We hope you were able to join our DC District-wide Meeting earlier this week! It was broadcast on Facebook Live and featured four DC Council candidates who spoke about their progressive vision for their city and highlighted the need for policies to ensure racial, social, and economic justice and equity for working families and communities of color. Watch the Facebook Live here ( [link removed] )
Other highlights are below.
Our Revolution is committed to building local progressive powerhouses capable of winning at every level of government. Over the past year, we've built a robust network of state political powerhouses from coast to coast. Our Revolution DC is one of our newest groups. It was formed in late 2019 and is growing in number and power.
We are proud to be making our first round of Our Revolution DC endorsements! These four progressive champions are ready to infiltrate DC Council, unseat corporate dems, and give DC its own version of The Squad!
The endorsements of Jordan Grossman, Janeese Lewis George, and Anthonly Lorenzo Green, who are competing in the June primary, were announced on the call. All four Council candidates are running under DC's Fair Elections program, which aims to limit the influence of big money in politics through the public financing of elections.
Jordan Grossman, candidate for Ward 2 and a fifth-generation DC resident,, said "Government service should be considered a privilege, not a business opportunity," referring to the former Ward 2 council member who was forced to resign due to ethics violations. "The shameless corruption of special interests buying a council seat represents everything we need to fight against in our politics."
Janeese Lewis George, candidate for Ward 4 and a former DC Assistant Attorney General, spoke about how gentrification has uprooted working families and communities of color, and why new leadership is essential. "Gentrification and displacement didn't just happen. People and policies allowed it to happen, and if we're going to make a difference, we have to change the people who make the policies."
Anthony Lorenzo Green, candidate for Ward 7 and a four-term ANC Commissioner, addressed the ongoing issue of his ward being a food desert with a lack of high-quality, healthy grocery options. "We need a new model. Instead of waiting around for a developer to make another empty promise, we need to push our city to invest in a grocery cooperative option that would build equity in our community, ensure a dedicated pipeline of good jobs and give people ownership."
Ed Lazere, candidate for an at-large seat and founder of the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, where he's analyzed DC's budgeting process for over two decades, said, "I'm running to take all the budget knowledge I've gained into the DC Council because so many of the solutions to gaining equity ultimately come down to the budget." He joked about his aspiration of the four progressive candidates becoming the DC Council's version of The Squad. "If all of us were elected to the Council, the transformation it would mean for equity and justice in our city would be enormous."
Winning on our issues is a core part of our mission. We will keep demanding real, transformative change to our broken systems and pushing for the policies that will get us there.
Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK, spoke about the threats to peace and stability under the current administration. "One-third of humanity is under some kind of U.S. sanction," she said. She noted that Bernie Sanders is one of the only members of Congress who has consistently voted against the enormous Pentagon budget, which diverts money from needs like healthcare, education, and the environment. "There are progressive members of Congress who vote to approve our bloated military budget year after year. As a progressive community, we need to do better."
There's a lot of work to be done to elect progressive candidates at all levels of government -- people like Jordan, Janeese, Anthony, and Ed -- who will fight for all of us. And there are lots of opportunities for you to get involved.
Phonebank for our monthly meetings! ( [link removed] )
Onward to victory!
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