Earlier today, Uncle Luke aka Luther Campbell of 2 Live Crew fame announced today that he will throw his hat into the ring for mayor of Miami. The notorious early ’90s rapper recently sat down with the Miami New Times to discuss his platform and political aspirations.
Luke explained that his desire to run for office come from increased frustration with the ineffectiveness of his city’s political system. He says that as he’s witnessed the same social ills plaguing Miami since his birth, and that someone has to step up and do something about it.
“I am mad frustrated,” he explained. “I’ve thought about running for public office before, but someone would always end up talking me out of it, saying, ‘We have this good person here, he will do good for the community,’ so I always backed out. But I’d end up frustrated because they didn’t do anything. I’d give them ideas and they would just tell me what they wanted to hear.” (MiamiNewTimes.com)
He added, “I get in my car, ride around Liberty City, and everything looks the same as when I was in the neighborhood growing up. I see the same crimes in the same areas. Officers and residents are still getting killed in the community I grew up in. I go to a city like Atlanta that has sensible affordable housing, and no one is being murdered. I go to Miami International Airport and see the same construction that has been going on for like a hundred years. All of that frustrates the hell out of me. Why aren’t we getting it right in Miami-Dade? Why is our government only serving one set of people? That’s what is pushing me to run.” (MiamiNewTimes.com)
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Campbell also explained in detail the issues at the crux of his campaign. He says that creating jobs and safe and affordable housing in the inner city are two of his chiefs concerns. He also says that he will also ensure that public hospitals like Jackson Memorial Hospital will not leave uninsured patients without care.
“The current administration of Mayor Carlos Alvarez hasn’t created any new jobs, yet we keep these government employees who have been around for decades and aren’t doing anything,” he said. “Then there’s affordable housing. People in the James E. Scott projects have been kicked out of their homes and forced to move to other parts of the county. The same has happened in other parts of the county. Places have been knocked down and never rebuilt. Folks were displaced because of politics and scandal. Instead of this massive incompetence, we need to build gated communities with security-guard entrances in the inner city. Then people would feel just as safe as those wealthier folks who live in Fisher Island and the Kendall suburbs.” (MiamiNewTimes.com)
He added that, “I’d also address the situation at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Miami-Dade has the highest number of uninsured people in the state. We can’t allow the public hospital to crash, or we are going to have sick people in the streets. My last resort will be raising taxes. We have a long laundry list of things that need to change with the county. We need someone with vision. I believe I have the vision.” (MiamiNewTimes.com)
Luke’s current campaign isn’t the first time the rapper has been embroiled in politics. His group 2 Live Crew was sued in the 1990 over the explicit lyrical content of their 1989 album As Nasty As They Wanna Be. Although they were initially found guilty in the district court, their case was eventually overturned in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
