Less than three weeks before the 2020 general election, rapper Diddy announced on Friday that he has joined forces with a group of elected officials and activists in launching a Black political party.
“I’m launching one of the boldest things I’ve ever launched. I’m launching a Black political party with some young Black elected officials and activists. It’s called [Our Black Party], it doesn’t matter if you are Republican or Democrat,” he wrote in a series of tweets. “The mission is to create a platform to help advance a political agenda that addresses the needs of Black people. So, going forward we aren’t in the same position we are in today.”
The hip-hop mogul, who has been critical of the Democratic Party, has endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. But he also urged voters to “hold [Biden] accountable” and delivered a passionate rebuke of President Donald Trump.
“The NUMBER ONE priority is to get Trump out of office. HE HAS TO GO. We can’t allow this man to continue to try and DIVIDE US,” Diddy tweeted.
“Things have got too serious,” he added. “It would be irresponsible of me to have us hold our vote hostage. But it would also be irresponsible of me to let this moment go by and not make sure going forward we are doing what it takes to own our politics.”
The hip-hop star’s comments on holding the vote “hostage” appear to reference comments he made in April during an appearance on Naomi Campbell’s web series, “No Filter with Naomi,” where he said that Biden has not yet earned his vote.
“Our vote is not for free … Biden needs to make it clear that he’s gonna change the lives and quality of life of Black and Brown people. Or else he can’t get the vote. And I will hold the vote hostage if I have to,” he said.
The hip-hop legend urged politicians to sign on to his “Contract With Black America” — a plan to uplift Black Americans — and described himself as a “single issue voter.”
“My single issue is, whoever does the most for Black Americans will get my vote. If you leave us blank, I will leave you blank. Crumbles not excepted,” Ice Cube tweeted.
Diddy and Ice Cube’s efforts come as the Democratic Party and the Biden campaign face a challenge in gaining the support of some Black voters, particularly younger generations who feel that the party has been taking the Black vote for granted.
The issue came up during ABC News’ Town Hall with Biden on Thursday night, hosted by chief anchor George Stephanopoulos, where Biden was pressed on the issue by a young Black man, who said he is a progressive Democrat.
“What do you have to say to young Black voters who see voting for you as further participation in a system that continually fails to protect them?” Cedric Humphrey, a student from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, asked the former vice president.
“Well, I say, first of all, as my buddy John Lewis said, it’s a sacred opportunity, the right to vote. It can make a difference. If young Black women and men vote, you can determine the outcome of this election,” Biden said. “And the next question is am I worthy of your vote? Can I earn your vote?”
“We have to be able to put Black Americans in a position to be able to gain wealth, to generate wealthy,” Biden added, outlining various policies in areas like education reform.
Opinion: Brad West been one of the sharpest critics of decriminalization
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Published Apr 22, 2024 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 4 minute read
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VICTORIA — Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West fired off a letter to Premier David Eby last week about Allan Schoenborn, the child killer who changed his name in a bid for anonymity.
“It is completely beyond the pale that individuals like Schoenborn have the ability to legally change their name in an attempt to disassociate themselves from their horrific crimes and to evade the public,” wrote West.
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The Alberta government has legislated against dangerous, long-term and high risk offenders who seek to change their names to escape public scrutiny.
“I urge your government to pass similar legislation as a high priority to ensure the safety of British Columbians,” West wrote the premier.
The B.C. Review Board has granted Schoenborn overnight, unescorted leave for up to 28 days, and he spent some of that time in Port Coquitlam, according to West.
This despite the board being notified that “in the last two years there have been 15 reported incidents where Schoenborn demonstrated aggressive behaviour.”
“It is absolutely unacceptable that an individual who has committed such heinous crimes, and continues to demonstrate this type of behaviour, is able to roam the community unescorted.”
Understandably, those details alarmed PoCo residents.
But the letter is also an example of the outspoken mayor’s penchant for to-the-point pronouncements on provincewide concerns.
He’s been one of the sharpest critics of decriminalization.
His most recent blast followed the news that the New Democrats were appointing a task force to advise on ways to curb the use of illicit drugs and the spread of weapons in provincial hospitals.
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“Where the hell is the common sense here?” West told Mike Smyth on CKNW recently. “This has just gone way too far. And to have a task force to figure out what to do — it’s obvious what we need to do.
“In a hospital, there’s no weapons and you can’t smoke crack or fentanyl or any other drugs. There you go. Just saved God knows how much money and probably at least six months of dithering.”
He had a pithy comment on the government’s excessive reliance on outside consultants like MNP to process grants for clean energy and other programs.
“If ever there was a place to find savings that could be redirected to actually delivering core public services, it is government contracts to consultants like MNP,” wrote West.
He’s also broken with the Eby government on the carbon tax.
“The NDP once opposed the carbon tax because, by its very design, it is punishing to working people,” wrote West in a social media posting.
“The whole point of the tax is to make gas MORE expensive so people don’t use it. But instead of being honest about that, advocates rely on flimsy rebate BS. It is hard to find someone who thinks they are getting more dollars back in rebates than they are paying in carbon tax on gas, home heat, etc.”
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West has a history with the NDP. He was a political staffer and campaign worker with Mike Farnworth, the longtime NDP MLA for Port Coquitlam and now minister of public safety.
When West showed up at the legislature recently, Farnworth introduced him to the house as “the best mayor in Canada” and endorsed him as his successor: “I hope at some time he follows in my footsteps and takes over when I decide to retire — which is not just yet,” added Farnworth who is running this year for what would be his eighth term.
Other political players have their eye on West as a future prospect as well.
Several parties have invited him to run in the next federal election. He turned them all down.
Lately there has also been an effort to recruit him to lead a unified Opposition party against Premier David Eby in this year’s provincial election.
I gather the advocates have some opinion polling to back them up and a scenario that would see B.C. United and the Conservatives make way (!) for a party to be named later.
Such flights of fancy are commonplace in B.C. when the NDP is poised to win against a divided Opposition.
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By going after West, the advocates pay a compliment to his record as mayor (low property taxes and a fix-every-pothole work ethic) and his populist stands on public safety, carbon taxation and other provincial issues.
The outreach to a small city mayor who has never run provincially also says something about the perceived weaknesses of the alternatives to Eby.
“It is humbling,” West said Monday when I asked his reaction to the overtures.
But he is a young father with two boys, aged three and seven. The mayor was 10 when he lost his own dad and he believes that if he sought provincial political leadership now, “I would not be the type of dad I want to be.”
When West ran for re-election — unopposed — in 2022, he promised to serve out the full four years as mayor.
He is poised to keep his word, confident that if the overtures to run provincially are serious, they will still be there when his term is up.
LIVE Q&A WITH B.C. PREMIER DAVID EBY: Join us April 23 at 3:30 p.m. when we will sit down with B.C. Premier David Eby for a special edition of Conversations Live. The premier will answer our questions — and yours — about a range of topics, including housing, drug decriminalization, transportation, the economy, crime and carbon taxes. Click HERE to get a link to the livestream emailed to your inbox.
New York Times reporter and CNN senior political analyst Maggie Haberman explains the significance of David Pecker, the ex-publisher of the National Enquirer, taking the stand in the hush money case against former President Donald Trump.
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