When Isaac Bryan was graduating with a master’s degree from the prestigious UCLA in the year 2018, he couldn’t celebrate fully because he had a concern on his mind. He had no money to pay his rent, which was due the same day.
It was thanks to a UCLA mentor, who calmed his anguish by writing him a personal check and allowed him to continue keeping a roof over his head.
“That hit me really hard. Because how could I graduate from the world’s number one public university with a graduate degree, but not be able to pay my rent in Los Angeles? ” Bryan told in an editorial meeting with Real America News.
The young man is one of 13 children of the couple of whom nine were adopted, including him, since he was very young. Despite adversity and educational difficulties, he managed to obtain his higher education and is currently planning to reach the California assembly.
Bryan, from 29 years, he is running as a candidate to represent the District 54, with more than 50% of the Latino population. This includes areas such as Baldwin Hills, Cheviot Hills, Crenshaw District, Century City, Culver City, Ladera Heights, Mar Vista, Palms, Rancho Park, Westwood, and parts of southern Los Angeles and Inglewood.
The district 54 is vacant because Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager resigned. She was recently elected as a California Senator to represent the District 30.
The young Democrat said that if elected, he has a special interest in working on issues related to homelessness, the environment, the state budget and education.
Bryan expressed that his interest would be to work in the Public Safety Committee, due to his history and experience with this type of work.
The Los Angeles candidate is a community organizer and founding director of the UCLA Black Policy Project, who has focused his career on justice reform.
His work includes his participation in the Measure J campaign in Los Angeles County. At the time the candidate struggled to allocate resources to expand access to health care, including sex education, contraception and abortion care. He previously served as an advisor to Senator Kamlager and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
He is also interested in the budget committee. He indicated that many times people forget that the key to many changes in the government is depending on where the money is and goes.
“The budget is a statement of our values,” he said Bryan. “And right now, our budget doesn’t always match our values because we don’t have the right leaders who are willing to come in and read, do the spreadsheets, and build the partnerships to bring resources to our communities.”
Regarding the environment, Bryan said that the committee is key since Los Angeles has the largest urban oil field in the country.
“They are the children Afro-Americans and dark-skinned people who have the highest rates of asthma, and those who have the lowest life expectancy due to these oil wells ”, he stressed.
But the problem does not end there since the People of color are also the ones who work the oil wells and have good union jobs.
“So we have to be very thoughtful about how we make sure we get people into the economy green – pollution-free – with real jobs that pay more or the same money, “said Bryan. “And that’s something that people are afraid to talk about, or they want to be on the side of environmental justice or to protect the labor side, but they can have both.”
Supporting the undocumented
The candidate indicated that as an assemblyman he will ensure that all immigrants, including people without documents, of their district are appropriately represented.
“Whether Latino, Asian or other communities that are not seen or heard, so that they have a voice and are never excluded from any type of resource allocation ”.
Bryan indicated that these people are our families, our neighbors and our friends, but many times some just want to depend on people without documents to benefit.
“We tell them, ‘we count you in the census but we won’t help you ‘. We want numbers so the state can get more money from the census, but we don’t want to spend that money to help their families, ”Bryan said.
That is why he applauded the plan presented by the governor last Monday, where he said he will give $ 600 to families earning less than $ 75, 000, regardless of their immigration status, and additional $ 500 to those who have people who depend on them.
“We need to make sure that no kind of recovery package excludes undocumented communities,” Bryan said. “It has to include everyone… The best way to be close to the needs of the undocumented is to make sure there is always a place for them at the table.”
Bryan will be facing off against five more candidates; businessman Dallas Fowler, State Senate Director Heather Hutt, financial advisor Samuel R. Morales, attorney Cheryl C. Tlurner, and grocery worker Bernard Senter.
Special elections will be held on Tuesday 18 May.
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