Tuesday’s Election more than about winning Mayor’s Seat

Activists say it’s about stopping attacks vs. poor

 

By Chinta Strausberg

 

“What is at stake is not just Chicago but in the whole country with Rambo (Rahm Emanuel) representing the symbol and the substance of a movement that says poor and working people have to pay for the sins of the rich” – Rev. Walter “Slim” Coleman.

Senator Jacqueline Collins: “I think Carol is carrying on the agenda of Dr. King. She’s indicated she has marched with Dr. King,” Collins said. “Carol has Dr. King’s vision and she has his agenda and that is why (this election) is important.”

A popular minister and loyal supporter of the late Mayor Harold Washington Saturday said this election is a litmus test for poor people and that everyone especially blacks must come out to vote Tuesday if they want to break the political tide he says is running rough shod over their rights and opportunities in America.

Others like Senator Jacqueline Collins (D-16th) believe tomorrow’s election is one about policy and who is carrying on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s social and economic agenda. Collins said only one candidate, Carol Moseley Braun, is carrying out Dr. King’s agenda.

And both Collins and Rev. Walter “Slim” Coleman, who pastors the Lincoln United Methodist Church and the Adalberto United Methodist Church in the Uptown community, agree that Chicagoans must turnout in huge numbers on Tuesday not just for another mayoral victory but to send a message to those with anti-King agendas that the political winds are blowing over Chicago as it did in Egypt and other countries.

“What is at stake is not just Chicago but in the whole country with Rambo (Rahm Emanuel) representing the symbol and the substance of a movement that says poor and working people have to pay for the sins of the rich,” said Coleman. “That’s not in the bible. It is contrary to everything that is about democracy and about justice and about the future of this country,” he said.

“If we don’t take a stand here and draw a line right here in Chicago, then it really won’t matter who is the president of the United States in this time or the next time because we will have lost the battle,” Coleman warned. “We can’t afford to lose on Tuesday. We need to shut down this vicious and wicked idea that the poor have to pay for the sins of the rich.”

Coleman frowned at the candidacy of Emanuel, who is the media’s perceived front-runner. “Rahm represents a self-righteous, hypercritical point of view that rewards those who put this country and this city in crisis and with keeping and increasing their wealth and hypercritically comes out and says to teachers and people who are cleaning the streets and people who are without jobs that they will have to pay for what we did,” said Coleman.

Senator Collins said Tuesday’s election “is about policy. It is not about personality. It’s about who has the best agenda to impact our community…all suffering and hurting communities.

“We have high unemployment,” said Collins. “We don’t have contracts comparative to our population….” She said tomorrow’s election is about who has the best agenda to address our needs.

“When you address the needs of the African American community, it gives a strong foundation for all of society because we’re usually at the bottom of the ladder,” said Collins. “We are the last in and the first fired.

“ I believe Dr. King’s agenda, though it was an agenda focused on the needs and the concerns of the African American community…all those people who have been the subjects and the victims of injustice…” helped other ethnic groups as well.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice ever where is what Dr. King used to say. When you uplift the African American community, you uplift all of human kind,” said Collins.

“Dr. King opened the door not only by fighting for justice, equality, parity, politics and economics in the social strata while he fought for those rights for us, his battles also benefit the rights of women, gays and lesbians…. He opened the door.

“I think Carol is carrying on the agenda of Dr. King. She’s indicated she has marched with Dr. King,” Collins said. “Carol has Dr. King’s vision and she has his agenda and that is why (this election) is important.

“And, that is why I think it is so important. It’s not about money. It’s about who best serves those who are most in need, and I think Carol has that answer because she is carrying on the legacy of Dr. King,” said Senator Collins.

Photo: By Chinta Strausberg

Chinta Strausberg is a Journalist of more than 33-years, a former political reporter and a current PCC Network talk show host.