Mike Honda, Danny Glover hold campaign event on equality
November 7, 2016
Guests dressed in semi-formal attire crowded his small office off of South De Anza Boulevard on Tuesday, Oct. 25. He said he hopes to get re-elected for his 17th year so he can bring change to Washington D.C.
“Lethal Weapon” actor, Danny Glover, assisted the campaign event.
“I was campaigning for Bernie Sanders earlier this year,” Glover said. “I knew that somewhere the narrative was changing. Young people were finding their voice as citizens, ordinary citizens, who come together and use their power, their energy, their passion to make real change, and that’s what it has to be about.” Glover has been a political activist since his college days. Glover did not finish his degree at San Francisco State University because he went on strike in 1968 when the college would not adopt an ethnic studies curriculum.
“It was the first school for ethnic studies in the country,” Glover said. “Today, it is the only school for ethnic studies in the country.” Honda demonstrated that he is no stranger to inequality. He spoke about how when he was 1 year old, his family was sent to a Japanese internment camp in Colorado as a part of the mass internment of Japanese-Americans by the US government in World War II.
“We were segregated from the community,” Honda said. “We had our constitutional rights set aside, and from that, we learned that no one should ever have their constitutional rights set aside. This is why we are doing the work we are doing now. It doesn’t matter what religion you are, what color you are, it doesn’t matter what your orientation is or who you love, because all of that is protected under the Constitution.”
Dolly Sandoval, former mayor of Cupertino and a volunteer for the Honda campaign, has known Honda since he was elected to the San Jose Education Board 32 years ago. “Mike Honda’s race has been tough,” Sandoval said. “He’s been in office 16 years so far.”
Sandoval said Honda was a high school teacher and loved working in the classroom, as well as working on behalf of the community.
Sandoval said Honda has spent the majority of his time in office working with the nonprofit West Valley Community Services, which helps low-income students pay for housing, food and bills.
Sandoval said one of Honda’s largest successes was securing federal funding for a Los Gatos food bank for senior citizens. “It was great to be able to do that for the elderly because they need help sometimes too,” Sandoval said.
Congressman Honda has also been an ardent supporter of transgender rights.
“He read an article in La Voz last year about a transgender girl who wasn’t getting the proper services from the college,” Sandoval said. “To him, that is unacceptable.”
“It’s about making sure everyone is safe,” Honda said. “Transgender rights are human rights … My granddaughter is a transgender woman and I am really proud of her.” Honda said that when people take an oath of office, they aren’t taking an oath to the government but to the Constitution. “This is why we want victory in the White House, in Congress … there are unconstitutional laws on the books, and I want to take those laws down.” 