Elizabeth Warren tweets video of Memphis pastor
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic presidential candidate, took note of a Memphis pastor and activist Monday morning when she tweeted a video of the Rev. Earle Fisher.
In the video, Fisher discusses how Warren was “the first public figure of her stature to make the statement that black lives matter, black families matter and black citizens matter.”
Fisher is senior pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Whitehaven and is also lead organizer of #Upthevote901, a grassroots initiative that intends to increase voter turnout in Memphis an Shelby County.
“I think that she continues to stand in that particular tradition that advocates for people who are underrepresented and underserved and so this housing proposal is one of those proposals that represents her in that particular posture of advocacy and I think that we need more elected officials like her,” Fisher says.
Warren’s account tweeted the video while thanking “Earle” for listening to her speech in 2015 and being a part of her “fight for big, structural change like my housing plan.”
Fisher replied to the tweet with a smiley face and a reminder that Sen. Warren should call him “Dr. Fisher.” He also retweeted the video saying it was not an endorsement.
As she’s campaigned, Warren has spoken often about her housing plan, which would aim to bring down rental costs by 10 percent. She introduced the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act in the Senate last year and reintroduced it earlier this month.
The plan would include investing $500 billion over 10 years to build, preserve and rehabilitate units for low income families, according to Warren’s website.
Warren kicked off her three-state tour in Memphis last week, where she spoke about the housing plan and her plans for a universal child care system.
Warren officially launched her 2020 presidential bid last month. She's a contender in a wide field of Democratic challengers that also includes Sens. Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand.
Katherine Burgess covers county government and the suburbs. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.