POLITICKING WITH THE PEOPLE (RECAP)

BY Led Black

The Uptown Collective’s first Politicking With The People forum was an unequivocal success. The young, professional and forward-thinking group of invitees were given access to someone running for office in their community in an intimate and very personal environment. To the credit of Mr. Linares, he did not give a stump speech but spoke earnestly and honestly about his qualifications and motivation for running for State Assemblyman. While many of us had heard the name Guillermo Linares before, we didn’t fully grasp the long history of his activism in this community. One stat that Mr. Linares stated that stood out for me was that we went from 119 homicides in our neighborhood in 1990 to 7 in 1998 under his watch.

The gathered attendees left the event more informed about the candidate as well as the political process in general and that was our main reason for creating such a function. Kudos also goes out to the good folks at La Sala 78 for providing the venue, the delectable treats and the libations but more importantly, for being the model for what a small business in our neighborhood should be; engaged with the larger community, progressive and willing to think beyond their bottom line. Stay tuned for more Politicking With The People forums in the near future.

For more info: www.guillermolinares.com