By Christopher Young,
Contributing Writer,
Photos: Chris Young
The Attala County Democratic Executive Committee sponsored a gathering of political candidates Saturday, October 7, 2023, from 5-8 p.m., at the Oprah Winfrey Boys & Girls Club, 500 Knox Road in Kosciusko, MS.
Chairwoman LaShawn Speed led her team members in organizing an impactful event complete with food, refreshments and live music. Speed also served as emcee, ensuring each candidate kept their remarks to the allotted time.
After an opening prayer by Reverend Jerone Garland, Secretary of State candidate Ty Pinkins was introduced and shared his background growing up in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, chopping cotton as a teenager before going on to be the first in his family to graduate high school and attend college. He served three combat tours during his twenty-plus year career in the U.S. Army and is the recipient of The Bronze Star.
After graduating from University of Maryland University College with a bachelor’s in political science and government, he continued his education by earning both his Juris Doctor (J.D.) and LL.M (Master of Laws) in National Security Law from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Unlike many, he returned to the Mississippi Delta and began advocating for community members in underserved communities, helping them navigate the justice system.
While serving the Mississippi Center for Justice, he was instrumental in carrying the voices of disenfranchised black farm workers in the Delta to the Department of Labor. Forty-four farms had exploited black workers by paying higher wages to immigrants who were in the Delta under a misused visa program. All told, 161 black workers recouped $505,540 in back wages, plus the white farming operations paid an additional $341,838 in civil penalties, per reporting by the Associated Press on June 29, 2023.
His remarks leaned heavily on his Delta upbringing and values, and the importance of voting and that the Secretary of State (SoS) controls the voting in Mississippi and that is why I’m running.
He laid out the role of the SoS and then shared, “In my opinion the two most important things the SoS does is governing and cultivating business relationships with business leaders and industry leaders in our state so that we can move forward. Mississippi’s Gross Domestic Product has risen only 22.7% over the last few decades, and that is dangerously low compared to the 76.3% that the rest of the country increased by. Mississippi’s economic output has decreased from 0.68% in 1997 to 0.54% today – worst in the country.”
In closing he stressed the need that our voices be heard. “The voices of concerned parents for better education and for teachers, and community members speaking out for better healthcare; from nurses to neurosurgeons, and people like the postman to the policeman speaking out for better communities; voices like the factory worker up north, east and down south to the farmworker in my beloved Delta singing out for better jobs and a better economy.”
By the time Gubernatorial Candidate Brandon Presley was introduced the crowd had grown to 150 and he received a rousing welcome. Emcee Speed stressed, “We have the right man for the job in Brandon Presley and he has earned our support in Attala County.”
Presley began by apologizing if any Jackson State fans were in the audience. “I started the day in Stone County, went to the Alcorn State University Homecoming game, then did a meet and greet and now I’m here in Kosciusko for a little while still wearing purple.”
He hammered home that “after many years we have a chance, and we have a choice – you have a governor who has shown you exactly who he is for the last four years.” He stressed that Reeves could care less about pulling our state together – racially, regionally and all across Mississippi – he cares about himself and his buddies and his friends.
He highlighted a “healthcare crisis all across the state and there is an answer staring us square in the face – we should expand Medicaid – we will do that on day one if I’m elected as your governor. Healthcare is not a Republican or Democrat issue…if Donald Trump had passed the Affordable Care Act while I was governor and it would benefit 230,000 working Mississippians, I would have been for it immediately.”
He stated that Reeves is consumed with national politics. “He is ate up with it. I don’t care about national politics. We can fix the problems in Mississippi. Right now, in Attala County there is somebody sacking groceries, wiping a table down at a restaurant, they are working and they have no health care, and they can’t get it.”
On corruption he said, “You’ve seen it in the papers, $77 million stolen, diverted, misspent – money taken from those who need it most and given to people like Brett Farve for a $5 million volleyball court – it’s no wonder Tate Reeves is at USM today, he might be inspecting that volleyball court! From my first press conference announcing that I was running for governor I said that we will put forth a historic ethics reform package to clean this system up.”
On food taxes he said, “If you go down to the county co-op and buy a bag of feed to feed your hog or cow you pay zero tax, but when you try to feed your family, you pay the highest tax in the country.”
He promised to use the power of the governor’s office to do the best he can to help the average Mississippian out there struggling. “This race comes down to whether or not we care about the average family in Mississippi. David slew Goliath because David was willing to take up a slingshot and some rocks and use them – the voters in Mississippi have the slingshot and the rocks, the question is are you going to pick them up and use them.”
He reminded of the high numbers of black voters in the state that are not engaged in the voting process. He implored people to use their power – “Reeves is sitting at some Country Club right now laughing…thinking that every Democrat has pinned their hopes on the black vote, saying they are not going to show up…that’s what they plan on. We’ve got to get angry enough to get up and vote. We have the votes, and we have the power. I have Republicans, Democrats and Independents supporting my campaign – like Jesse Jackson said, we may not have all come over in the same boat but were in the same boat now.”
For this article, space does not permit remarks made by Attorney General candidate Greta Kemp Martin or Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner candidate Robert Bradford.
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