Interview with Roxanne Murphy – City Council Candidate, Pos. 4
by Electric Elliot
East-Side activist and former City of Tacoma Community Relations Specialist Roxanne Murphy is running for City Council. After moving to the East Side of Tacoma six years ago, Roxanne has be adamant about making change. Her goals as a City Council member would be to reduce crime and develop a more thriving business district on the East Side.
Find out more at electroxanne.com
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Note: Due to unforeseen gremlins there is an unfortunate buzzing in the background of this recording. Our sincerest apologies. We recommend turning down your bass.
June 11th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
dang. She sounds pretty good. Now I don’t know who to vote for. Thanks the Melon!
Reply
June 11th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Roxanne speaks well. She is very accomplished at speaking, especially about herself.
I would first like to bring up her “belief” that she is the only “Native American” candidate running. Marty Campbell who is also running for the Tacoma City Council district 4 seat, is part Cherokee, his grand mother is Cherokee, his relatives also walk the “Trail of Tears”. I also “believe” that Roxanne has known this for some time. The Melon and Electric Elliot also should know this because Marty talked briefly about it in his interview with The Melon and Electric Elliot.
She also talks about bring young blood into the council. This is a good thing and I am glad that Marty Campbell can also fulfill this need on the Tacoma City Council.
Roxanne talks about fighting “hooligans” and the “criminal element” but she continues to reference Tacoma and especially the Eastside of Tacoma using gang terms such as the “253″ and “the hood”. I am sure she is honest in her love for Tacoma but I and many others are sick of the “gang” slang being used to desribe Tacoma or our neighborhoods.
We are Tacoma …not the “253″. We are communities, neighborhoods, neighbors and citizens … not “the hood”, homeboys, homegirls or peeps.
Reply
Electric Elliot Reply:
June 11th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
@James, Hi James,
You’re right. Marty did note that he has Native American blood and also his uber great grandfather was captain of the Mayflower. Roxanne has Native American blood as well.
Does any of that matter? No. I think what they’ve done for the community, their awareness and plans are far more important.
In that same sense, I understand where you’re coming from in addressing use of “gang” slang. But, again, I don’t think it’s the words you use, but how they’re used. Calling Tacoma 253, which I often do, does not seem like a likely cause for perpetuating gang violence. While vernacular is more noticeable, I believe there are more serious issues than how we chose to express ourselves.
Reply
June 11th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
i’m also part native american… my great great grandmother was queen of the aztechs and she married the engineer who designed the mayflower’s poopdeck. Such a small world!
Reply