A snack food company is among the many things Mr. Milton Street, who in 2015 ran for Mayor of Philadelphia, would create if Mr. Donald Trump, a bombastic billionaire, offered financial support.
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I covered the 2015 Philadelphia Mayoral Race from day one: Ms. Terry Gillen was the first to throw her name into the ring.
She exited quickly, and without fanfare. Ms. Gillen, who worked early on in the Nutter Administration, is smart and capable – her record proves it – but she’s forgettable.
A more memorable candidate, however – one who you couldn’t forget if you tried – is Mr. Milton Street, whose brother, Mr. John F. Street, was the second black Mayor of Philadelphia and served two terms.
Mr. Street, for whatever reason, didn’t have the visible support from his brother that some may have expected – the former Mayor didn’t endorse him – though many have argued it wouldn’t have made a difference.
Because of his somewhat erratic nature, Mr. Street, a former Pennsylvania State Senator who served three years in prison for not paying his taxes, is seen by a sizable amount of Philadelphians as a sideshow candidate, someone who can’t be taken too seriously.
It’s a bit sad, though, that Mr. Street is perceived the way he is, by so many, because some of his ideas – like employing community residents (veterans preferred) to patrol their neighborhood in an effort to reduce violence – deserve consideration.
At a rally in Virginia on Wednesday, Mr. Trump invited Mr. Street onstage along with black clergy and he later referred to him as a “highly respected, great man in Philadelphia.” Mr. Trump also said on Wednesday that he would come to the nation’s fifth largest city to lecture on how to stop black-on-black-crime.
Today during a live radio interview, Mr. Street clarified that Mr. Trump would be visiting only Philadelphia’s black communities to speak about creating jobs and reducing community violence.
It’s an “opportunity to talk with someone who has the financial resources to facilitate the economic growth and development in our communities,” Mr. Street said, noting his idea for programming were well-received by community members so they should be implemented, and Mr. Trump has the means to make it so.
But this context, Mr. Trump is actually just bait for a larger whale: Democrats. Mr. Street, it appears, wants to start a bidding war for the black vote.
“If Donald Trump says he’s going to fund those programs, then it might encourage Hillary Clinton and the other people to say ‘oh no, no, no, no, no,’ we’re not going to let Donald Trump do that, because we want that.”
It’s not clear what the incentive would be for Mr. Trump, as Mr. Street made it clear that he won’t endorse him.
But a stage occupied by Mr. Street and the Republican front-runner would surely draw out the media in swarms, and maybe that’s incentive enough for Mr. Trump.
‘Exploring Generations of Black Activism,’ a live broadcast featuring black male thought-leaders on Saturday, December 19th, 2015 beginning at 1pm EST and heard exclusively on www.TheDrVibeShow.com, will be moderated by Christopher “Flood the Drummer” Norris.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE!™
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