You don’t have to be blood to be considered family. And you’re not going to always agree with family. But you will fight for them and love them unconditionally.
Many have questioned my support for state Senator Jamilah Nasheed in her race for president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, so I felt like giving an in-depth explanation of why I love and support my sister Jamilah Nasheed.
We didn’t start off as friends. A good friend of mine named Dylan ran against her in 2016 when I first ran for state representative. After being on the opposite sides of a couple of races and a very heated argument about the mayor’s race when I was not yet supporting Tishaura O. Jones and she was, she called me up to her office for a sit-down. We talked about moving forward and apologized to each other.
Let’s stick a pin right there: someone who arguably had the most name recognition and the money to run for mayor didn’t see a path to victory, so Nasheed bowed out gracefully and began to support Tishaura. The one thing that we asked just one of the ego-driven men in the race to do, and she did it. She put her money where her mouth was.
Let’s also talk about Rex Sinquefield. When you are a legislator, there are folks you agree with sometimes and other times don’t. People talk about Rex and Jamilah as if they are synonymous, yet seem to forget when she fought tooth and nail against his attempt to eliminate the city earnings tax – even spending thousands of her own campaign dollars to fight it. She also has been vocal about not wanting to privatize airport operations.
Every candidate has baggage. It’s weird to see so many people who live in glass houses throw stones. I’ve seen misinformation spewed about who Nasheed is and what she stands for. When she called for Governor Parson to announce a state of emergency, she called for resources to address the root cause of crime. She called for mental health and educational resources; she called for jobs and opportunities. It was not about militarizing our neighborhoods or the police.
Senator Nasheed knows all too well about gun violence. She lost her father to a drive-by shooting. She lost her mother to suicide. She knew poverty growing up in the projects. She went from being on the verge of becoming a statistic in the system to fighting for those same folks with challenges and barriers.
Is she perfect? No, none of us are. But people change every day and learn every day.
I am supporting someone who I have been able to work with to bring tangible outcomes back to the community. I am backing the strong black woman who helped me fight to pass HCR 70 to identify youth violence as a public health epidemic. I am standing with the strong black woman who helped me put $9.5 million into the budget for youth jobs across the state. I ride with the strong black woman who fought to fund Harris-Stowe State University. I am standing on the shoulders of a strong black woman who helped defend our minimum wage increase, our right to unionize, a woman’s right to choose and our right to vote.
Don’t hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. Don’t just wear the shirts and put up the yard signs. Show me that black lives matter by electing effective black leadership.
I won’t talk about Megan Ellyia Green or Lewis Reed, but I will speak in the best way possible about who I support. I am supporting Senator Nasheed wholeheartedly.
State Representative Bruce Franks Jr. (D-St. Louis) represents the 78th District in the Missouri House of Representatives.
The Municipal Primary Election is Tuesday, March 5. Absentee voting is underway.
