First and foremost, why I joined the party, my study of the history of the party relative to the Democrats.

My mother told me as a young kid when I was in that in 20, in 1976, first presidential election.

My mother says, don't be a Democrat because I'm a Democrat.

Your daddy is a Democrat.

You live in a Democratic city.

Go out and discover for yourself who you are, what you believe.

That's your orientation. That's your North Star.

And I did. And I understood the history of my party as one that was founded first and foremost

on the individual rights and liberties of everyone under our Constitution, regardless of the color of their skin,

which is why we broke from the

wigs in the first place, because we couldn't counten us the idea that we would, and it was a

struggle, and I appreciate that honest struggle of Abraham Lincoln, caught between wanting to

appease those who were pro-slavery to keep the union together at the same time recognizing that that was antithetical to what the words on the document said.

And so I appreciate that struggle.

And I appreciate the party that struggled with that.

And so, and then coming out and saying that that I as a black black man is as valued and is important to this country

as the white man. That was the first thing that really struck me. And then to go on and to

memorialize it in the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments.

And we know the history and the consternation around all of that.

And then to come out and say, okay, in a post-slavery era, we're going to memorialize it further by putting in place the economic mooring 40 acres in a mule, first affirmative action

program that will help anchor and reestablish your role in presence. But then to know that

that didn't just apply to me, but it applied to others who came to the shore as a party that supported immigration, for example, party that supported protecting the environment, Teddy Roosevelt.

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