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A Vote Against Ignorance
on DeSantis can't
win the upcoming governor's election. After his racist "The last thing we need to do is monkey this up" comment, not-so-subtly aimed at Andrew Gillum the first Black man nomi- nated by a major party to run for the office of Governor, it simply can't happen.
If DeSantis wins, not only will it be a victory for Trump wannabees who'll become even more embolden to follow the lead of their bigot-in-chief and a huge embarrassment for the state itself, it would be an even worse look for all Black Floridians.
The fact that George Zimmerman is still happily breathing oxygen some-
where has already cost us a certain amount of respect from other Blacks across the country. Not turning out to vote, and allowing DeSantis to claim victory in the wake of him showing his true col- ors by hurling the very worst of insults towards Blacks, would make us pariah amongst the entire African Diaspora.
This is one of those times when, if you're Black, you have no choice but to stand up and fight. Even if you did- n't plan on participating in the election DeSantis' pres- ence should be a rallying cry, for all who are capable, to send a message to the world saying enough is enough!
It doesn't matter your po- litical affiliation or even if
you like Gillum at this point. He has to defeat De- Santis because, if he does- n't, it will act as a green light to all those with the same mindset that it's ok to say or do whatever toward any group of minorities because repercussions would appear non-existent.
When individuals like De- Santis and Trump con- tinue to garner success it gives those who think like them even more courage to spew their hateful ideologies.
A DeSantis victory would pave the path for even cruder racists and misogy- nists to follow him into pub- lic office until we finally end up with our very own new millennium version of George Wallace. And I don't think that's anything anyone wants to see.
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
John McCain: The Man Called Imperfect
all him the anti-hero . . . Clint Eastwood is one.
Charles Bronson, Richard Boone and others on the silver screen played individuals who could either be good or bad according to circumstances and who from time to time, suffered from what the Greeks called “hubris” (pronounced “hoo-bree”), an arro- gance against the gods and status quo. But in their im- perfection, they did indeed prove to be perfect or at least perfecting. Greek heroes like Hercules and Achilles suffered hubris. The late Senator John McCain was also such a man.
He could sound racist, but was not afraid to swallow his spit and eat crow when served hot and righteous. Given that he had served five torturous years as a pris- oner of war in the infamous Hanoi Hilton North Viet- namese prison camp, then came home, returned to normalcy of sorts only to run for political office suc- cessfully until he tried his hand at becoming president of the United States and lost twice, tells us what kind of man this scarred man attempted successfully to be- come.
Fifth from the bottom of his Annapolis Naval Acad- emy class, McCain’s “spit in your eyes” demeanor won him as many enemies as it did friends. But whether they loved him or despised him, they all respected him for his honesty.
And now, John McCain is no more. And we are told the hole in the bucket of water he left cannot be filled. In these days of fake-news, we believe what we are told. We remember the time he turned a thumbs-down vote against the dissolution of Obamacare and set Donald Trump’s ego on fire.
We also recall the mean-spirited things Trump said about him, which earned Trump a persona-non-grata at McCain’s funeral. Yet, we will remember the sound of McCain’s laughter and the jaunt of his step. But most of all, we will pray that we never meet a man or woman more perfect than John McCain.
Black United States Governors
ongratulations to An-
drew Gillum on win- ning the Florida Primary as the Democratic nominee for the governor of Florida. The Tallahassee mayor sneaked by all of the primary polling to upset favored candidate for- mer congresswoman Gwen Graham to become the Democratic Party’s top nomi- nee. After becoming the youngest person (age 23) elected to the Tallahassee City Commission in 2003, and elected as the city’s Mayor in 2013, Gillum’s star rose to catapult him into the candi- dacy for Florida’s governor with the support of former presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders (I-Ver- mont).
There is no doubt that Gillum’s success was also in- fluenced by billionaire donor Tom Steyer and the Collec- tive PAC.
Gillum faces an uphill battle against the Trump- aligned Republican candi- date, “don’t monkey this up,” and “end the Mueller probe” Ron DeSantis.
However, it is possible that Gillum could join the list of four (4) other Black
United States governors and seven (7) Black territorial gov- ernors for the District of Co- lumbia. Indeed, Gillum has a great chance of expanding the list of minority governors that now includes Spanish, Japan- ese, Native Hawaiian, Indian- American, Mexican, Palestinian, Okinawan, Syr- ian, Filipino, and Chinese an- cestry among others.
However, the first Black American governor was Pinkney Pinchback (1817 – 1892), a Republican from Louisiana. The publisher, Union Army officer, and for- mer Lieutenant Governor Pinchback was elevated to become governor of Louisiana from December 1872 to Janu- ary 1873. Not until 1989 did America elect another Black governor, Douglas Wilder, an attorney, as the Demo- cratic governor of Virginia, who served from January 1990 to January 1994, as a term-limited governor.
In late 2006, civil rights lawyer, author, former United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, and businessman, Deval Patrick was elected Governor of Massachusetts.
Patrick served from January 2007 until January 2015 when he retired.
During his tenure, Patrick was joined by David Paterson who was elevated to the position of governor when he served as Lieutenant Governor under Eliot Spitzer.
Known as the second legally blind governor, the former District Attorney Of- fice of Queen’s County, New York attorney and former United States Senator served as governor from March 2008 until December 2010.
From 1967 until today, seven Blacks have served as territorial governors for the District of Columbia (Wash- ington, D.C.).
They are as follows: Wal- ter Washington (November 1967 – January 1979), Mar- ion Barry, (January 1979 – January 1991, and (January 1995 – January 1999), Sharon Pratt (January 1991 – January 1995), Anthony Williams (January 1999 – January 2007), Adrian Fenty (January 2007 – Jan- uary 2011), Vincent Gray (January 2011 – January 2015), and Muriel Bowser (January 2015 – Present).
However, do not forget that Gillum won by less than 33 percent of the Democratic voters. Therefore, let us all pray, pay (donate to Gillum’s campaign) and vote to make sure Gillum’s name joins this honored and little-known list in 2019. Har- rambee!
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