Senate District three Race Heats Up: Former State Rep and Civil Rights Chief Rickman Pronounces Marketing campaign
Thursday, August 26, 2021
Ray Rickmann. Photo: GoLocal
Ray Rickman, a former Rhode Island representative and former Deputy Secretary of State of Rhode Island, is running in the special election for the open seat in Senate District 3 on the East Side of Rhode Island.
Rickman, a longtime civil rights activist who founded the nonprofit Stages of Freedom, said in his announcement Thursday that he is because of “persistent inequality in the Providence public school system, which the Rhode Island Supreme Court says can only be addressed , was inspired to run ”. from the state parliament. “
“When I was arrested in 1966 while marching for civil rights in Mississippi, it never occurred to me that by 2021 the largest school system in Rhode Island would abandon thousands of colored students,” Rickman said. “We must fix this injustice before we lose a generation to failure. That will be my top priority as a Senator for the East Side State. “
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Geena Pham and Hilary Levey Friedman have already announced their candidacy for the seat vacated by Gayle Goldin.
Above Rickman
As a teenager, Rickman marched against segregation with James Meredith at Jim Crow South. In his hometown of Detroit, he carried out several strikes at Southeastern High School to force the city to grapple with its separate, unequal educational system.
After working in Washington DC and Detroit, he moved to Providence, where he served three terms as state representative for College Hill and two years as assistant secretary of state. He co-founded Shape Up RI, the first statewide wellness initiative in the country that serves 100,000 Rhode Island residents. He is the co-founder of Stages of Freedom, an award-winning BIPOC nonprofit that offers free swimming lessons to low-income youngsters and introduces African American programs to the entire community.
“This is a critical moment for the future of our youth,” said Rickman. “My work in the Rhode Island Senate will focus on our educational problems and the inequality that persists in our schools, businesses, and government. As a child and health advocate and civil rights advocate, I believe that during these turbulent times I have the most experience addressing these issues in the state legislature. “
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