photo by steed media service

What’s the biggest misconception African Americans have about voting?

That’s it’s not important to vote and that it’s just a waste of our time. We think that because we’re so disillusioned by it [that we] shouldn’t be involved. Black folks – it seems we’re always choosing the lesser of evils and I think the greatest evil is to not participate in the process at all because what you do is empower other people to make bad decisions for you.

Why should the community trust you?

I’m not someone who was just suddenly woke up and said, ‘I want to be a politician, support me.’ I’m not just talking the talk; I’ve walked the walk. You should trust people by looking at what they do, not what they say. I think people should trust me because once they look at my record, look at what I’ve done, look at what I’ve spent my time on in terms of my career — that speaks volumes.

What’s the most overlooked community issue?

The impact of the drug laws in connection with our community in terms of the number of people who’ve been incarcerated and [who] are now are part of the criminal justice system. Now we have [a large number of people] in the community who are basically shackled as a result of those convictions — not only them, but their families and the community as a whole in terms of trying to reintegrate them in connection with the community. How many politicians do you hear talking about that? - gavin philip godfrey

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