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Exhorting the image of Rosa Parks, the civil rights icon who on December 1, 1955, refused to give up her seat on a city bus in Birmingham Alabama and changed the course of history in this country, the Reverend Kyev Tatum announced yesterday that he will seek the Democratic nomination for the newly drawn Congressional District 33.  Tatum throws his hat in a ring that is getting crowded. City councilwoman Kathleen Hicks and East Side state representative Marc Veasey have already announced they will seek the seat.  Likely to run as well are former Democratic county chair and attorney Art Brender and North Side councilman Sal Espino.

He has begun the process of gathering signatures needed to place his name on the ballot for the March 2012 primary. Tatum is a well-known civil rights activist here who has been a thorn in the side of the school district, the city council and other government entities that he believes are discriminating against minorities and the poor. He is a philosophical follower of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he says, and wants to continue King’s unfinished work. “We need someone who will represent all of the people of Congressional District 33, especially the least, last, the lost and left out.” 

Tatum, a minister here, grew up in Fort Worth, the son of a single mother of 10 children. She raised them by driving a school bus; they were the first black family to integrate the now-demolished Ripley Arnold public housing project that was built in the 1940s for poor whites. Tatum is a college graduate who was able to get an education because of what he once called his “big hands:” He went to college on a football scholarship.

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More on this race and the field of candidates in the coming months

4 COMMENTS

  1. I find it interesting that this district, of which blacks and whites make up about half, and hispanics make up almost the other half, that it is already being assumed to be a black district. Why isn’t it being assumed to be an hispanic pick-up? Why is Espino the only hispanic pol publicly mulling the race? Does the DFW Metroplex, home to millions of hispanics, even HAVE hispanic representation in Washington?

  2. Roy, the reason why Hispanics are not lining up to run is because of the citizen voting age population. This is a district tailor-made for A black candidate from SE Fort Worth, or possibly an Anglo who can pull significant black support. With a million in N Texas, Hispanics provided the population for this district, but the African American community gets the seat. Hispanics find themselves in a familiar posture …getting screwed. This time they were screwed by this Federal court panel. North Texas should have at least one majority-Hispanic district, this is a damn travesty, period.

  3. For the average voter it is hard to tell where any given candidate stands – regardless of race. So many enter politics to simply line their own pockets. One need only look at the FWISD School Board to see what happens when minorities fail to vote or unite: you get the corruption which is Dickerson-Needham-Robbins-Jackson. Their corruption in turn supports the ineptitude of Reyna, Sorum, Davie, Whatley, etc. etc. This District does not need a career politician of any color. We don’t sitting public officials seeking to advance their careers, who sat back as FWISD melted from corruption and incompetency – afraid to speak for fear they would have to come out of the closet or suffer political retribution. We need a man of God whose concern is serving the people of this District. The white power structure is simply trying to divide and conquer,

  4. Does Ft. Worth know what Tatum is all about?
    He got run out of San Marcos because because he is a crook.
    He sold properties that were not his. Got caught and did it again. This time with a member of the Nation of Islam.
    He lists kids that do not attend his programs so he can claim more money from the government.
    The Willie Mae Mitchell Center in San Marcos is closed forever because of what Tatum did to it’s name in the community.
    If you name is associated with any of his scams, you could find your self very liable for fraud.
    If you work on his campaign, it might be your last.
    The man does not care who he hurts. That would require a conscience.

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