Politics

Former Attorney General Eric Holder says he’s more famous than Rihanna!

Former Attorney General Eric Holder Hosting Voting Rights Roundtable in Doral
Eric Holder (file photo)

WASHINGTON, DC – On Sunday October 25th, the Hon. Eric Holder; 82nd Attorney General of the United States opened his message to an audience of Caribbean Americans for a national Virtual GOTV Rally, stating he was the most famous Caribbean-American.

He also went on to say “I was delighted to speak at this event so that you didn’t have to move onto your second choice — Rihanna!” His opening remarks of course led to impromptu Caribbean banter.

The purpose and seriousness of the moment was not left to the 82nd Attorney General as he went on to speak of what his Caribbean values and traditions means to him and the many contributions the Caribbean Americans have made throughout the years in America.

The effects of the Coronavirus, voting rights, economic and criminal justice reform were the Attorney General’s main, but not the least of his talking points. The importance of voting in this election was his driving message.

Amongst the speakers were Michael Blake; former Obama Administration official, the imminent Kristen Clarke of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Tabitha St. Bernard-Jacobs of the Women’s March, Yaheiry Mora of Community Change Action, Kyra Stephenson-Valley of National Action Network (NAN) and Rajah Caruth of NASCAR’S Drive for Diversity program.

With over 10 million English, Spanish and French speaking first and second generation Caribbean Americans who live in the United States, there have been no major mobilization efforts to expand the electorate of this historically — long serving and high achieving community for this election cycle.

A fact that Attorney General Holder made himself when he stated “the Caribbean American community is often underrepresented and underserved.”

However, there are those who are organizing in their respective communities with the scarce resources needed for movement building, such as Marlon Hill in Florida — Joanne Antoinne, D’Shawna Bernard, Kyra Stephenson Valley, Cassandra Selvon, Yahiery Mora, Najaah Daniels and Shurland Oliver. All who have considerable campaign experience locally and nationally.

“In places such as Florida, Georgia and Pennsylvania Caribbean-Americans can play a major role in those swing or purple states with their considerable populations, particularly in Florida where the Caribbean-American community is over 2.8 Million. The Vote Caribbean GOTV Rally is an ongoing attempt to highlight, educate and inspire our community to mobilize and expand our electorate.” said planning committee member; Yaheiry Mora.

 Michael Blake, a first generation Jamaican-American and former Obama administration staffer gave a direct message to the attendees. As he took aim at leadership, his comments were piercing both in its context and direction. “To everyone watching and listening we have 9 days to save a country. I’ll be that direct and that clear, we have 9 days to save a country. He went on to state what’s at stake and give action items in his powerful and melodic voice.

Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett, who could not have attended the event and has been a strong advocate for the Caribbean-Americans community, sent an emotionally pleading PSA urging her fellow Caribbean-American nationals to vote in the most consequential election of their lifetime.

“We have work to do, not just this election cycle, but for many to come. The votecaribbean.org platform is here to raise our profile as a community — to educate, mobilize and expand our electorate. We look forward to our movement building efforts with our community, advisors and strategic partners.” said Cassandra Selvon, a member of the planning committee.

 

South Florida Caribbean News

The SFLCN.com Team provides news and information for the Caribbean-American community in South Florida and beyond.

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