By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
The new Chairman of the Alabama Minority GOP, Phillip Brown, spoke to an estimated 53 members of the Rainy Day Patriots Thursday at the Homewood Library on Thursday. Chairman Brown is the state chairman for the Alabama Minority Republican Party and serves on the Alabama Republican Party Steering Committee. He also serves as a commissioner for the Alabama Crime Victim’s Compensation Commission.
Chairman Brown said, “The summary of my philosophy is that somebody really ought to say something.” “This society is disintegrating in front of our eyes.” Chairman Brown (a professional educator) said that education is the great equalizer, but our schools have been dumbed down. No Child Left Behind actually guarantees that no child will ever get ahead. Brown said that we have to realize that education is the foundational level of where we are.
Brown also emphasized personal responsibility. In his own life Brown said that he had to realize that many of the problems that we have are created by ourselves. Brown said in this society nobody is at fault anymore.
Brown said that separation of Church and state had gone too far. Brown said that honoring God is foundational to this country. “We can not survive, nor long exist, if we leave God out of the picture. If we fail to understand the value of God and country then we lose.” Brown said that it is important to pledge ourselves to something greater than ourselves. “It is very important to realize that we are one nation under God. We can remain one nation if we remain under God, if we don’t we won’t.”
Phillip Brown said, “Our political environment has become a constant war zone.” Brown said that it is possible to make the majority feels like they are the minority and referenced the gay lobby. Brown said that homosexuals are only about 2% of our population, but they make it seem like they are actually 20-30%.
On attracting more Blacks and minorities to the Republican Party, Brown said that it is important to understand that when Blacks become Republicans they aren’t going to stop being Black. Blacks bring a different life experience to the party and it is important to understand that. Brown said that people are bound too each other based on race, by education, by economics, but most importantly by relationships.
In the 2012 elections, he offered to take Jefferson County GOP judicial candidates to neighborhood association meetings in Birmingham; but none would go because they felt, “They (Blacks) won’t vote for me anyway.” Well, they didn’t and the Republicans were swept in all the Jefferson County judicial races. Blacks aren’t going to vote for Republicans if Republicans are not willing to ask Black voters to vote for them.
Chairman Brown was born in Detroit, Michigan and was raised in Elba. He is the tenth of twelve children of the late Hayward and Jean Brown and is married to the former Diane Jones of Birmingham, Alabama. They live in the Birmingham area with their youngest daughter. They also have five older daughters and four grandchildren.
Phillip graduated from Faulkner University in Montgomery with a Bachelor Degree in Ministry and Biblical Studies. He is currently working on his master’s degree in Educational Administration.
Brown is the minister for the Sandusky Church of Christ in Birmingham and also works as a teacher for the Jefferson County Board of Education.
Chairman Brown says that he, “Feels that his calling is to help to shape the hearts and minds of young people who face a world for which they are not fully prepared.”
The last eleven years have been great for the Alabama Republican Party. Counties which have elected Democrats for 125 years are suddenly electing Republicans for the first time. Many of the surviving Alabama Democratic office holders are either switching parties or aren’t running for re-election. Where the Alabama Republican Party largely failed is in luring Black voters.
In 2012, Republican Mitt Romney defeated his Democratic opponent in Alabama by 60.6% to 38.4%; but over 90% of voting Black Alabamians still voted for Obama. If the Republican Party could lure away even 20 to 25% of the state’s Black voters it would be solidify the emerging Republican majority in the state.
The Rainy Day Patriots are one of the 50++ tea party groups that are still active in Alabama. They operate in many counties in the state, but are most active in the Jefferson and Shelby County area.
Ann Eubank reported that she had attended the anti-immigration/anti-IRS rally in Washington D.C. with 15,000 other people. Eubank said that they have proven that the Tea Party is not dead. “If you can get 15,000 to 20,000 at a rally with a week’s notice you are not dead.”
Eubank said that the Alabama Tea Parties are also sending a delegation to the ‘Say “No” to Amnesty march in Washington on July 15th. Suzanne “Zan” Green is the contact person for the Alabama delegation for this event.
Eubank said that the group is also intent on repealing the Common Core education standards. Eubank announced that the group will be holding a panel discussion at Briarwood Church on August 16 where experts will speak on the problems with Common Core.
