Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 1-25-19

Politics Around The Nation
Senator Kamala Harris To Run For President In 2020
For 2020 Democrats, The Race Is On To Win Over Black Voters
The Rev. Al Sharpton and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. at a November 2018 meeting of Sharpton's National Action Network on Capitol Hill. Klobuchar and other Democrats weighing a pres- idential bid have been courting the black community more in- tensively than past election cycles.
When Elizabeth War- ren announced her ex- ploratory committee for president at the end of last month, the Massachusetts senator didn't only talk about a crumbling middle class - her signature policy issue - but she acknowledged the im- pact of race and racism on the economy, saying that "fami- lies of color" face a rockier path "made even harder by the impact of generations of discrimination."
A few weeks later, Julian Castro, the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel- opment, explicitly spoke about reforming the justice system when he announced his candidacy for president, saying that "for far too many people of color, any interac- tion with the police can be- come fatal."
Just last week on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced her intentions to run for presi- dent by mentioning the need to take on "institutional racism."
And California Sen. Ka-
mala Harris chose the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday to announce her cam- paign, highlighting issues of racial inequality and her par- ents' experience in the civil rights movement. "The thing about Dr. King that always inspires me is that he was as- pirational," Harris told ABC's Good Morning Amer- ica on Monday, nodding to a theme of her campaign.
All of these Democrats are making explicit appeals to African-American voters in the early stages of announc- ing their plans to seek the presidential nomination. And at least half a dozen Democ- rats interested in the 2020 presidential race are speaking at events on Monday to com- memorate King.
It's a sign of how important black voters are in the Demo- cratic primary and a recogni- tion of the growing reality that to win a general election, they'll need strong black voter turnout. In 2016, black turnout fell in key cities, such as Milwaukee, Detroit, and Philadelphia, in states Hillary Clinton lost.
Kamala Harris an- nounced Monday that she is running for president in 2020, arguing that the time has come to fight against what she views as the injus- tices of the past two years of the Trump presidency.
In a brief video from her campaign that was released on social media Monday morning at the same time she appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America," Harris called on her supporters to join with her to "claim our fu- ture."
"Justice. Decency. Equal- ity. Freedom. Democracy. These aren't just words. They're the values we as Americans cherish. And they're all on the line now,"
KAMALA HARRIS
Harris said in the video, teasing her official kickoff in her birthplace of Oakland next Sunday.
"The future of our country depends on you and millions
of others lifting our voices to fight for our American val- ues," the Democratic Califor- nia senator said. "That's why I'm running for president of the United States. "I'm run- ning to lift those voices, to bring our voices together."
Harris is the first African-American woman to announce a run for the White House in 2020, and the fourth woman in the field. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard an- nounced earlier this month that she is running, and Democratic Sens. Eliza- beth Warren of Massachu- setts and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York have both announced ex- ploratory committees, a step that Harris is skipping.
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Park Reopens For Holiday, Thanks To A Private Grant
Atlanta's Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park has reopened for the first time since the partial government shutdown began on Dec. 22, thanks to a grant from Delta Air Lines. The deal allows the park to avoid the awkward possibility that it would be closed on the fed- eral holiday honoring King.
"Without the assistance provided by The Delta Air Lines Foundation, it would have remained closed during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend," a Na- tional Park Service spokes- man told NPR.
The reopening comes as the civil rights leader's family and fans celebrate what would have been King's 90th birthday. And because of the grant, those celebra- tions and remembrances can now include visits to the home where King was born and his longtime church.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in At- lanta is open for the first time in nearly a month, after a grant from the Delta Air Lines Foundation made up for the lack of federal funds from the partial government shutdown.
The 35-acre park, which draws more than 670,000 visitors to Atlanta's Sweet Auburn neighborhood each year, reopened Saturday. With an $83,500 grant from Delta and money from Na- tional Park Service recreation fees, it now has enough funds
to operate until Feb. 3.
Feb. 3 is also when At-
lanta hosts the Super Bowl, and the King park could re- ceive thousands of visitors in town for the game and re- lated events around Mer- cedes-Benz Stadium, less than 3 miles away.
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