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I do enjoy a cup of earl-grey now and again.


How the Alt-Left Radical Racist Puppets: Runcie, Holder, Jealous, Abrams, Gillum, et al look to destroy America state by state since they failed with Obama.

From the Grassroots to the Ballot Box: How Gubernatorial Candidate Andrew Gillum Won in Florida

"...AMY GOODMAN: We’re also joined by Charlene Carruthers, national director, founding director of the Black Youth Project 100, author of Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements. You go way back with Phillip Agnew, is that right? Back to elementary school?

CHARLENE CARRUTHERS: Oh, my god, yes! We went to the same elementary school on the South Side of Chicago.

AMY GOODMAN: And you go way back with Andrew Gillum.


CHARLENE CARRUTHERS: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: If you can talk about how you knew him?

CHARLENE CARRUTHERS: Mm-hmm. So, in about 2011, 2012, I was a part of a program called the Front Line Leaders Academy. And basically they brought together black, brown, LGBTQ young folks from across the country to train on how to run campaigns and, even more importantly, how to run for office ourselves. And amazingly, since then, some of my cohort members have actually been elected. And Andrew was a part of the leadership of that program, alongside Rebecca Thompson. And for me, what I remember most about Andrew at that time—

AMY GOODMAN: This was Washington, D.C.?

CHARLENE CARRUTHERS: Yes, this was in Washington, D.C.

And what I remember most about Andrew at that time, and years after that, be it at the Capitol during the occupation by Power U and the Dream Defenders, was his accessibility, his willingness to listen, his spirit that was open and welcoming to young people. I remember his sister, Monique Gillum, who’s also a sorority sister of mine. She’s a powerhouse behind that campaign, too.

And so, I am excited about the fact that the campaign and the organizations, including Dream Defenders Action, including Florida Immigrant Coalition, Collective PAC, Color of Change PAC, who were on the ground and decided to invest in the voters and the people, that other candidates and parties have thrown away. And when you bet on our people, it’s not risky. It’s not a gamble. It’s actually a sure bet, right? And we saw well over what? A 500,000 voter increase from 2014 in the primary election? That’s huge to see. And that doesn’t happen because people just felt like getting up to vote one day. It happens because they had a platform to believe in. They had a candidate running on a platform to believe in. And they showed up because they had organizations who value their opinions and value the issues enough, that impact their lives, to fight for it.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: So what do you think, Charlene? What do you think Gillum’s victory means, not just for Florida, but for across the U.S.?

CHARLENE CARRUTHERS: So, I’m from Chicago, where we have a number of rank-and-file Democrats who actually are perhaps Democratic in name, but in all other ways they are corrupt, they don’t actually act in the best interest of the people—from Mayor Rahm Emanuel in Chicago to various members of our City Council to the person who sits as governor in the state of Illinois. And so, my hope is that it sends a signal to organizations and individuals to say that we need to move radical agendas and not just focus on candidates. Gillum is amazing. But he would not have received this nomination for the Democratic Party had he not had a platform that young people, that immigrants, that black folks, brown folks could actually get behind.

AMY GOODMAN: The media had put him fourth.

CHARLENE CARRUTHERS: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: Now, you have Stacey Abrams

CHARLENE CARRUTHERS: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: —who would become the first African-American governor of Georgia. You have Ben Jealous

CHARLENE CARRUTHERS: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: —who, if he wins, would become the—is running for governor of Maryland.

CHARLENE CARRUTHERS: Maryland, mm-hmm.

AMY GOODMAN: And then you have Andrew Gillum

CHARLENE CARRUTHERS: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: —who would become the first African-American governor of Florida.

CHARLENE CARRUTHERS: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: All trained as activists in the manner you’re talking about, in these kind of—I remember when Stacey Abrams won, Ben Jealous tweeting the picture of the two of them organizing years before.

CHARLENE CARRUTHERS: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. So, I think it’s superimportant to be clear about the importance of moving platforms, moving an agenda that’s about universal healthcare for all people, ending money bail—right?—legalizing marijuana, which we know there are people—our people are sitting in prisons and jails across the country while this has been legalized, right? And so, candidates matter, sure. We have to elect someone. But they also need backup when and if they’re elected. So, if Gillum becomes—when Gillum becomes governor, when Abrams becomes governor, when Jealous becomes governor, if they don’t have a grassroots base to both hold them accountable and to move that agenda, they won’t be successful...”


https://www.democracynow.org/2018/8/..._to_the_ballot

Militants behind the felon vote march today. FYI. #DREAM DEFENDERS #BLM