I’ve received hundreds if not thousands of comments, messages, emails asking me to run for office. I ran for State Senate last year. We lost. But we learned. I’m on here ballot in July. Read the full caption on IG.
I’ve received hundreds if not thousands of comments, messages, emails asking me to run for office. Most of you are new to this journey with me and don’t know, but I did run for office. I ran for State Senate last year. Not because I wanted a title, but because I wanted to make
change happen. We lost. •
Losing the election was a hard thing for me, it cost me far more to run for office than most. My friends were intimidated, we struggled to raise funds, and while we ran a hell of a race we came up way short. But I wouldn’t change it for anything.
I learned so much in the process. •
If I’m honest, I felt rejected by the community I love. It hurt. I questioned should I stop speaking up, because it was one of the very things that made people dislike me as a candidate. I don’t mix my words, my yes is yes, and my no is no.
So I had to decide was I going to keep showing up and being Gary or change for everyone else so I became more “electable” in the future.
I had a conversation with myself and decided I’d rather be at peace with myself and at war with the world, than at war with myself to have peace with the world. So I kept showing up. I showed up when they talked about me, when they lied on me and to me. I just kept showing up,
and what you all saw was me showing up again. And now we are here. •
I also qualified to run for the local Democratic Party to help create change at the lowest level possible. After running I realized how biased the process was, and I’m currently on the ballot for the July election to the local party. Early voting is actually going on now
and Election Day is July 10th. If you want to support that the link is in the bio. Just know, I’m going to keep showing up.
Losing wasn’t a bad thing, it prepared me for this moment.
Soon I’ll have a chance to share with you all the hard lessons I’ve learned and hopefully help more of us show up in our cities all over. I believe in our collective power to make change. We just have to learn how to do the work even when things don’t pan out the way we hope.
I’ll share if you’re willing to listen, and together we will build a more just and equitable society. #ChangeIsComing
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Calcasieu 31k - 2,260
St. Landry 25k - 3,038
St. Tammany 22k - 24,09
Tangipahoa 21k - 1,541
That means for every 10 Black people you see this weekend, only 1 of them voted.
There are 942,000 registered Black voters in Louisiana. If you want change share this & let’s move them.
We rank #50 in the nation.
#48 in education
#46 in healthcare
#47 in opportunity
#50 in crime
While Mr. Call a Crackhead @SenJohnKennedy collects a government check while doing nothing to make Louisiana better.
We can force a runoff if Black voters show up in masses.
A year ago @lukemixonla called me to tell me he was running for the U.S. Senate. I asked him how would he get the Black vote. He stumbled around with his answer because he had no plan to get Black voters.
Today he dropped a ad with a fake New Orleans accent pandering to Black voters in New Orleans.
When people ask me why I ran, it’s because I’m tired of people like Luke Mixon taking my community for granted.
As it stands we have Mr. Call a Crackhead on the right showing only Black people in his ad. Now we have Luke using paid Black voices because he hasn’t actually worked to earn the Black vote.
As a Black man in America I’ve never feared my Muslim brothers and sisters.
It was young white men who hung my ancestors. It was young white men who became cops & got away w murdering us.
The biggest threat to Black liberty has always been white men.
Even the gun violence in the hood.
Who created the ghetto? Who redlined Black people into housing projects, paid us unfair wages, gave our tax dollars to their communities while starving ours?
White men did. Those are facts. If you don’t like those facts, change your ways!
Black people being killed in the grocery store for being Black, I don’t have time to be politically correct to save the feelings of white men when Black bodies are dropping in this nation everyday.
The cancer of America has always been racist white men & women. They exist.
He’s the best man I’ve ever known, William Johnson. He’s also my Daddy. God knew I needed more than one because I’d be a lot to handle.
When I was 2 months old, his wife came home with her brothers baby, me. They took me in the day my mother died, and raised me as their own.
William took me to school every morning. He taught me how to tie a tie. He gave me my first car. He helped me buy my second car. He taught me to be proud of my Blackness. He taught me how to like myself even when the world hated me.
He would always say, “I don’t care if you like me, I like me and that’s enough.” He taught me that I was enough.
Most of all, he taught me that love is a choice. You see, I wasn’t born his son, yet I got everything his sons got.