Kai Anthony
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a rally held in the North Carolina State Fairgrounds Exposition Center on June 22. Clinton spoke on various topics including the current state of the economy.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton campaigned at St. Augustine’s University Sunday with the Mothers of the Movement to encourage citizens to vote early and to delineate her political platform.
The Mothers of the Movement are women who have lost their children to police-involved incidents. At the event, Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin; Lucia McBath, the mother of Jordan Davis; Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner; Geneva Reed-Veal, the mother of Sandra Bland; and Maria Hamilton, the mother of Dontre Hamilton sat onstage with Clinton.
Before Clinton’s appearance, two of the mothers addressed the audience, endorsing Clinton and encouraging attendees to vote and to vote early.
“There is no excuse for you not to vote,” Fulton said. “It’s important. Your life depends on it.”
Carr also encouraged voting, saying that American forefathers fought and died to ensure voting rights.
Clinton embraced each of the mothers as she entered the stage. She then began her speech by endorsing North Carolina Democrat Roy Cooper for governor and Deborah Ross for U.S. Senate. She emphasized that all political parties should oppose Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign.
“I want to build the economy from the middle out and the ground up, not from the top down,” Clinton said.
Clinton mentioned her plans to raise the national minimum wage, bring advanced manufacturing jobs to the country and support small businesses, including her idea to give a three-year moratorium on student loans to college graduates who start a business. Clinton spoke of her plans to repair and rebuild infrastructure such as roads and bridges, as well as policy to upgrade the electric grid to support the distribution of renewable energy.
“I want us to employ half a billion new solar panels in the next four years,” Clinton said.
On education, the candidate claimed that she will make public colleges and universities free for families who make less than $25,000 per year, and that families who make more will only pay what they can afford.
Clinton also spoke of wanting to bring technical jobs back to high schools, stating, “there is more than one pathway to a good job with a middle class income.” Clinton plans to create a fund to support historically black colleges and universities and criticized her opponent for not paying taxes that would support Pell Grants.
Clinton spoke out against the controversial House Bill 2 that has led businesses, major sporting events and entertainers to pull out of North Carolina.
“Discrimination isn’t just wrong, it’s bad for business,” Clinton said. “I’m reaching out to everyone, not just Democrats, but Republicans and Independents, to reject hate and division. If we don’t stand up for everyone’s rights, we seed the ground for those who go after everyone’s rights.”
The candidate spoke of her plans to reform the criminal justice system, claiming that the system “works better when everyone respects police and police respect everyone.”
Several members of the audience expressed their reservations with Trump and Clinton’s campaigns. Chanda Branch, a Raleigh resident, has felt personal strain from the election and the strong words used in Trump’s campaign and expressed concern regarding his inflammatory language towards women and minorities. She participated in the rally to encourage others to vote and to support Clinton.
“I feel like Donald Trump has introduced an element of negativity that we’ve not seen in elections before,” Branch said. “It’s not allowed me to express my viewpoints in groups that I would have previously done so because I’m afraid of the backlash.”
Branch emphasized that Clinton embodies a sound understanding of international and domestic policy as well as being a steady supporter of expanding access to health care; she asserted that as the most experienced presidential candidate, Clinton was the most qualified despite her use of a private email in the 2012 Benghazi attack.
“I defy you to find a politician who has gotten as much done as she has and hasn’t had to make some decisions that some people disagree with,” Branch said.
Maiya Gibson and Kelsee Arnold, members of the women’s basketball team at St. Augustine’s University, were encouraged by their coach to attend the rally. As an undecided voter, Arnold expressed both admiration for and criticism of Clinton’s policy.
“I am currently undecided in my vote, but I did like the fact that she wants to make college affordable, and I, being a first generation college student, think that was a great point of hers,” Arnold said. “I’m undecided because I don’t like the fact that she supports abortions up until the ninth month; I don’t think that’s right.”
Sumayyah Meehan, a Muslim American at the event who supports Clinton, was disappointed that the candidate did not address the concerns of Muslims in her speech as she had in previous appearances.
“When I was listening to her debate, she said that Muslim Americans are on the front line of terrorism and I think that Muslim Americans contribute more to America than just that,” Meehan said. “I don’t think that’s fair. We’re deeply woven into America.”
Gibson was mostly concerned by the blanketed claims that Clinton made during the rally.
“I feel like she touched a lot on the plans that she has, but not necessarily what she’s going to do with those plans,” Gibson said. “I would’ve liked to hear her elaborate more.”
Although many of her audience’s questions were left unanswered, Clinton eagerly urged support for her policies.
“People of courage and principles need to come together to reject [Trump’s agenda],” Clinton said.