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NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Tuesday, January 17, 2017, 2:21 PM

As it stands right now, Democrats control the governments of just four states California, Oregon, Hawaii and Rhode Island. Thats not a typo. In 46 states, if you want to get a law passed, you now have to go through a Republican legislature or a Republican governor or both. While we all celebrated eight years of having President Obama in the White House, the Republican Party did the long, hard organizing work of taking over the country state by state.

We can blame gerrymandering. We can and should discuss Voter ID laws. We should also discuss racism and white supremacy. All of those were genuine factors in how we got here, but it still took grassroots organizing for Republicans to do what they have done.

In less than 100 hours, Donald Trump will be inaugurated President of the United States. Republicans control the Senate and the House of Representatives. The only true progressive and Democratic strongholds left in this nation, outside of those four coastal states, are Americas largest cities.

If we arent careful, through gentrification, rising rents and low wages, conservatives may even begin taking over our urban centers. Thats why its time for us to stop giving Democratic or progressive mayors and city councils and district attorneys all over this country a pass. Representation is great. Its good to see someone who looks like you or claims to see the world like you do, in office. But for far too long weve celebrated elections when we need to be celebrating results.

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A person who claims to be a progressive, but then fails to keep their promises on progressive policies, isnt a progressive. Theyre just a smiling face.

When the people in Americas largest cities are facing a steady onslaught of police brutality, they need a hell of a lot more than a smile or dap or even your presence at a funeral. They needed you before the funeral. They need change.

During President Obamas time in office, the Justice Department issued scathing reports, called consent decrees, on police department after police department across the country. The reports, while thorough and damning, were nothing but PDFs if local leaders werent serious about making sweeping changes happen.

Guess who controls so many of the cities with police departments featured in those reports? Democrats. Be it Chicago, Baltimore, or Cleveland, time and time again the cities with the worst police brutality had Democratic leaders at the helm. In most of those cities, it is the mayor who oversees those police departments.

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Rahm Emanuel, now in his second term as Mayor of Chicago, is responsible for the corruption and brutality of the Chicago Police Department. He oversees it and it has been on his watch that the city has failed to make the substantive changes that activists there have been calling for.

My sincere guess is that progressives are going to have very little sway in the state and federal government over the next few years. Sadly, because of all of the political losses over these past eight years, that means Democrats are going to be playing non-stop defense to try their best to stop destructive policies on issues like health care, womens rights, LGBT rights, the environment, war, trade and wages.

But while we play defense in those circles, we must have serious, substantive offensive strategies in our cities. We must demand that every major city in America enact progressive policies on policing and criminal justice. We must demand that every major city in America institutes a living wage. We must demand that every major city in America protects the rights and safety of marginalized groups be they immigrants, the elderly, the LGBT community, the homeless, or anyone else.

I honestly think a lot of Americas mayors thought they were about to serve in the Hillary Clinton administration. Now that that dream has been deferred, they must serve us. But heres the thing, they will only do what we demand they do. They will only keep the promises we force them to keep.

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KING: Progressives must hold Democratic politicians accountable - New York Daily News