Bernie Sanders’ “political revolution” is firing on all cylinders! At all levels of government, from Congress down to local races, I am seeing people from all walks of life that have been inspired by Sanders to run for office.
Lula Dualeh is one of them. A local advocate and County party official, Lula is running for her District’s seat in the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners. Mecklenburg County encompasses Charlotte, NC and a few surrounding areas.
The Mecklenburg Board of Commissioners have been embroiled in some controversial votes and scandals over the last few years. To give you an idea of the issues that can bubble up in local Charlotte politics:
Religious activities during government meetings:
Mecklenburg Commissioners Leake, Cotham Battle Over Prayer
LGBT rights:
Mecklenburg Commissioners Vote to add transgender protections
Foreign corporations’ influence on infrastructure projects:
Mecklenburg Commissioners Vote to scrap I-77 toll lane project
Last night I had the opportunity to sit down and ask this first-time candidate about her campaign:
“I am excited about our upcoming Job Training event, tentatively scheduled for the 13th. We’re going to have the event for sure before the voter registration cutoff date of the 15th. We are going to have local candidates, employers, and companies who are looking to hire people that day. We are looking to have people there who will help job seekers write resumes and cover letters, and then employers so that the event can be like a one-stop-shop for job seekers in the District.”
“I really want to change the perspective of District 2, of this area.”
Issues & Solutions for District 2
“I met a woman at a local Burger King who was 22 with 3 kids. She lived in the hotel down the street, and her salary only allowed her to pay rent at that hotel and transportation to work.”
I asked Lula “How is she affording food?”
“She feeds herself and the kids off Burger King [employee discount].”
There are concerns in the area over gentrification. Lula explained that developers have been going to senior citizens with $50,000 checks to buy their homes. These poor folks have never had that much money in front of them at once, so people take the offers even though they are grossly undervaluing the homes/property. As a result we now have higher homelessness in the area.
- Options for transportation
Lula talked about a lady she met who had to ride the bus for 2 hours just to travel to a job 10 miles away.
- Education and after school programs.
”District 2 has the most Title 1 schools in the County. I want to make sure there is equal access to opportunity through equal quality of education, no matter what zip code you come from.”
- Increasing the minimum wage to $15 / hour
Lula has been an advocate for the local “Fight for $15” movement.
Lula is already known in the local political community
From the Charlotte Observer:
Democratic Commissioner Vilma Leake will defend her seat against Lula Dualeh, third vice chair for the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party, and Angela G. Edwards, a community and mental health advocate. Leake has held her seat since 2008.
Lula is already well-known within the local Democratic Party, having served on the Mecklenburg County’s Executive Committee as 3rd Vice Chair. Besides this mention in the Observer, she was also the subject of a two-page story in a recent edition of Creative Loafing:
Dualeh took a job with the League of Conservation Voters and soon became passionate about activism.
Her work with the LCV and ActionNC around issues like women's empowerment and the fight for a $15 minimum wage convinced Dualeh of a disconnect between organizers, their communities and their elected officials, and she wanted to bridge it.
How did you transition from activism to politics?
After LCV, I got a call to be the regional director for then-Senator Kay Hagan's campaign. I realized after that job that it was important for me to get involved politically. Social issues that I was fighting for needed the political power behind them in order to create policy change or reform. So after I made that connection I said I wanted to get involved and learn what I can do.
Being involved with the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party gave me an opportunity to work closely with elected officials, to understand the process, to make the connections to organizers and their issues as well as the elected officials, because a lot of the time they don't think the same way. We don't speak the same language and some times the way we go about things – whether its rallies or marching – that's something that they don't understand. When they see it they just think that we're being combative when in actuality that's the only way we know how to get your attention; politicians and people in the community as well.
There have been plenty of times where I've been with friends or older people and they say, "What are they marching about now? Why are they rallying now?" They don't understand, that's our language. So being able to be a connector between elected officials and community members and community organizers and making sure that they hear each other is important to me.
(I recommend checking out the entire piece. Creative Loafing always does quality coverage on local issues/candidates.)
And spoke about Martin Luther King’s legacy in an interview for the Charlotte Observer:
Q. What about our country today do you think would disappoint Dr. King?
LULA DUALEH
“The fact that poverty is still very much with us. He thought of himself as a social gospel minister and, in seminary, he wrote down his three main issues: Unemployment, slums and economic insecurity. (After the civil rights victories in the South), he went to Chicago, moved to a ghetto, and launched the Poor People’s Campaign. Today, we’ve not only not solved the problem of poverty, we haven’t even addressed it. When we watch the presidential debates, poverty doesn’t even come up. He’d be even more disappointed in the (silence) of the church today on the issue of poverty. How many people will go to churches – even on their way to Martin Luther King celebrations – and walk by poor people in the street?”
And provided a statement for a political piece in the Niner Times (UNC-Charlotte newspaper):
Democrats must also realize that the Presidential election, controlled mainly by the Electoral College, is not what we should be focusing on. Democrats need to look at the bigger picture. Mecklenburg County Democratic Party (MCDP) Chairman, Matt Newton, is attempting to recruit talent in our outlying townships and cities and it has proven difficult to find uniquely qualified talent. 3 Vice-Chair of MCDP, Lula Dualeh has stated multiple times, “We must stop looking at our jobs in silos, elected terms and election cycles and start looking at the bigger picture – a ten year plan will do it.” While this young activist insists that young Democrats are primed and ready to truly effect change in the communities in which we live, she also believes, “Young people must be given the resources and tools to succeed and that definitely includes the wisdom and guidance of our senior Democrats.”
Aaaaand she was recently featured on local TV program FlashPoint:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
All-in-all, Lula has picked up an impressive amount of media coverage for her race.
More Info
Website: www.voteluladualeh.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/…
Twitter: https://twitter.com/voteluladualeh
Get Involved
Please consider donating to Lula’s campaign. Despite the surge of early press, Lula will have a tough primary race as she faces off against Vilma Leake in the 2nd District. When it comes to local races like this, your funds will go towards buying signs, flyers, and other campaign essentials rather than TV ads that may drowned out by the national races.
Sanders Democrats is an ongoing series highlighting candidates in this election who are supporting Bernie Sanders. I will continue to report on up-and-coming Progressive leaders in my state and across the nation who are building Bernie’s “political revolution.” Bernie can’t change our nation alone, and that’s why hundreds of people are running at all levels of government to spread his message.
Previous Sanders Democrats posts:
Here’s Bernie’s Revolution: Introducing “Sanders Democrats”