It has always been said that some Black candidates for political positions don’t necessarily have the best interests of Black voters in mind.

During the 2022 REVOLT Summit x AT&T panel “Dear America, Run My Check” that took place Sunday, Sept. 25, Tezlyn Figaro discussed voting for candidates based on race and calling them out when necessary.

When asked by moderator Van Lathan if Black people should vote for a non-committal or anti-reparations candidate, Figaro answered, “Hell, no. I mean, at the end of the day, it is not good enough to just be Black. We have plenty of candidates — plenty of people who are in charge of leadership that is Black. ‘I’m Black and vote for me because I’m Black,'” she expressed.

She continued, “We can look at Daniel Cameron, who is Black in Kentucky, that sold out Breonna Taylor and all of the things that came with that case. So Black is not enough. And he got voted in based [on] being the first Black attorney general. So if we are not looking at exactly what they stand for and [checking] the receipts to be able to show and prove that [they] are who [they] say [they] are and be okay with questioning that — and calling it out. I am done with the behind-the-scenes calling folks out.”

The author said Black voters need to get to the point of being okay with calling these politicians out, holding them accountable, and voting them out of office if need be. “One of the things that you hear a lot is, ‘Well, you know, I have to vote for a Democrat because they’re easier to fight,’ but I don’t see [anyone] fighting. So we have to get to the point where we [are] okay with calling people out and putting them on blast to correct themselves,” she said. “Ice Cube said it best, ‘Check yourself before you wreck yourself.’ So if we are not in [the] positions to check folks, there will be no running of the check. So we have to check folks on-site [and] make sure we hold them accountable, vote them out, or send [someone else] to replace them.”

Killer Mike, Erika Alexander, Tariq Nasheed, Rizza Islam, and Kamilah Moore also spoke on the “Dear America, Run My Check” panel.