Maj Toure, a Libertarian candidate for City Council at large, is running on a platform of better public schools, criminal justice reform and community safety.
The candidate is the founder of Black Guns Matter, which teaches conflict resolution, firearm safety and the law.
Toure has been endorsed by Gun Owners of America. He’s testified in front of Congress and has appeared on Fox Nation, C-SPAN and Fox Business and has been interviewed at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Toure, calling himself a “solutionary” Libertarian, believes the best way to improve public schools is civic education.
“We’ve been allowing public servants to run our city into the ground without retribution. More civic understanding leads to more social awareness and politically engaged citizens, which cuts down on crime, poverty, unemployment and a laundry list of other issues,” he said.
Toure notes the School District of Philadelphia reports close to $5 billion in facility needs.
“I believe that private companies that are investing and adopting our schools should be allotted abatement opportunities. We can repair and replace facilities if we begin matching schools with businesses, corporations and private donors who can offset the costs of these repairs and build relationships with the students, families, teachers and leadership,” he said.
Toure wants an end to what he says is the “failed” war on drugs, contending the laws aren’t making people safe. Marijuana legalization, he believes, will lead to revenue to improve school buildings and lower the poverty rate.
Toure wants education programs in prison so inmates have a better chance at getting a job upon release and a lower chance of becoming a repeat criminal.
“Thousands of people return home from incarceration to their families each year in our city. While an individual is incarcerated, they must actually be working on rehabilitation and restorative justice and we get to ensure that when individuals come home they have a strong likelihood of becoming a contributing member of society,” he said.
If elected, Toure will work closely with the Office of Violence Prevention to establish a task force to offer training to young people in conflict resolution, de-escalation, mental health awareness, firearm safety and bias. ••
