Stop and frisk was awful policy, and I'm glad he's renounced and apologized for it. But it's not his whole record. I've watched a lot of tweeting and have let it go but I thought I'd take a minute to share some of what I've learned from the campaign. BC no info is bad info. 1/
He raised taxes on high income earners in NYC so he could raise teacher salaries by 43%, which helped raise graduation rates by 42%. He helped close the achievement gap for black and Latino youth, in reading by 1/3, and in math, from 40 to 12. 2/
Reduced incarceration by 40% and juvenile confinement by more than 60%. If the USA had done that, 900K fewer people would be behind bars today. 3/
He created the first-of-its-kind Young Men's initiative to help at risk youth from underserved communities of color overcome structural barriers and succeed, from which Obama borrowed for his "My Brother's Keeper" program. He invited Mike to the WH for the announcement. 4/
Mike's proposed the Greenwood Initiative for Economic Justice, which will create 1 million new black homeowners, 100,000 new black-owned businesses and will invest $70 billion in the neediest neighborhoods. 5/
While Mike supports raising the minimum wage to $15, this is a plan to create generational wealth for Black Americans. Nobody aspires for their kids to grow up to make the minimum wage. That's not enough for them or for us. 6/
So given the full record, maybe it's not so crazy that so many AA leaders have endorsed Mike, including the mayors of DC, SF, Stockton, Compton, Lemon Grove and the Philadelphia (former). And my colleagues @bobbyrushfor1st and @GregMeeksNYC 7/
It's not my place to forgive Mike on stop and frisk, in that my family and I would never have suffered from it. But it's noteworthy how many leaders of the AA community have weighed Mike's apology, record and his chances of beating Trump, and have given their support. 8/
We've all forgiven our imperfect candidates for something. Too old, too young. Not enough executive experience or legislative accomplishment. Yes on crime bill. No on Brady bill. Mean to staff. Insensitive to women or Native Americans. Was a Rep. Isn't a Dem. 9/
Any one of them would help us save the republic and would have policies that are better than Trump. My candidate has shown that he can lead government toward progressive and effective action. He's the best positioned to win in November. 10/
A friend I saw in the coffee shop complained to me again about how ICE is treating kids at the border. We've walked, we've protested, we've written letters -- what else can we do? I told her to vote for a Dem who can beat Trump. That's the only thing. --
