Reply #5: a note from a PDA activist on the ground in MD [View All]

[Kevin Spidel]

From Mike Hersh in MD:

There are other interesting details. Kweisi Mfume was born to poverty
and when his mother died far too young, he had to fend for himself and
his younger siblings. He gave up hope in the system, ran with a gang,
and then turned his life around. He became a living example of rising
above and overcoming extreme difficulties. He explains in an
inspirational way that he feels he was rescued from a short, meaningless
life and in gratitude he has devoted himself to helping others.

Mfume went from outlaw to lawmaker, serving on the Baltimore City
Council, in the US House, and then helped rescue the NAACP from scandal
and financial disaster. While there, he opened doors to women - the
NAACP historically had a bad record on that. He wins respect from left,
center and right, without compromising his ethical or philosophical
commitments. He is dedicated to economic and social justice, and a
strong comprehensive progressive agenda including peace, universal
health care, help for those in need, ending poverty, improving education
- all our PDA priorities.

Speaking just for myself, I was going to sit out the Senate primary race
in Maryland, because we have several worthy candidates. There are so
many things to do I planned to let other people worry about that
contest. Obviously I've seen him on the news for years, but after seeing
Kweisi Mfume speak and learning about him from research and speaking
with people who worked with him, my admiration for him grew. Friends
from across Maryland feel the same way. This is a very unusual, very
important candidate.