Recently, Vice-president and Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
Walz, a veteran, former high school teacher and football coach, landed on the national political scene with his quick-witted takedowns of the Republican ticket, notably his use of the term “weird” to describe right-leaning Republican candidates, including former President Trump and his VP pick, JD Vance.
Democrats appear to have embraced Harris’ choice, seeing in Walz a plain-spoken, progressive Mid-Westerner with the working-class creds to appeal to a voting bloc the Democrats have struggled with of late.
But Harris’ pick also opens the door to another historic first, reports ICT. Apart from being the first ticket to feature a female presidential candidate of mixed Black and Indian heritage, Harris’ win would open the door to the country seeing its first female Indigenous governor.
“If Harris and Walz win the presidential election and are inaugurated in January, the role of governor will fall to Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan,” writes Kadin Mills for ICT. “Flanagan, a citizen of the White Earth Nation, was first elected with Walz in 2018, becoming the first Native woman in the Lower 48 to serve as a state’s lieutenant governor.”
Flanagan would also become Minnesota’s first-ever female governor.
“If I am called to be the next governor of Minnesota I will absolutely answer that call, but for now I am laser-focused on ensuring that we elect Kamala Harris president of the United States,” she said.
‘We Are Fired Up’ — Black women in CA turn out for Harris
That same enthusiasm fueling Harris’ historic campaign – which has closed and, in some cases, even superseded Trump’s edge in national polls – has propelled an impressive haul that is filling the coffers of the Democratic presidential campaign war chest.
Harris’ office released a statement that it had raised $10 million in the two hours after announcing her VP pick.
And Black women, a key pillar of the Democratic Party, are playing their part, reports the Sacramento Observer. “Tens of thousands of Black women have vowed to do everything in their power to see Vice President Kamala Harris exalted as the nation’s first woman, and first Black woman, president,” writes Genoa Barrow.
Just days after President Biden announced that he would be stepping down as the Democratic nominee, the California Black Women’s Collective organized a Zoom call that in just three hours drew some 44,000 Black women to click on a donation link, resulting in a cash injection of $1.5 million.
“The Win With Black Women Zoom call crashed the online meeting platform, swelling dramatically from the originally planned 1,000 participants,” Barrow notes.
More Korean Americans entering the political arena
Still, politics – and especially small ‘D’ Democratic politics – being what they are it isn’t all sunshine and roses. According to the Korea Daily, a long-standing unwritten rule among Korean American politicians is beginning to give way.
“Since the early 2000s, the tacit agreement to avoid conflicts between Korean American candidates has become virtually obsolete as more Korean Americans have entered the political arena,” reports Brian Choi and Hoonsik Woo.
The most recent example involves Los Angeles City Councilmember John Lee of Council District 12, who publicly endorsed Democrat Mark Gonzalez three weeks ago in the general election for California State Assembly District 54, which includes Los Angeles Koreatown. Lee’s endorsement came despite another candidate, Korean American John Yi, being in the race.
“As minorities, I agree that we need to rally the Korean American vote and elect more Korean politicians, but there is a risk in falling into the logic that ‘we are one,’” one official told the paper. “If a candidate lacks the skills and qualities to be a public servant, it is better to support a non-Korean American candidate to create a better society.”
A toxic stew under our feet
A stone’s throw east, in the San Fernando Valley, residents of Canoga Park and Winnetka are discovering that they may be living atop a toxic brew of chemicals, reports the San Fernando Valley Sun’s Semantha Raquel Norriz.
According to Norriz’ reporting, neighbors in the largely working-class area have banded together to sue the aerospace giant Northrup Grumman for allowing contaminants to pollute groundwater under more than 3,200 properties. The affected area is more than 2.4 miles long and 1.8 miles wide.
Residents and homeowners are asking for financial compensation for diminished property values. They say they were never informed that their homes were sitting on a toxic groundwater plume.
“I want to make sure that I can sleep comfortably knowing that there are no toxins coming into my home or hurting my family,” one of the plaintiffs in the case told The Sun.
Funding for Black farmers
Finally, the Jackson Advocate in Mississippi is reporting on the USDA’s efforts to address past discriminatory lending practices impacting the nation’s Black farmers and ranchers.
Under the newly created Discrimination Financial Assistance Program (DFAP), part of the Inflation Reduction Act, Congress has allocated some $2.2 billion in lending support to “farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners who faced discrimination in USDA farm lending programs.”
The report continues, “Today, over 43,000 individuals nationwide will receive aid through the program, including over 23,000 current or former farmers receiving up to $500,000 and over 20,000 prospective farmers receiving up to $6,000.
“Mississippi leads the nation with the highest number of recipients. A total of 13,283 individuals will receive $521,830,460 in financial assistance, including 5,892 current producers and 7,391 planned producers.”
