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Collaboration, education keys to success^
Marcus Brandon hopes to represent House District 60
by Matt Comer :: matt@goqnotes.com
Marcus Brandon says he grew up
steeped in traditions of Civil Rights legacies.
That's not a rare occurrence, especially for a
young person growing up around Greensboro
and who later attended North Carolina A&T
University.
"I've been involved with politics for as
long as I've been able to walk," Brandon
says. "I come from a family of Civil Rights
leaders who were very involved in the move
ment and were very civically engaged. I was
passing out fliers and knocking on doors and
Thirty-five-year-oid political consultant
Marcus Brandon is running to fill Earl Jones' seat in
House of Representatives.
going to community meetings since I can
remember. It's always been a part of my life."
After attending college and working in the
private sector, Brandon says he still enjoyed
doing activism and Civil Rights work.
"I never knew you could actually get paid
and work in it," he says. "I decided I needed
to do something different with my skills. I had
worked in the private sector doing sales and I
wanted to use my skills to do something more.
I packed up my bags and moved to D.C."
There, Brandon started work with NGP
Software, a top Democratic technol
ogy firm. He was introduced to cli
ents across the country and gained
experience with political fundraising.
Soon, he was headed back to the
Carolinas, working on a Democratic
campaign to defeat Republican
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.
A few more stints in other cam
paigns— including President Jimmy
Carter's son's campaign to unseat
Republican U.S. Sen. John Ensign
and work with non-profit groups like
Progressive Majority and Equality
Virginia — eventually landed him
a job working as national finance
director in Dennis Kucinich's 2008
campaign for the White House.
Brandon has since moved back
to his childhood home. There, he
decided to run for the state House
of Representatives and defeated
10-year incumbent Rep. Earl Jones
in the Democratic primary. Brandon
faces Republican Lonnie Wilson on
Nov. 5.
The 35-year-old political con
sultant says he decided to run after
he realized his hometown needed a
change.
"I decided I wanted to have a
different conversation we've not
had, particularly in my community,
for a long time," Brandon says. "The
the
incumbent that I beat had been in office
since I was five-years old—first on the city
council and then as a state representative.
He's a nice guy and he is one of my heroes; I
worked on one of his campaigns when I was
younger. But, we need to have a different
conversation now."
Brandon's perspective on change and his
ousting of an incumbent might at first glance
conjure up images of the increasing anti
incumbent fervor analysts and pundits say is
sweeping the nation. But, Brandon is no Tea
Partier. He's a a solid progressive, and willing
to stick his neck out in service to constitu
ents. Among his biggest concerns are jobs
and education.
"We've moved beyond the politics of
the sit-in movement," Brandon says. "That
conversation has changed from who can sit
in the restaurant to who can now afford to
sit in the restaurant. That goes beyond racial
lines. We need to move to a conversation that
is more encompassing and representative of
more people."
Making sure money is spent wisely and
effectively is going to be key to building
community, Brandon says: "We have to make
sure that the money going to agencies is
being used collaboratively—that people are
maximizing their own dollars and participat
ing with both civil organizations and local,
private industry," he’says.
In addition to wisely spent money on job
creation, Brandon says more focus should be
placed on education across the state.
"We are continuously talking about edu
cation in terms of dollars," he says. "We've
been talking about the education gap since
I wap in kindergarten, and that gap hasn't
moved. We can throw as much money as
we want into education, but we are throwing
money at a broken system. We can't afford to
do that."
Brandon also says we can't wait to fix
education. The nation, he says, ranks low on
educational achievement and it is a problem
created by a "cookie cutter, one-size-frts-all"
approach.
"When I knock on doors and talk to voters,
I ask parents with multiple children, 'Do each
of your children learn the same or differently?'
and nine times out of 10, parents say, 'All of
my children have different learning styles,"'
he says. "What we have is all of their children
taking the same tests. That's the way our
state and national systems work. This type
of education isn't going to work in this one
household, so how is it valid for all eighth
grade science and math students?"
Education, he insists, must be individual
ized. "We have to put education back into the
hands of its stake-holders: parents, teachers
and students. They are the ones who will
be able to best make the decision of what is
most effective."
Brandon says he's most excited about the
possibility of continuing the work he's known
since childhood.
"I'll get to do what I've always done, and
that is fight for equal opportunity and access
for all people and that includes the African-
American community, of which I happen to
be, and the LGBT community, of which I also
happen to be," he says.
That sense of inclusion and fairness was
instilled in him as a child: "I'm a descendant
of the Civil Rights Movement and its a part of
my very core—the values that my nana and
parents taught me and that's that everybody
in this country should have access to equal
opportunity."
Whether he's talking about jobs, edu
cation, housing, food stamps or equality,
Brandon insists everyone has a right to be
seated at the table.
"We still have to fight for everyone, -
whether you're an LGBT youth or an African-
American woman or a white male," he says.
"It is all a matter of fighting for access and
opportunity for all of your constituents, and
I'm am very excited about being able to get
into the legislature and do that"::
COMMUNITY
Equality IMC honors five Carolinians
Statewide group to bestow awards in November
Equality North Carolina has chosen their first-ever round
of Equality Champions. This is the fourth year the group will
hold a conference and gala, and the fourth time it will present
its Legislative Leadership Award, but the group announced
this year it would also start honoring community members
and advocates who are engaging in LGBT community building
across the state.
The group has chosen five Champions, each from five
different parts of the state. The Champions are profiled below,
reprinted in part from Equality North Carolina press materials.
Roberta Dunn, Charlotte
Roberta is being recognized for her outstanding lead
ership and work with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police
Department on behalf of Charlotte's LGBT community. She
has led the effort to open communication with CMPD of
ficials and successfully encouraged CMPD and its chief to
hold an open forum with the LGBT community. As a result of
her efforts, CMPD may now also create an LGBT community
liaison position.
Roberta is a transgender woman. She has been married
for 27 years and has
four children. Since her
retirement five years ago,
she has been living her
life as the person she
always felt she was, a
woman. She is active in the Charlotte/Mecklenburg area in
several organizations including HRC, MeckPAC, and Carolina
Transgender Society. Her goal in working through these
organizations is to promote greater understanding and ac
ceptance of the LGBT community and its needs.
i
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Ellen W. Gerber, Triad
Despite her "retirement" at the end of 1991, Ellen W.
"Lennie" Gerber has continued to practice law on a volunteer
basis by assisting on cases, doing research, and drafting
documents for various civil rights organizations including the
ACLU of North Carolina, the North Carolina Gay Advocacy
Legal Alliance (NCGALA), the National Center for Lesbian
Rights, and the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.
That work led, in 1997, to the privilege of arguing the case of
Pulliam V. Smith to the Supreme Court of North Carolina.
From 1992 through 2001, Lennie worked extensively as
a volunteer with Summit House, a community corrections
program designed to keep families together. In 1994, she
realized a long-term goal when, with two other attorneys, she
co-founded NCGALA.
Lennie's long-time partner of 44 years and counting is
Pearl Berlin.
Rev. Joe Hoffman and
Noel Nickle, Western
When Noel and Joe were married, they had a religious
wedding in North Carolina and a legal wedding in Vermont,
see ENC on 11
6 qnotes Oct. 16-29.2010