A brand new Congress

A lot of things are happening now in our country and communities. Our brothers and sisters who are living unhoused, are being criminalized for having no home. Our black and brown sisters are being murdered by our own police without being able to receive any justice. Our own family members, friends and neighbors are being detained and/or sent back to their countries to face death and hunger, the very reasons that compelled them to flee and seek refuge here. Our youth are trapped in a school-to-prison pipeline with no one caring enough to take them out, and put an end to the systemic issues and the institutionalized war against race and poverty. And our people and communities are suffering in deep financial distress, with no light at the end of the tunnel and bootstraps to pull themselves up with.

Yet, our current elected officials vow that they’re fighting for the people, that they’re fighting for change. But do we see any change happening?

How much further will we continue re-electing the same elected officials while expecting different results, and big change to happen? Isn’t the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?

In a congressional district as poor as ours, things must radically change. Now. And we can’t afford to re-elect an elected official and wait another 2 years for nothing to happen.

How do people live in a district where the per capita income is $12K-$15K in many parts and the average rent for a 1 br apt is $2K+/month? They can’t. That’s why it’s normal for a couple families to live together in a 1 br apt in our district, and that’s why it’s become the norm for one to work 2-3 jobs just to make ends meet. But is life supposed to be like this? Is it supposed to be this hard? Are we supposed to toil and work like ants till the day that we die and have our last breath?

What’s clear is that something’s not working in our country and government, and if we don’t stand up, speak up and make change ourselves, it’s inevitable that things will continue to get worse as our elected officials continue to ignore our 35+ year wage stagnation and ever increasing widening wealth gap disparity, and as they continue to pocket corporate PAC money, and prioritize bailing out corporate interests and their corporate donors, over and at the expense of the peoples’ interests and lives.

We need a brand new Congress where our representatives are required to hold weekly office hours for their constituents, and meet and talk with them before legislating in DC, and not the other way around, where our representatives are legislating in DC first, and then coming back to report to the constituents, in their hard-to-find-and-access Tele-Town Halls, about they managed to secure some crumbs for them. We need a brand new Congress of representatives who aren’t afraid to stand up for their constituents, and go against the grain and against party leadership. We need a brand new Congress of people who actually connect with, love and care for the people, and make it their utmost priority to do so, over anything. For when we elect new leaders who aren’t afraid to fight for the people and push for big, bold legislation and change in our community and country, that’s when we can start to see change happening. And it’s already begun. We are in a time of revolution right now, where Congress is about to change and our people are about to replace its career politicians with people who aren’t afraid to fight for and prioritize the people, above anything else. We just need to wake up the sleeping giant, the American people.

In our district, there are nearly 700,000 constituents, and of those, 300,000~ who are are registered voters. With the highest voter turnout in our district being the Nov 2018 General Election, in which we had 150,000~ constituents vote, less than 1/4 of the people in our district decide who our federal representative will be. Imagine what it would be like if at least half of the people in our district voted and had a say in deciding who our federal representative would be. Imagine what it would be like if all of us cared enough to study the candidates and issues that we’re voting on. We could bring so much change to Washington, and to our communities. It’s time to active the sleeping giant, the American people and the people in our district. We can’t afford to re-elect a career politician whose corporate donors outnumber his individual human donors by several folds, and who has failed to address the financial distress, poverty and lack of affordable housing for the constituents in our district, both housed and unhoused.

It’s time for change, and a brand new Congress.

Happy Juneteenth Day!

Happy Juneteenth Day!

Happy Juneteenth Day!

Like every holiday, it’s a time to celebrate. A day that was merely taught about in schools is now a holiday being tweeted by public officials, community leaders and the mass public. A day of emancipation for many; a beginning struggle for the fight of true justice, equality and freedom for all in our country.

Unfortunately and sadly to say though, we’re not there yet, given what’s been happening recently and for decades, with police brutality, the war on poverty, race, and in particular, our Black and Brown communities, with the precious lives of so many, like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, being coldly murdered without a second thought or doubt in the minds of their killer cops. Given the failure of our system, and the false guise of the war on drugs or broken windows policing being used to antagonize, oppress and kill our black and brown brothers and sisters, police reform simply isn’t enough. Tweeting #BlackLivesMatter isn’t enough. We must do more. We must demand that Breonna Taylor’s killer cop isn’t just fired, but arrested and charged. We must prosecute all killer cops. We must end the war on drugs. We must defund the police and reinvest into our marginalized communities with housing, healthcare, community/social services, education and mental health, while replacing the police with medical professionals, mental health workers, social workers and homeless outreach workers as first time responders in most situations (i.e., nonviolent). We must provide equal access to education, healthcare and housing for all, areas where our black and brown others have been traditionally shut out from or segregated in other ways. We must provide reparations to our Black communities.

So, as we celebrate Juneteenth Day today, may we be inspired and empowered to believe and see more, that we are completely capable of having a land of the free and home of the brave, but with freedom, comes work, … standing up and speaking out for the oppressed and the wronged. It requires us to be brave, and to speak out. How will you fight for and speak on the behalf of your Black brothers, sisters, friends, families and neighbors? Let’s encourage each other speak up and to stand for each other, as everyone is important and not one soul is less than another.

P.S. If you live in the Los Angeles area, there is a protest today in Palmdale (flyer attached). Robert Fuller and his brother, Terron Jammal Boone, were recently murdered. If you can, please go and support; let them know that BLACK LIVES MATTER.

Thank you, Marianne

Starting today, I’ll be writing regular blog entries every week and month, to document this campaign, its growth, the lessons I learn, the experiences I have, the people I meet and connect with, the issues at the heart and core of our communities and people that warrant immediate attention, and the convictions and realizations I have, in this campaign, and movement for putting the people first.

And to start this series of blog posts, I’m honored and excited to share that I’VE BEEN ENDORSED BY MARIANNE WILLIAMSON (AND ANDREW YANG earlier this month – I’ll dedicate a separate blog post to him later)! This is obviously a big endorsement! And I’m still excited.

Marianne is the voice of reason right now, in a world where we have our elected officials being bought out by corporate interests in both parties, and where it feels like our Congress, and especially the self-alleged “progressive” Democratic Congress members, are being taken out, one by one, like the Walking Dead, to the establishment and politics of the party. Recently, I was overjoyed to see Elizabeth Warren endorse Yuh-line Niou, but then when I saw just two seconds later, after scrolling, that Elizabeth Warren had also endorsed Democratic Representative Ralph Nader over his visionary, progressive challengers, my heart …. dropped.

With the same thing in 2016 happening to Bernie Sanders this year and the line of sudden endorsements for Biden, that happened one by one, with each Democratic Presidential Candidate (except Marianne and a few others), I could no longer ignore or push away the fact that the Democratic Party, too, is no longer for the people anymore (and there can be a whole post dedicated to that later). As such, for someone like Marianne Williamson, a woman and person who IS of the people and truly cares for the people, living by the example and role model that she has been (go look up everything she’s done during the past 30 years, the charity work she’s done with Project Angel Food, the books and teachings she’s made available to the public, and etc.), and directly helping and playing a role in the transformation of millions of peoples’ lives up until now, even before entering the political scene as a Presidential candidate or as a Congressional candidate, …. it MEANS A LOT TO GET HER ENDORSEMENT.

Marianne isn’t someone who pledges her allegiance to anyone except to LOVE, the United States of America, and to the heart and soul of humanity and all people, and she embodies that. She’s all about taking money out of politics, stamping out injustices in every sector and community of our country, and moving towards a more visionary government that ensures that everyone is fed, and has equal access to education, economic opportunity and the ability to thrive. And that’s exactly what our campaign is about: making sure that no one ever has to worry about whether they’ll have food to eat, a roof to sleep under, access to free education and healthcare, or the ability to pay for basic living expenses. Because all of these things are essential human rights. From free access to healthcare to housing as a human right. It doesn’t make sense that in a rich country like ours, masses of our people are financially distressed with 2-3 jobs and no savings, or that we have thousands of unhoused brothers and sisters, living on the streets, in cars, parks and shelters, in our communities of Los Angeles, and millions nationally. And all of this has to stop. We can’t play the “same ole same ole” games and tricks, like Marianne often says. We are in a crucial time where we must steer our country back towards being a nation and government that truly cares for and loves its people, and like we all know, love isn’t just a word – love looks like something in action – in our own relationships that we have with our partners or family members, we don’t say that we love each other, without showing action for it. And to me, in the same way, when an elected official says that he/she loves the people, it can’t just be lip service. To me, love from an elected official looks like ensuring that everyone has a bootstraps to pull themselves up with and a common ground and floor to start from. AND MARIANNE IS ALL ABOUT THAT and even more!

Marianne’s years of work and experience in meeting people and helping people transform their lives is phenomenal and to have her now bring that to level of care, compassion and reason to our federal government and country, is what we need during these times. We need a strong voice (and “prophet”, since I grew up as a pastor’s kid) like Marianne. Sadly however, the American people weren’t able to realize that she and a few others, like Bernie Sanders, Andrew Yang, and Tulsi Gabbard are really what the American people need right now. But that’s ok – we’ll work with what we have as we can’t deny the reality that we’re in – and that means continuing the movement by running for office and supporting down ballot candidates who are true progressives and visionary fighters for the communities that they are in, and that’s what Marianne just did, by endorsing me and many other down ballot candidates running across the nation.

Lastly, on a personal note, I’ve enjoyed Marianne’s books and teachings of love, humanity, the human heart and soul, for years, and they’ve helped to change my life around, and so to be endorsed by a role model whom I’ve looked up to years and have been deeply inspired by, … is a little more than just amazing. 🙂

Thank you, Marianne.

I will continue the fight. We will continue the fight.

Thank you for your blessing and for recognizing that Los Angeles, CA34, needs more.

Universal Basic Income March – Worldwide / October 26 / Los Angeles

Universal Basic Income March – Worldwide / October 26 / Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES! The Universal Basic Income March is happening this Saturday, October 26th in 20+ cities around the world!

So, be sure to join and be a part of this big worldwide event!

City: LOS ANGELES
What: Universal Basic Income Rally
Location: Grand Park DTLA (200 N. Grand Ave)
Start Time: 12pm pst

Click to RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/771855593248917/

I’ll be a guest speaker and I hope to see and meet you all there!!! 

#FreedomDividend #UniversalBasicIncome #YesWeKim #CA34

David Kim for Congress, Los Angeles – CA-34

David Kim – Announcing My Congressional Run on the Moving Forward Podcast

Recently, I had the great pleasure of appearing as a special guest on the Moving Forward Podcast and announcing my Congressional run and candidacy for the House of Representatives seat in California’s 34th Congressional District, here in Los Angeles, CA.

The co-hosts, Corey Cottrell & Rio Veradonir, were amazing to talk with as they let me share my views on the current state of our country, where it’s going and what we need to do to help steer our country back into the right direction. While talking about how I first came to learn about Universal Basic Income, Andrew Yang, and the Freedom Dividend, I also got to talk about how I threw in my hat and decided to run for Congress. 

Be sure to check out the podcast and take a listen! Click the Podcast link below: