Opinion

OP-ED: Keeping Our Eyes on the Prize

Published

10 years ago

September 22, 2014

By Jovanka Beckles

In the civil rights era we knew that to make progress and be treated with dignity, we’d have to stand up against taunts, fire hoses, dogs and more. We still face many horrors today as we have seen in Ferguson.

In Richmond, the situation is mixed.

Richmond is rising. We have beautiful parks, art, and community gardens again! Our young people are beginning to feel loved again! We’re experiencing increased peace in our community and we have the lowest crime rate in 33 years!

All this is the sign of the healthy community we are re-creating together. Richmond is healing.

Progressive policies have brought us a higher minimum wage, less pollution, safety with a community approach to policing, programs to help the formerly incarcerated and those facing foreclosure.

But we still much to do. We still have low-wage work. We have environmental racism with much of our community suffering from pollution.

Self-sufficiency is needed, and we have what it takes to do for ourselves.

Chevron has put in $1.6 million in its “Moving Forward” committee to flood our mails with lies to taunt and burn forward-thinking candidates like Gayle, Eduardo and me.

If you look at the fine print on the back, you can see that they’re paid for by Chevron. They know that we don’t have the money to match their mailers and correct their lies and distortion, so they repeat the same lies.

Those mailers neglect to tell the public that I spend my budget on sponsoring community-oriented events for women, children and the homeless in Richmond.

Chevron is using its money to pollute our politics and take control of City Government, which is supposed to represent the people.

Since our city council, progressive leadership has been free of corruption. Chevron’s hit pieces have to make up “facts.”

The facts are: Gayle has taken only three trips in eight years and only one—an official trip to our sister city, Regla Cuba—used her Council expense money.

Eduardo is not an anarchist. My spending on the one trip I took on city business was far less than the amount allowed per day. Unlike other Council members, I work a full-time job and get up at 5 a.m. to mentor youth.

Yet, my attendance at Council meetings is better than the attendance of the Chevron candidate for Mayor.

One of the proudest moments in serving our community has been raising the minimum wage in Richmond. If you are minimum wage worker in California, you may have noticed that you’ve been making a dollar more an hour.

In Richmond, you’ll receive another raise come January first. Over the next four years, you’ll actually be getting $4 an hour more than you do today!

We are taking concrete steps to move working people out of poverty.

In addition to improving our economy by raising the minimum wage, I sponsored our Ban the Box ordinance to fight discrimination of the formerly incarcerated, who must be given opportunities to earn a living.

I fought to keep Doctor’s Hospital open. I advocated for improved lighting to increase our public safety. For those with an interest in reviewing my record, look at my website, Facebook or review the public record to see for yourselves.

My opponents, who attack me with fabrications, have no program and no vision, so they distract from the truth.

Richmond is far better now than it was 12 years ago. Let’s continue in the positive, prosperous, healthy and safe direction that we are going. Let’s not allow fear tactics to distract us from the truth. Let’s keep our eyes on the prize.

Vice Mayor Jovanka Beckles is running for reelection to the Richmond City Council.

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Commentary

Harris Dominates First Presidential Debate as Trump Struggles to Defend Record

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Vice President Kamala Harris positioned herself as a problem-solver, taking on issues like housing, childcare, and the economy. In her opening statement, she outlined her “opportunity economy” plan, which focuses on bolstering the middle class. “I was raised as a middle-class kid, and I am actually the only person on this stage who has a plan that is about lifting up the middle class and working people of America,” Harris said. She detailed a $6,000 child tax credit as part of her plan to support young families.

Published

6 days ago

October 2, 2024

Oakland Post

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris during their first presidential debate Philadelphia on Tuesday night. Photo: Screen capture from ABC News feed of the debate.

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Vice President Kamala Harris decisively took control of the first presidential debate against former President Donald Trump in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, delivering a performance that put Trump on the defensive for much of the evening. Moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis of ABC News kept a tight handle on the debate, significantly improving from CNN’s June handling of Trump and President Joe Biden.

The debate began with a surprise as Harris approached Trump to shake his hand and introduced herself as “Kamala Harris,” an unusual move that set the tone for the night. Trump’s trademark scowl stayed in place throughout the debate, as Harris pressed him on his legal woes and diminished his record. Displaying her prosecutorial skills, Harris consistently turned the conversation toward Trump’s convictions, his business fraud case, and his role in the January 6 insurrection.

Harris positioned herself as a problem-solver, taking on issues like housing, childcare, and the economy. In her opening statement, she outlined her “opportunity economy” plan, which focuses on bolstering the middle class.

“I was raised as a middle-class kid, and I am actually the only person on this stage who has a plan that is about lifting up the middle class and working people of America,” Harris said. She detailed a $6,000 child tax credit as part of her plan to support young families.

Trump, by contrast, criticized the Biden-Harris economy, calling it “the worst period of time” he had seen. He defended his tariff policies and took aim at Harris, labeling her a “Marxist” while also accusing her of copying his economic policies. “I was going to send her a MAGA hat,” Trump quipped.

Abortion rights were another major focus of the night. Trump, when asked if he would veto a federal abortion ban, declined to answer directly, stating, “I won’t have to,” and arguing that the end of Roe v. Wade had satisfied everyone. Harris, in turn, vowed to restore Roe’s protections through federal legislation if elected.

“I pledge to you: when Congress passes a bill to put back in place the protections of Roe v. Wade as President of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law,” she said.

As the debate went on, Trump repeated several conspiracy theories, including a claim that migrants were eating pets in U.S. cities, which Muir quickly fact-checked. Trump doubled down, citing “people on television” as his source. Harris largely let Trump’s more outlandish statements pass, opting to stay on policy while allowing the moderators to address his factually inaccurate remarks.

In one of the most heated moments, Harris invited viewers to attend a Trump rally for themselves, commenting, “He talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter and windmills causing cancer. You’ll notice people start leaving his rallies early—out of exhaustion and boredom.”

Trump, visibly irritated, retorted that he holds “the most incredible rallies in the history of politics,” but the debate soon returned to more substantive issues like crime and inflation.

The night clearly contrasted Biden’s earlier debate with Trump, as Harris managed to keep Trump on the defensive. Trump continued to fixate on conspiracy theories and past grievances, while Harris stayed focused on presenting her vision for the future.

With fewer than 60 days until the election, the debate sets the tone for what will likely be a hard-fought campaign. As the debate ended, Harris closed with a message to the American people: “This is about who we are as a country. The choice is clear—between chaos and leadership, fear and hope.”

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Commentary

Opinion: In First Presidential Debate, Harris Exposes Trump’s Inadequacies

She’s still calling herself the underdog, but the biracial woman from Oakland, half Black and half Asian American, just changed the race for the presidency of the United States. If you ever doubted Kamala Harris’ ability to be our nation’s leader, everyone who watched Tuesday’s debate saw how fully capable she is of the job. She belongs in the White House.

Published

6 days ago

October 2, 2024

Oakland Post

Screenshot from Presidential Debate.

By Emil Guillermo

She’s still calling herself the underdog, but the biracial woman from Oakland, half Black and half Asian American, just changed the race for the presidency of the United States.

If you ever doubted Kamala Harris’ ability to be our nation’s leader, everyone who watched Tuesday’s debate saw how fully capable she is of the job.

She belongs in the White House.

Harris not only bested Donald Trump in arguing the facts; she showed how totally inadequate Trump is to again be our country’s Commander-in-Chief.

Harris deftly made her case on issue after issue, while baiting and manipulating Trump on the economy, on abortion, and on immigration.

Imagine how Putin and other world leaders play Trump. Harris exposed Trump for all to see. It wasn’t exactly an “emperor has no clothes” moment. It was more like “the twice impeached, convicted felon on 34 counts” has no business running for president. Trump is unfit mentally for the job, if not unfit morally.

It must have been a disappointment for deep MAGA to see their candidate so incapable of holding his own against Harris. At one point, she had him defending the crowd size at his rallies after she said people were leaving because he was boring.

And then instead of real policies that impact our lives, the former president spoke passionately about… his crowd size.

When that happened, I think everyone could see: Harris ate his lunch.

Going into the debate, the consensus in this tight race was that it was a virtual tie with Trump one point ahead.

But after their first meeting ever in a head-to-head-match up, CNN’s instant poll showed Harris winning the debate well beyond any margin of error, 63 percent to 37 percent.

There’s more distance between the two than previously understood. The debate exposed that.

TRUMP’S LIES

At the beginning of the week, I said the only way Trump could win the debate was if he “played nice.”

But the bully just couldn’t do it.

Acting presidential was just one lie Trump couldn’t pull off in another debate night mired in Trump lies.

Did his administration really do “a phenomenal job in the pandemic” when over a million Americans are dead? Is Kamala Harris “a Marxist and everybody knows it”? And what about those cat-eating immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, where every local official confirmed to news organizations that the story was false. There was even a lie on that Trump lie, when the former president said the immigrants were eating cats AND dogs. No, it’s just one lie. Just cats is enough.

And all that was just a fraction of the lies Trump told in the 90-minute debate.

Still, even with all that, I wouldn’t say Kamala Harris “whooped” Donald Trump.

It was more like general domination.

In fact, she had him at “Kamala Harris.”

When Trump seemed to dismiss the possibility of an opening handshake, Harris forced the issue. She walked toward Trump’s podium, reached out her hand, and introduced herself by name.

That gesture put Trump on the defensive all night.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. See his micro talkshow on YouTube.com/@emilamok1