The Alabama Democratic Party (ADP) is meeting to elect new leadership on Aug. 13 after current Chairman State Rep. Chris England (D-Tuscaloosa) announced he is not running for another term. Former U.S. Senate candidate and former Brighton Mayor Brandaun Dean announced recently that he is seeking the position.
Dean spoke with 1819 News on Thursday.
He heavily criticized the Alabama Democratic Party.
“ADP is a dead party. It’s due for Renaissance,” Dean said. “I hate to seem as though I see myself as a savior, but I need the public to understand that there has been very little good intended in any of this. That’s why it’s so incoherent. Even the people who look as though they are working on our behalf are not.”
Dean expressed concern that the other candidates in the race will not represent the interests of minorities and the poor. He spoke in particular of Parker Griffith, who Dean feels should be disqualified because Griffith campaigned for Republican Katie Britt before the Republican primary.
“… he has a record of achieving nothing remarkable for Blacks and poor persons,” Dean said.
He continued, saying Griffith’s campaign is “an attempt to make White people comfortable. It’s horrible. The oppressed pay a price by being silenced and undermined.
“Tabitha Isner is an anti-Black White feminist using her adoption of a Black child to gain credibility,” Dean said. “Josh Coleman is a White liberal queer advocate committed to anything that will not help move the party or the people who need the party forward. Most Alabama White male leaders are not anti-racist and certainly not reparationist. … I frankly don’t want to run. I just want to be able to critique the situation until it brings about a candidate who should lead."
Dean expressed confidence that he could fulfill the role of the Democratic Party chair.
“What can’t I do?” He stated. “I can’t be a moderate. I can’t be a pretendian. I can’t be a pet [n-word]. But can I run the party? I ran Brighton. I’ve survived under more incredibly unkind circumstances.”
The Alabama Democratic Party has won only one statewide contest since 2008 and that was in a special election. Dean believes that Alabama Democrats can win under his leadership.
“God might smile on us again if instead of discounting the value that Black reparationism brings, embracing it,” Dean said. “Winning elections and winning the hearts of people would be in reach.”
Yolanda Flowers is the first Black woman to be the gubernatorial nominee of either major political party in Alabama history.
“I support Yolanda on the merits of her professional accomplishments and Black womanhood,” Dean said. “Motivation will come from candidates who are not afraid to take from positions of higher order issues - race-specific policy and humanitarian issues.”
“Yolanda Flowers and Wendell Major are absolutely necessary wins because the consequences will be dire if we do not have a Governor and AG who align on issues of healthcare, choice, prison operations moratorium, and ending poverty in urban centers and the Black belt,” Dean said, stressing the importance of winning the governorship and the attorney general’s race in Nov.
Dean stated that the Alabama Republican Party moved the state too far right.
“The Alabama GOP has taken advantage of the oppression that has driven the masses into willful ignorance,” Dean said. “We are a state without hope! My people, Black people, are a people without vision.”
He “absolutely” believes that the media helps Republicans suppress turnout for Black and Democrat voters.
“They refuse to broadcast debates. They do the minimum when it comes to sharing information with the public about candidates and their policies. The media is complicit with the oppression of the public,” Dean responded.
As a candidate, Dean had difficulties raising money.
“I didn’t struggle. I made no effort,” Dean said. “The money obligated you to interests that are not honest.”
Terri Sewell represents Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District. She is Alabama’s only Democrat in the U.S. Congress. Dean has been critical of Sewell in the past and did not back down from that position.
“She is not committed to the same collective, pro-Black and anti-poverty agenda that I am,” Dean said. “She’s financial because she has loyalties in obscure places. I’m poor because my loyalties are with the poor.”
Dean and Democratic nominee for Senate Dr. Will Boyd had a very contentious primary battle that Boyd won. Dean remains critical of Boyd.
“Will Boyd has no intention on being a senator or seeing a Democrat win,” Dean said. “He wants Katie Britt as badly as the GOP. He’s playing a role.”
The State Democratic Executive Committee will select the new chair at their organizational meeting on Aug. 13.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandon.moseley@1819News.com.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
