Leave it to “Brother Al,” as in the Rev. Al Sharpton, to use his razor-tipped tongue to tell it like it is.
Now, Mr. Sharpton has about as much chance of winning the Democratic Party’s nomination for president as the District has of winning full congressional voting rights from the Republican-dominated Congress.
However, Mr. Sharpton’s people’s candidacy provides a necessary and important service because it gives voice in the nation’s political debate to the stifled sentiments of a lot of everyday black folks.
No wonder he spends so much time courting D.C. voters, especially in the consciousness-raising sanctuary at the Union Baptist Church, where his messages are greeted with a rousing chorus of “amen.” I had to offer up a few “amen Brother” myself for Mr. Sharpton while listening to the D.C. presidential primary debate on WTOP Radio and comments on WAMU-FM on Friday.
When the lone three Democratic presidential candidates who dared to participate in the nonbinding D.C. primary today were asked during the debate — also televised on NewsChannel 8 and C-SPAN — what they thought of President Bush’s expensive plans to explore space, the quick-witted Mr. Sharpton said Mr. Bush “ought to explore Ward 7 and 8. … I’ll go get him and take him there, and it will be a whole lot cheaper.” Amen. Mr. Bush is not the only well-heeled politician who ought to traverse Alabama Avenue and Good Hope Road to see how Ordinary People trying to make it in this harsh economy have to live.
Besides, those coveted dollars could be used, as Mr. Sharpton suggests, to rebuild a public hospital in the void.
Even Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio didn’t miss the opportunity to get in the “I’m a man of the people” act. Mr. Kucinich, an advocate for space exploration, nonetheless said, “I also want to explore planet Earth and planet D.C. and to make sure that we use the considerable resources of this country to focus on health, education and jobs here in D.C. and across the nation.” Amen and amen. Planet D.C., lest we forget the freezing homeless families, has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation.
“By having this primary and putting it as the first test of votes, you have made your issue, statehood, first,” said Mr. Sharpton, who intends “to make statehood a central point when we go to [the convention in] Boston and demand it of this party.”
This in no way is meant to be an endorsement of Mr. Sharpton, but for his part, he pledges to use the office of the president to issue an executive order giving the District statehood status in Congress. Mr. Kucinich has enlisted the help of actor Danny Glover to tell D.C. voters that he will introduce a bill in the 108th legislative session of Congress to give the District two senators and one voting representative.
Meanwhile, other Democratic contenders, including former Sen. and Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun and front-runner Howard Dean, who are on the ballot today, have offered lip service in support of the District’s quest to obtain the same basic voting rights as all other Americans.
It’s too bad that voting rights activists have to resort to such antics to enjoy what is rightfully theirs. And, this “beauty contest,” as it is dubbed, will only give ugly opponents fodder for further criticism should the turnout be low. Even though voter participation in primary elections is traditionally lax nationwide, you can bet that low numbers here will be used against the worthy cause for full enfranchisement.
“Unfortunately, the struggle over being first has gotten more play than the point of being first publicizing voting rights,” said D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who was drumming up support for the primary all weekend. More importantly, she said, “their votes will be counted as part of the turnout.”
And it will get our untold story told to the nation, even if falls a little short. Mrs. Norton, who represents the District in Congress but does not have a vote on the House floor, urges residents to vote in the nonbinding primary “to make a personal and political statement in support of voting rights, even if their candidate is not on the ballot and there is no line for write-ins.”
Trying to beat back critics, Mrs. Norton said, “Coming to the polls to write in a candidate won’t be a waste of time because by taking part in our first-in-the-nation primary, these voters will contribute to the main purpose of the primary, [which is] to tell the world that Congress denies voting rights to the citizens of the nation’s capital.”
Back to Brother Al, who really struck a chord, or a funny bone, when he likened the Last Colony to the concealed black child of Strom Thurmond, the late Republican senator from South Carolina.
“In many ways, the District has been treated like the member of the family that the nation denied,” he said. “I think that we should no longer agree to be the silent child of America.” Amen.
But there is no need to continue suffering in silence. To vote is to give voice to your issues and to candidates who’ll fight for your issues. So go vote today.
Be first in the first-in-the-nation primary, binding or not.
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