Left Handed Leftist
Are you tired of hearing the same old corporate-approved talking points from the mainstream news and sellout politicians who promise change and never deliver? If the answer is yes then you're in the right place.
We're here to talk about what the oligarchs don’t want you to hear and give a leftist perspective on the current news and social justice movements in Maryland, nationally, and around the world. Calling out corporate politicians and big-money interests that have dominated our lives by highlighting the power of the working class and the movements fighting back.
Every Wednesday we’ll either be taking a deep dive through news stories the media establishment wants you to ignore or conversing with issue experts, grassroots activists, community leaders, and leftist candidates/elected officials about how we move forward.
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Left Handed Leftist
*Trailer* No Party, No Problem: A New Vision for Prince George’s w/ Tonya Sweat
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This is the trailer for the full episode that will be posted on 4/1!
In this engaging conversation, Tonya Sweat discusses her journey as a independent candidate for County Executive in Prince George's County. She shares her motivations for running, her transition from a democrat to an independent candidate, and her views on the importance of community engagement and activism. Tonya addresses pressing issues such as education, healthcare access, and cronyism in local government, emphasizing the need for transparency and accountability. She also discusses her position on the pressing issues facing Prince George's County, including economic development, traffic infrastructure, community policing, youth engagement, substance use, and the controversial topic of data centers.
Tonya Sweat:
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You mentioned that you're not gonna be on the ballot this primary, but you're gonna be on the ballot in November. Can you talk about what kind of made you decide that? Because previously you had run as a Democrat.
SPEAKER_01Look, I was ever since the day I could vote, I was a registered Democrat. And I gave that up late last year. I'm now an independent. And I'm transparent, I don't lie to people. When I ran in 2020 and 2021, when I started my campaign, I was a disgruntled Grumman den Democrat then. Very disgruntled Democrat. And things have happened, and we've watched it happen in real time publicly and have discouraged me even more so in the Democratic Party. And then when I ran in the special election, more happened. More. And I use that term very loosely. But specifically, what kind of tipped me over the edge. In a primary, generally, your party leaders don't take sides. And I say more, and and it was funny that I said that because it wasn't intentional, and the pun was not intentional a few seconds ago. But when I saw governor more endorse than the current county executive, I went, wait a minute, what? What what who does that? Where we do that at? And so I took that as a message. If the governor's gonna come out in a primary election and endorse somebody on the Democratic ticket, and there were nine people on that ticket. You picked one over all the others, and that's not the game, that's not the rule. I said, you know what? Democratic Party is sending me a message loud and clear. The Democratic Party of Maryland is telling me something, and I'm not offended. I hear you. You don't like what I have to say. You don't want me on your ticket. I don't have to be. By law, I have a choice. And oh, by the way, if I run as an independent, I don't have to deal with your BS in your primary. I go straight to the general election and Democratic Party, I'll meet you there. Let's talk about it. Because you're not talking about the issues that matter to us in Prince George's County. You're forcing us to talk about national issues. And while we may be 10 miles down the road, some of us live literally inches from the DC border, the national issues right now are not what's hurting us the most. We need somebody in the state of Maryland who's gonna take care of us. More importantly, we need people here in Prince George's County who are gonna take care of us. And if you're not concerned about that, I definitely am. So let me move out your way and let you do your thing. Because I'm gonna continue to do mine. And I tell people all the time, I can disagree with you and still love you. Because loving you just means sometimes I gotta step aside and let you be you. So I have to let the Maryland Democratic Party be who they are so that I can be who I am. There ain't no conflict. There ain't no, well, yeah, it's gonna be a little opposition, because the other thing is I can get to expose all they dirt because I know it. There are no party loyalties with me. So I can attack them just like I attack any other party that has issues and platforms that I don't agree with, and I don't have to feel like I'm betraying anybody. So I like the independent space. I think I might stay here. Look, I got a new respect for Bernie Sanders. That's all I'm saying.
SPEAKER_00Ooh, there we go. I love it, I love it. And I'll say this as someone who is on the left, as the title of the show says it is a breath of fresh air because, as we see, the Democratic Party has a stranglehold in the state of Maryland. And it's really, if it's ever an issue of what the governor's doing, what the state legislature is doing, to a certain point you can't call it out because there's this inner party relationship of you do not call out the major players within the party. So it's definitely a breath of fresh air for you to having experience that, not do what you see a lot of these career politicians do, it's like, look, I've been kicked and tossed aside by the Democratic Party. I'll stay here and fight it out and try to get appointed to a seat by somebody and move up the ranks for you to actually say, No, if you all don't want my agenda, you all don't want to make it a fair playing field, then I'm gonna go outside of it.