Contributed by Tom Lamb
Having grown up in a suburb just outside of Detroit and having a mother who was a Democrat involved in the civil rights movement during the early sixties, I was exposed to politics early on. Our family received phone calls from people who would call us “ni**er lovers”. One day while we were in the kitchen, I answered a phone call and was called the derogatory term used against blacks. My father became incensed and told my mother by being in the civil rights movement, she was putting our family at risk.
My mother eventually left the civil rights movement because it became radicalized with members of the New Left which were members of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Michigan was the birthplace of the SDS and the manifesto of the movement was published in 1962 under the Port Huron Statement. Detroit became home to radical Bill Ayers and was allied with the Black Panther Party.
Later, Ayers founded the Weather Underground Organization in Ann Arbor Michigan and the radical ideas and intimidation of the faction of the SDS started to filter in on college campuses in Michigan.
In 1968, my mother was going to Macomb County Community College and was working for the campus newspaper Sporadic and wrote an Op-ed titled: Speaker Lashes U.S.; Students Just Laugh. The piece was how her political science professor who was a member of the SDS, invited a revolutionary to talk to the students.
The article struck a nerve with the extremists of the SDS: they gathered all of the campus newspapers and burned them, made death threats against my mother and moved her Volkswagen and chained it so she couldn't get in. The extremist element of Bill Ayers’ group was moving through the college campuses in Michigan.
From my mother’s life stories, I carry a dream of her and decided to run for political office in 2020. I originally was running as a Nonpartisan candidate for congress but switched to the House District 7 race. When Lynn Gattis decided to enter the race, I pulled out because I believe she is a good fit for the district and I entered the Senate D race as a Nonpartisan on the Democratic Party ticket. Because of Covid-19 and the risks of gathering signatures for the senate race, I had to take into account that my mother who is 86 is a high health risk, so I had to minimize my exposure to the virus.
So the decision was made.
When my candidacy was certified, Anchorage Daily News Juneau reporter James Brooks quickly pointed out that I had sued President Barack Obama. This is true. What James didn’t know is the underlying background of the lawsuit. The lawsuit was directed at an act of fraud on the court that had been committed when attorneys for President Obama filed a motion in a “birther” lawsuit in federal court, stating the president never held dual citizenships when he did until 1983.
It was known that Bill Ayers was involved with Barack during his college days and influenced Barack, the same Bill Ayers who was a radical and part of a violent movement and group that made death threats against my mother.
The Alaska Supreme Court punted its decision by publishing a Memorandum of Judgment. Having lived Outside and in the political environment my mother created, I bring a broad viewwith many life experiences to the Senate D race. I know how the Democrat Party was before it became a party of the Left and I was part of the Republican Party when Reagan was in office. Both parties have fallen away from the good that each brought.
As such, even though I am the only candidate in the Democatic primary as a Nonpartisan my focus will be working with both Democrats and Republicans on issues that I feel will benefit the people in Senate D and Alaskans.
I have a long political history in Alaska and I haven’t had to deviate from positions developed over the years. Presently, I am working on a campaign website and it will list how I stand on issues so you can view them. The campaign website address is www.lamb4senate.com
