Andrew Yang, entrepre-
neur and 2020 presidential
candidate, hosted a campaign
rally Saturday evening at the
Detroit Shipping Company
food hall in the Cass Corri-
dor neighborhood of Detroit.
About 300 people attended
the rally to hear Yang’s policy
ideas and strategy for winning
the Democratic nomination.
Yang is one of more than
20 democrats running for the
nomination, which includes
Former Vice President Joe
Biden; Sen. Kamala Harris,
D-Calif.; Mayor Pete But-
tigieg; Sen. Bernie Sanders,
D-Vt. and many more.
Detroit
resident
Nicho-
las Scott told The Daily prior
to the event Yang is his first
choice in this election cycle.
“He’s the only candidate
with a lot of policy positions
I absolutely agree with and
even some policy positions I
don’t even know about, and
I hear him talk about (them)
and I think ‘Of course,’” Scott
said. “The other day, I saw his
appearance on something and
they asked him about pennies
and how he wants to get rid of
the penny because it’s bad for
the environment and worth-
less. I never thought about the
penny and I thought ‘Jesus, we
need to make this man presi-
dent.’”
Scott said climate change is
always his primary concern,
but Yang’s policy proposal
of Universal Basic Income,
which would give Americans
over the age of 18 years old
$1,000 per month, has become
an important policy idea for
him.
“Climate change is num-
ber one, always,” Scott said.
“After that, maybe UBI. UBI
fixes so much about welfare,
and it’s politically popular on
both sides of the aisle which is
incredible for a welfare safety
net program.”
Paul Bartlett, founder of
Yang’s Metro Detroit cam-
paign office, introduced Yang
to the crowd. He got involved
with Yang’s campaign after
listening to a podcast Yang
was featured on. He said he
was amazed by the number
of policy ideas he found on
Yang’s website.
“When I first saw him, he
had 70 policies on his cam-
paign page,” Bartlett said. “By
the time I looked around, he
had 75. He now has over 100
policies on that page.”
Yang was then introduced
onto the stage. Yang said he
has been visiting Detroit each
year for the past eight years
and is astonished with the
revitalization Detroit is expe-
riencing.
“I came here in 2010 or 2011
when the bankruptcy was just
on, and the city has just got-
ten better and better and more
and more vibrant thanks to
people exactly like you,” Yang
said.
Yang began by stating he is
not a career politician, but an
entrepreneur and a problem
solver. He said he wants to
solve what he thinks the prob-
lem is regarding the election
of President Donald Trump.
“The real answer is Donald
Trump is our president today
because we automated away
four million manufacturing
jobs in Michigan, Ohio, Penn-
sylvania, Wisconsin, Missouri
and Iowa,” Yang said. “If all
of those states sound familiar,
those are all the states that
Donald Trump needed to win
and did win.”
Yang
said
he
believes
Trump’s message was par-
ticularly resonant with people
who lost their jobs due to auto-
mation, and that’s why Trump
was successful in those states.
Trump
said
automation
hit Detroit especially hard
because of its heavy manufac-
turing industry.
“This town is very much
the ground zero for the auto-
mation of jobs,” Yang said.
Yang credited some of this
job loss to the expansion of
Amazon and, he believes, for
not paying their fair share in
income tax.
“Amazon somehow paid
less in taxes than each of you,”
Yang said.
Yang went on to explain
his idea of the Freedom Divi-
dend, which is Universal Basic
Income of $1,000 per month to
every American adult.
“The first time you heard
that, I know what you thought,”
Yang said. “I know you thought
‘Haha, that’s a bit of a gimmick.
There’s an Asian man running
for president who wants to give
everyone $1,000 a month.’ But
if you dig into our history, you
find that this Universal Basic
Income has actually been a part
of our country’s DNA from the
very beginning.”
3
NEWS
Thursday, May 9, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Presidential candidates stump in Detroit
Presidential
candidate
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.,
gave the keynote address to a
crowd of 10,000 people at the
64th annual NAACP Fight
for Freedom Dinner at the
Cobo Conference Center in
Detroit Sunday evening. The
Detroit branch of the NAACP
is the largest in the nation.
Harris is one of over
20 people running for the
Democratic
nomination.
According to CNN, Former
Vice President Joe Biden is
currently leading election
opinion polls, while Harris
is polling at 5 percent. Before
being elected to the U.S. Con-
gress, Harris served as the
Attorney General of Califor-
nia and the District Attorney
of San Francisco.
The NAACP hosted a press
conference before the dinner
began. At the press confer-
ence, President of the Detroit
NAACP Rev. Dr. Wendell
Anthony said the stakes are
too high in the upcoming
election to not participate.
“We must be counted … the
stakes are too great to sit this
out,” Anthony said. “What’s
riding on the election is our
lives, our freedom.”
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.,
echoed
these
sentiments
later in the evening. He also
emphasized the importance
of the Census as well as the
2020 election, in which he
will be running for re-elec-
tion.
“I will tell you there are
some people in this country
who don’t want you count-
ed,” Peters said. “They don’t
want your voice heard.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
said she will serve as a part-
ner to Michigan in providing
more opportunities for col-
lege and work advancement.
She said the NAACP is a bed-
rock in the state.
“The true infrastructure
in our state that we need to
address is the lack of oppor-
tunity,” Whitmer said. “You
not only have a seat at the
table, but you have a partner
in me.”
After the press confer-
ence, U.S. Rep. Debbie Ding-
ell, D-Mich., said the NAACP
has played a major role in
fighting for equal rights in
America.
“I’ve been coming to this
dinner for a long time, and
the NAACP has played a
critical role for decades in
fighting for civil rights and
equal opportunity for all,”
Dingell said. “I was really in
the trenches when we fought
for affirmative action at the
University of Michigan. The
people who are a part of this
organization are good peo-
ple that I am proud to work
with.”
Additional
Michigan
politicians
in
attendance
included Michigan Attorney
General Dana Nessel, U.S.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Detroit
Mayor Mike Duggan and
Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
After the press conference,
guests came together for din-
ner and remarks from win-
ners of various awards. Dr.
Charles Adams, pastor of the
Hartford Memorial Baptist
Church, was given the James
Weldon Johnson Lifetime
Achievement Award. Musi-
cian and philanthropist Akon
received the Freedom & Jus-
tice Award. Amanda Alex-
ander, executive director of
the Detroit Justice Center,
and Darryl Woods Sr., former
prison branch president at
Ryan Correctional Facility,
were both given the Great
Expectations Award.
Akon said African Ameri-
cans should attempt to adjust
the way they view their own
identities.
“There’s no reason to have
an African American,” Akon
said. “You’re just an African
in America.”
Harris then began her key-
note address to the crowd.
She began by saying Ameri-
ca’s political system needs to
be reformed to better repre-
sent the everyday citizen.
“The system is in need of
reform, so let’s have people on
the inside prepared to use their
power to open doors and pre-
pared to implement the agenda
to make the system more fair
and just,” Harris said. “That
is what I have done from the
first day I walked into the San
Francisco
(District
Attor-
ney’s) office, from the first day
I walked into the California
(Attorney General’s) office,
from the first day I walked
into the U.S. Senate, and that
is what I will do the first day I
walk into the Oval Office.”
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
Kamala Harris highlights need for systematic reform,
speaking ‘truth’ to 10,000 at NAACP fundraiser
Andrew Yang discusses Universal Basic Income, beating
Trump to crowd of 300 at Detroit Shipping Company
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., talks about fighting for justice as part of
her keynote address at the Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner Sunday.
Courtesy of Rachel Cunningham
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang speaks at a campaign rally at the Detroit
Shiping Company food hall Saturday.
RACHEL CUNNINGHAM
Daily News Editor
ALEX HARRING
Summer Managing News Editor
RACHEL CUNNINGHAM
Daily News Editor
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com