with men until I was 30. Then I found Jesus as my personal lord and savior and was celibate for 10 years until I met Michael. If I had learned about the glory of virginity early on, I would have waited for marriage. Or I would have gotten married earlier.”

On most Sundays, Cogen and her husband attend the 10:30 a.m. service at the Christian Cultural Center on Flatlands Avenue in Brooklyn. A coach bus leaves Harlem at 9 a.m. sharp from 125th Street and Lenox Avenue, giving the community’s evangelical charismatic Christians around an hour to catch up or read the newspaper before arriving at the complex. Cogen is usually part of the conversation, making jokes and having a good time with her friends.

“JoLinda always goes out of her way to introduce herself to people and to make them feel comfortable. She’s extremely social,” says Nicole Lyte, who for several years has been sharing these Sunday rides with her.

Cogen met Michael at her godfather’s cleaning business on West 140th Street. “On our first date she chose a low-key restaurant, like a Friendly’s, so if she needed to bail she could,” says her husband of 15 years. After four decades of being single, she had finally found a man who accepted her desire to be a devoted wife, while remaining the same independent and active woman she has always been.

Michael Cogen’s support has been crucial to his wife during the past decade, especially as she became increasingly involved in local politics. “My relationship with the police had become very difficult around a year ago,” says Cogen. “They didn’t appreciate my involvement in their business. I was close to resigning my volunteer position but then decided to stay on board as president for a little while longer.”

Given Cogen’s communication and advocacy skills, she often places 311 calls on behalf of her neighbors to report late-night noise complaints. “I didn’t realize they keep records of the callers until recently,” she explains. “So now I’m known as the crazy caller.”

However, the support from her peers is undeniable. “JoLinda has always fought against ongoing or potential wrongs to her community,” says Sgt. Keith Taylor, her neighbor for the past 10 years. “She has never felt that Harlem should be given less respect or resources than any other New York City community.”

One of Cogen’s goals as community council president was to help Harlem become less isolated. She founded the Harlem Toastmasters club, which meets twice a month at the Harlem State Office Building and teaches individuals how to enhance their communication and business management skills. With the rise of gentrification, Cogen saw the importance of offering Harlem residents the opportunity to become more competitive professionals in both the local and global marketplace. “The image in you is the image you’ll do”, she believes. “I enjoy helping others gain confidence; by enhancing their image, they improve their lives.”

Cogen is looking forward to improving her own life by pursuing more of the activities she had to put aside. For example, she is writing a book on relationships and will lead new “for singles only” motivational sessions. “I’m not single anymore,” she stresses. “But I was single long enough to give good advice on that topic.”

A big fan of John Wayne movies and World War II documentaries, Cogen intends to use some of her new downtime to relax in front of films. “I watch everything related to Nazism because history always repeats itself,” she explains. “Like the situation in Harlem. Hopefully things will change, but for now, black people are again being pushed out. That’s been happening forever.”

She accepts that with freedom comes accountability. “My new title is JoLinda. Just JoLinda. I’m going to stay in the background.” One could have doubts about Cogen’s ability to remain on the sidelines, but it is quite clear that throughout her life she has been nothing but open to change.

Source: http://neighborhoodbeatbox.org/2010/08/28/harlem-community-leader-begins-a-new-chapter-of-her-life/

JoLinda Ruth Cogen Contact: http://beta.prudentialelliman.com/real-estate-agent/jolinda-ruth-cogen/2738