‘Warrior’ Crawford fires back at JLP challenger
Published:Monday | April 1, 2019 | 12:00 AM
The People’s National Party’s candidate for the East Portland by-election, Damion Crawford, has fired back at his challenger’s political refrain that “beautiful speaking” cannot improve the circumstances of the constituency.
In an advertisement being aired in the electronic media, candidate Ann-Marie Vaz claims, among other things, that “beautiful speaking can’t put food pon table”.
Videos of children imitating Vaz have since been circulating on social media.
However, Crawford has said that beautiful speaking has been shown to be important throughout life.
“Martin Luther King [Jr] is known for a speech, ‘I Have a Dream’. A speech that gave freedom to blacks in America. Nelson Mandela Is known for beautiful speaking. Michael Manley is known for beautiful speaking that changed this country, informing us that there needs to be an ideological change, that a back-door boy need fi start look fi go through the front door,” Crawford said as he addressed supporters in Snowhill in the constituency.
“I can tell you, beautiful speaking can’t put food pon yuh table, but it can inspire you and motivate you to put food on your own table,” Crawford added before leading the chorus of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song.
Crawford bragged that he was a freedom warrior and was seeking to bring independence to the people of East Portland.
“All dem a talk bout action, they are really distraction. Dem nuh really have no action,” he declared in a direct swipe at Vaz, who has been styled ‘Action Ann’.
Meanwhile, the PNP candidate lambasted the Vazes and the conduct of the JLP’s campaign in the constituency.
“They are running a campaign where on a weekday, you can find nearly 1,000 youth sitting down outside doing nothing, and I go to the youth dem and say, ‘I can tell you how – because I am coming from nothing to something – I am going to take you from street-side meetings to business meetings’, and they said they don’t want that because their mind isn’t emancipated.
“Their mind is one that wants to depend on the charity from Mrs Vaz, from the charity of Mr Vaz,” Crawford said before accusing the latter of not sharing how he is making money.
“He has never said, ‘This is how me rich. Try dah style yah’. All he has ever done is to say, ‘I am rich enough to buss you pon two grand’,” Crawford stated.