By Aria Brent
AFRO Staff Writer
abrent@afro.com
Credit: AFRO Photo
Community members filed into the Sollers Point Multipurpose Center in Dundalk, Md. on April 7 to see two of the top candidates in Maryland’s Congressional senate race face off against each other. However, most learned when they arrived that U.S. Representative David Trone had taken ill and was unable to meet his opponent, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, on the Southeast Baltimore prepared for them.
For two hours Alsobrooks answered numerous questions on her plans for the state, should she be elected to represent the state of Maryland in the U.S. Congress.
Hosted by the Baltimore County and Baltimore City Democratic Parties, the event was set to have a six-person panel, consisting of James Kraft, Charlotte Wood, Olivia M. Lomax, Braxton C. Street, Keisha Allen and moderator, Jayne Miller. Though a table was set for the panel to sit on stage, shortly before the event started the panelists gathered and took reserved seats in the audience, asking their questions with only Alsobrooks and Miller on the stage.
Topics discussed during the debate included crime and public safety, education, climate change and more. Before diving into the many questions the crowd had, Alsobrooks set the tone for the evening by sharing some of the things she’s accomplished throughout her political and judicial career, and how she plans to continue those efforts if elected as senator.
“As U.S. Senator I will continue to work on prioritizing the families of Maryland and making sure we address the issues that are at your kitchen table,” she stated.
Public safety
When it came to crime and gun violence, Alsobrooks shared that she thinks the increasing amount of gun violence is a result of the lack of mental health resources and gun laws throughout the nation.
“We know that gun laws are safe, and we need to take action to put some sensible gun legislation in place. Ghost guns are a huge issue in our community. Gun violence is an epidemic and our children are dying,” Alsobrooks said. “Behavioral health is the number one health issue in multiple communities.We need access to mental health care so that people can have the opportunity to heal.”
Education
Alsobrooks noted that she looks forward to helping students receive equal opportunities to a proper education regardless of their neighborhood, socioeconomic background or learning disabilities.
“I’ll be fighting to ensure that we are increasing funding for programs like Title 1, which allows our children who are at a disadvantage in impoverished communities to have an excellent education,” Alsobrooks stated. “I’ll be fighting also for the individuals with disabilities. It is so heartbreaking to know how many of our children with disabilities are left behind.”
Further discussing her agenda for improving education, Alsobrooks addressed the current issues that are shaping our school systems and how it’s impacting our students.
“Many of our local jurisdictions rely so heavily on local property taxes to fund education. We have created a system where your zip code determines the quality of your education and in my mind there is something so wrong with that,” she said.
Health care
When discussing the topic of healthcare Alsobrooks explained how the ever changing expense is both a necessity and a right to all people.
“I believe every person in our community has a right to quality and affordable healthcare. It should not be a privilege to have health care, it’s a right,” explained Alsobrooks. “The Affordable Care Act is what we have used to bring down the cost of healthcare. It’s allowed us to have 22 million additional people covered by insurance.”
Going on to further explain why our nation needs The Affordable Care Act, Alsobrooks discussed some of the changes she’s looking to bring to health care and some of the progressive efforts that have happened under the Biden administration such as lowering the out of pocket cost of insulin and Medicare’s negotiation with the pharmaceutical industry to cap the out of pocket cost for prescription drug medications.
“I’m looking to build on the Affordable Care Act. Things like dental care and vision care, all of those things added to the Affordable Care Act will bring down the cost of healthcare for our families—this is a huge issue for some families. I’m fighting for health care and to make sure it’s affordable for all families,”she stated.
Members of the community who attended the event shared their thoughts following Alsobrooks’ impromptu town hall meeting. Some expressed concern for Trone for his absence, but noted that regardless of circumstance being present during your campaign in an election year is vital.
“I hope that he is well, but I personally thought this was very important and sometimes you have to soldier up,” said Haki Ammi, a board member of the Maryland Black Caucus Foundation. “Sometimes you got to go through the minefield for our community and sometimes outside of true death, you soldier up to make things happen for our community. That’s just how I feel, if it were me I would have been wheeled out here.”
Though a range of topics were discussed, one thing seemed to be at the forefront of people’s minds: the importance of voting.
“Register and vote. Just vote, get out there,” Lynda Rice, vice president of the Anne Arundel County, West County Democratic Club, told the AFRO. “Let your voice be heard. Please do not think it doesn’t matter. If you think your vote doesn’t matter, turn on the news and see that it does.”
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