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The next local election is the primary on May 16, 2023, followed by the general on November 7, 2023.
And as you know, we – meaning Black voters – saved the Democratic Party from the dreadfully anticipated Republican “Red Wave” a few weeks ago. In fact, we had to save it because the choice was Biden-type liberal democracy or MAGA-type dystopian fascism. And that’s no hyperbole.
The Biden-type Democrats were endorsed by members of organizations like the NAACP, ACLU and National Organization for Women. The MAGA-type Republicans were endorsed by members of organizations like the KKK, American Nazi Party and the Proud Boys. And that’s no exaggeration.
That’s why we had to save the Democratic Party. But in the upcoming mayoral election, we don’t necessarily have to save the Democratic Party. I’m not saying we shouldn’t save it. I’m simply saying we don’t necessarily have to save it and that’s because the stakes, although important, aren’t as high since the threat of real fascism isn’t looming here.
We always save the Democratic Party in federal, statewide and local elections. And we do it not because the Democratic Party always saves us but only because we’re so afraid of the Republican Party (as we definitely should be.) Our relationship with the Democratic Party is similar to a domestic abuse relationship where the abuser gets drunk every Friday afternoon then beats us every “Fright” night, after which we pack our bags, take the kids and leave but when the abuser apologizes every Saturday, we come running back every Sunday.
And then the cycle repeats itself the next week, the week after that, the following week, and on and on and on.
But that’s gotta stop. We either gotta demand a change from our spouse or gotta divorce our spouse. I’m not saying we gotta go marry somebody else. I’m just saying – as my grandmother used to say – “You don’t have to go home, but you gotta get outta here.” In other words, we don’t have to run to the Republican alter, but we do have to run away from the Democratic abuse (if it doesn’t stop and if respect doesn’t start.)
So far, the following persons have either officially declared their mayoral candidacy or publicly expressed their interest in doing so:
1. Amen Brown — State Representative (He’s first on my list only because this list is in alphabetical order. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be on it at all because, in my opinion, he’s nothing more than a Clarence Thomas/Herschel Walker/Ben Carson-type “negro fella” who does the bidding of racist hillbilly Republican State House members from the boondocks, who are attempting to disenfranchise Black Philly voters by impeaching D.A. Larry Krasner, who overwhelmingly won two Philly elections primarily because of overwhelming support from Black Philly voters.)
2. Jeff Brown- Founder of ShopRite and The Fresh Grocer
3. James DeLeon- Former Municipal Court judge
4. Allen Domb- Former City Councilperson
5. Derek Green- Former City Councilperson
6. Helen Gym- City Councilperson
7. David Oh- City Councilperson. He is the only Republican, right now at least, who has declared or shown interest.
8. Cherelle Parker- Former City Councilperson
9. Maria Quinones Sanchez- Former City Councilperson
10. Rebecca Rhynhart- Former City Controller
11. Mike Stack- Former Lieutenant Governor
If any of those eleven (and potentially others in the near future) want to win in Philly, he or she must get the Black vote in Philly. According to the 2022 edition of World Population Review, Blacks constitute 41.36% of the city’s population while whites constitute only 39.33%.
And as the Pennsylvania Department of State documented, Democrats outnumbered Republicans in Philly in the November election 807,919 to 120,935. That’s 86.98% to 13.01%. And since Blacks make up approximately 65% of the city’s Democratic voters, a mayoral candidate NEEDS us in order to win!
In my role as a columnist at this popular Black newspaper, as a host at a popular Black radio station, and as the leader of a successful grassroots activist organization with a 15,000 member email list (i.e., Avenging The Ancestors Coalition/ATAC at AvengingTheAncestors.com), I have asked Black Philadelphians what they want from a mayoral candidate in the upcoming election before they cast their vote for that particular candidate. Here’s what the vast majority of them said:
1. Reduce violent crime by funding youth-led and community-led projects, expanding and enhancing substantive educational programs and providing paid job-training opportunities.
2. End police brutality by:
redirecting funds from the bloated police budget to mental health, drug rehabilitation and community intervention programs;
taking the lead in aggressively lobbying the state legislature to abolish Legislative Act 111 of 1968, which unjustly protects violently brutal cops even when Internal Affairs and the Police Board of Inquiry properly seek to fire them;
renegotiating the City’s consistently lopsided labor contract with the FOP that always caves in to all of the FOP’s unreasonable demands;
appointing a commissioner with a solid history of strong anti-brutality/anti- racist initiatives on his or her law enforcement resume; and
officially demanding and/or supporting a hiring process that promotes neighborhood policing by officers who live in those neighborhoods and interact with the residents of those neighborhoods.
3. Vastly expand contracts with Black-owned businesses. On Nov. 14, 2021, The Tribune published a meticulously researched article by Tom MacDonald. In it, he wrote that, based on the city’s own official report, “less than a third of city contracts went to firms owned by women, people of color, and people with disabilities in 2020. The 30% rate of what is known as MWBE [Minority/Women-Owned Business Enterprises] contracting fell below the administration’s 35% goal.”
But the real numbers are even worse – much worse – than that in regards to Black-owned enterprises seeking city contracts. I mean no disrespect to women, people with disabilities or non-Black minorities. Allow me to explain. Among those four demographics- i.e., women, non-Black minorities, people with disabilities, and Blacks – only one has ancestors who were legally kidnapped, transported, bought, sold, enslaved, whipped, raped and lynched. And only one has, for example, a history in this city that began in 1684 when the “slave” ship Isabella from Bristol, England, anchored in Philadelphia with 150 captured Africans. And only one had a bomb dropped on its residential neighborhood when the city government in 1985 murdered eleven human beings including five children and completely incinerated 61 homes.
4. Create a city-run public bank that specifically includes in its mission the goal of ending racial economic disparities that have historically adversely and that currently adversely affect Black Philadelphians in particular.
5. End gentrification and private development that exploit poor Black and Brown communities. Also, create affordable and safe public housing.
6. End food deserts that the U.S. Department of Agriculture defines as “low-income tracts in which a substantial number or proportion of the population has low access to supermarkets ….”
7. Immediately implement a “clean streets” policy that timely boards up vacant houses, installs trash cans on highly traveled street corners, clears out debris from illegal dump sites, removes abandoned vehicles and increases trash truck pick-ups.
8. Strengthen and expand the mission and authority of the Mayor’s Commission on African American Males.
9. Expand quality health care centers.
10. Promote environmental protection initiatives.
Stay tuned. I’ll be submitting each of these questions and more to each of the mayoral candidates. And I’ll share their responses or non-responses here in The Tribune and on my radio show (as well as on my local cable TV show and my social media pages.)
And if any of those candidates don’t do us right, we’re leaving, takin’ the kids, and ain’t comin’ back.
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