2 LIVE 2 QUIT

When it’s election season, you can be sure to see a whole lot more of the big political types out there talking. But because Miami, you might also start hearing a whole lot more from a couple … less-conventional… political figures out there rocking the vote. Like this guy ☝️

WHO IS HE? Luther Campbell. DJ, producer, founding member of the 2 Live Crew, former Miami-Dade County mayoral candidate.

WHY HAS HE REMAINED SO RELEVANT? The 2 Live Crew was already infamous for bringing Miami hip-hop and “booty bass” music to the mainstream in the late ‘80s and ‘90s, but Uncle Luke’s impact didn’t stop there. His record label, Luke Records, gave a start to artists like JT Money and the Poison Clan and his solo albums featured early verses from Miami rap icons like Trick Daddy and Pitbull. (Most of those songs are NSFW, so maybe don’t play those at your desk.)

BEYOND MUSIC. Uncle Luke has remained a presence in South Florida because of his community work. He’s been involved with local youth football (a show based on his Liberty City Warriors is coming to Starz next month) and been on the coaching staffs of local high school football powerhouses like Miami Jackson, Northwestern and Central.

Those connections have also made him a constant in local politics, particularly in advocating for Miami’s black community and neighborhoods like Liberty City and Brownsville. He ran for county mayor in 2011 in a packed field of candidates, and lost to current mayor Carlos Gimenez. He also maintains a regular column in the Miami New Times where he drops hot takes on everything from local politics to Donald Trump and even recently endorsed Philip Levine for governor (prompting a whole lot of “WTFs” from Uncle Luke fans).

We’ll be rolling out more entries in the Miamipedia, but we know there’s stuff we haven’t thought about. Hit reply and let us know, or hit us up at [email protected] to tell us any other suuuper Miami terms, phrases and people we should include. Until then, you can check out the previous installments here.

GO AHEAD, GET A LITTLE JUDGY.

The local judicial races can be confusing AF. Where’s their platform? What party are they affiliated with? You don’t get to know any of that. 🤷

Since all the normal, useful information for making up your mind is MIA in these races, we’ve got some other suggestions:

• Look at their endorsements. Are they from organizations whose values align with your own?
• Look at the candidates’ past legal experience. For example, whether they were a public defender or state prosecutor can say a lot about their interpretation of the law and justice.

We’ve got the lowdown on all of that on the circuit court judges and county court judges in our voter guide.

Bad questions. “Is Florida ready for a black governor?” is a question a lot of Democrats are asking themselves as they debate who to vote for in the Aug. 28 primary. It’s also the one that Rolling Stone asked Gillum himself in this Q&A. His response: “Well, we’ve nominated five white candidates for governor over the last 20 years and lost every time.” Touché. (Rolling Stone)

Ruh-roh. Florida had one of the highest foreclosure start rates in the U.S. in July, and it’s up 35 percent from the same time frame last year. While that doesn’t necessarily signal a repeat of the 2008 housing crisis, it is worrying – especially because the rates are highest in low-income parts of SoFlo, like Homestead, Opa-locka, and the City of Miami. Experts say it could be because real estate values and insurance are going up, but wages aren’t. (Miami Herald)

Breaking new ground. If you don’t live in Florida House District 109, you might not know Cedric McMinn, one of the Democratic candidates for that seat. But if he wins, he’ll be the first openly gay African-American to be elected to the Florida legislature, and that would “shatter” the perception that black voters might be too homophobic to elect an openly gay man. Meanwhile, State Rep. Shevrin Jones, who has repped the southernmost part of Broward County since 2012, quietly came out by letting Equality Florida include him on their recently published list of openly gay candidates the PAC endorses. That makes Jones the first openly gay black man in the legislature. “If me living my truth is a reason to vote against me or vote me out, then I’m OK with that,” Jones said in an interview. (Miami Herald)

Balancing act. School districts across the state might soon be getting more money to pay for new school safety measures, such as the requirement that they all have a full-time police officer. That funding is coming from money set aside for a controversial program to arm school employees, of which only $9 million of the $67 million set aside for the program has been spent. The biggest chunk of cash will be coming to Miami-Dade because we have the largest student population in the state. (Miami Herald)

Zero chill. You know that feeling when you step into your cool apartment after a hot walk? Many Liberty Square residents don’t because they can’t afford to buy A.C. units and the county isn’t required to provide them in the public housing project – something that’s getting more dangerous every year that earth heats up a little. So this week, the City of Miami provided free units to 51 residents of the county-owned Liberty Square. (Miami Herald)

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EVENTS

THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY.

We’ll catch you mañana. ✌️

– The New Tropic