| From the Villa ge of Brook ly n |
OUR TIME PRESS THE L OCAL PAPER WITH THE G LOBAL VIEW
| VOL. 22 NO. 35
Since 1996
August 30 – Septmber 5, 2018 |
Photo: Bernice Green
Peace in the Morning: Something magical happens every morning on Martha’s Vineyard’s, from July 4th through Labor Day at 7:30am. Since the late 1940’s, The Polar Bear Club, a gathering of friends and families, have converged at the Inkwell in Oaks Bluffs for water aerobics and stretching of mind and body. Ancestor’s names are called in an exercise of spiritual strengthening and a remembering of the road they’ve traveled and the shoulders they stand on.
Sen. John R. McCain
Black candidates are winning
Man of Honor, Conviction and "The Greater Good" Passes at 81 of Brain Cancer
Vietnam War hero fought dark battles with dignity, decency and grace See page 2
Gillum’s victory is the third major victory for a black Democrat in a Democratic gubernatorial primary field in 2018, following on the heels of wins by former NAACP president Ben Jealous in Maryland earlier this year and state Rep. Stacey Abrams in Georgia. Gillum and Jealous both emerged from crowded primaries, while Abrams crushed fellow state legislator Stacey Evans, a white woman, in a one-on-one primary race. None of that winning trio ran expressly as the “black” candidate in the field. (In Jealous’ case, his leading opponent -Rushern Baker -- was also black.) And all three demonstrated an ability to win votes outside of the African-American base within the Democratic Party. But their victories serve as a reminder of how potent the black vote is within the current incarnation of the Democratic Party. And how the likes of Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.) and Cory Booker (N.J.) or former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick could benefit from that fact come 2020. CNN
Voters still love a powerful personal story Gillum’s background was compelling to voters, and he spoke of it often on the campaign trail. Here’s the New Yorker’s Benjamin Wallace-Wells on Gillum’s life story: “Last Sunday, Gillum spoke at St. Ruth Missionary Baptist Church, in Dania Beach, Florida. I was in a pew near the back. Over six feet tall, with a shaved head and handsome, Gillum took the pulpit and told the congregation about his life. He was born poor, in Miami. His mother was a schoolbus driver and his father was a construction laborer. He was the fifth of seven children, and the first to graduate from high school.” In one of his only campaign ads, Gillum turns to the camera and asks: “What’s impossible? The son of a bus driver becoming mayor of the capital city? Is it impossible to come from nothing, be outspent 10-to1 and win?” (In a longer digital-only ad, Gillum tells his personal story in a deeply compelling way.) CNN
Gillum response to opponent’s ‘monkey this up’ comment: DeSantis is ‘in the swamp’ with Trump Andrew Gillum, the black Democratic nominee for governor in Florida, said Wednesday that it was “clear” his GOP rival “is going to join Donald Trump in the swamp” after Ron DeSantis said in a television interview that the state should not “monkey this up” by electing Gillum. “We’re going to leave them there, and we continue to press toward a higher mark,” Gillum said yesterday on MSNBC’s “Meet The Press Daily.” NBC
Music Tribute to Aretha Franklin added to Antioch Baptist Church's Public Centennial Celebrations, Sunday, Sept. 2 and Saturday, Sept. 8, See page 9