Why Durant
About Me
I grew up in Durham, and attended Forest View Elementary, Central Park School for Children, and DSA. I have worked in the service industry since I was 16, both at corporate and home-grown locations. Local small businesses have been my favorite places of employment, Especially Sitar and Hope Cafe. After high school, I began my undergraduate education majoring in Spanish at UNC Asheville until Hurricane Helene ravaged the area and classes moved online. Being back home in Durham made me realize how much I missed this special area. I am now enrolled at North Carolina Central University and am looking forward to completing my undergraduate studies there before deciding on my next area of study. My passion lies in education and activism, and I have been privileged to be deeply involved with two wonderful organizations, Prospanica and Bounty and Soul Latino, (both in Asheville). I spend my free time teaching ESL, running the American Tobacco Trail, playing guitar and piano and trying my best to work through my ever growing reading list.
While I may be young, I am motivated to have a say in what happens for the future of my generation. We are faced with a daunting landscape of economic uncertainty, an increasing AI presence in all aspects of society, and an unravelling social fabric that is being exacerbated every day by social media. As someone who has grown up in the 2000s, I am uniquely qualified to understand how these challenges affect one's outlook. The impact of these factors is not just a hypothetical for my generation.
I support:
The rights of all workers to unionize
Union of Southern Service Workers
Durham Rising
Siembra NC
Abolish ICE
Triangle Tenant Union
Universal Basic Income
VISION AND VALUES
Empowerment Through Unity
Current city leadership in Durham is taking an aggressive pro-tourism position that promises to bring the wealth of conference, convention, and visitor revenue that will flow to the area and bring jobs and prosperity. Does this sound familiar? Trickle-down economics has never worked. Time and time again this has been made abundantly clear. A new convention center will be a financial burden on our budget that will never pay for itself. And the hotel taxes that would come along with any increased visitors to our area? The citizens of Durham won't see any of that thanks to a NC General Assembly bill shepherded by our Durham state senator who directed our hotel occupancy tax away from the city's general fund and into a newly created tourism promotion entity called Durham Next. Our hotel occupancy tax currently generates $3,000,000 per year. That's $3,000,000 that will never be used for the benefit of Durham residents... unless you believe something will finally trickle down.
The City Council needs to come together and work for the people of Durham, not the developers and those who stand to benefit financially from these transactions. It is our people who have made Durham what it is today, and once the needs of the people are met we can begin to expand the reach of our funds. But until we address the needs of our underserved neighbors, we should not be funneling vital funds to another tourism board.