Chris Young: Mayoral Candidate Ejected from Debate over Statue of the Virgin Mary

I read about the removal of the Catholic Democratic candidate for the mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, Christopher "Chris" Young, in news reports and saw the compelling photo of him clutching the statue of the Blessed Mother. Then I discovered  he was the same man who had been arrested in March at Brown University for offering a pro-life video to Congressman Patrick Kennedy. This Democratic candidate for the Mayor of Providence is unqualified Pro-Life and gave us an exclusive interview.

P>PROVIDENCE, RI (Catholic Online) - I read about the removal of the Catholic Democratic candidate for the mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, Christopher "Chris" Young, in the news reports. What caught my eye was the compelling photo of him being removed clutching the statue of the Blessed Mother. I read the irreverent treatment of the incident on Comedy Central's "Indecision". The more I looked at the photos, the more familiar he looked. Then I discovered  he was the same man who had been arrested in March at Brown University for offering a pro-life video to Congressman Patrick Kennedy.

We are living in an interesting time. People are tired of the "same old" 'same old" in politics. There is a mood best characterized by the expression "throw all the incumbents out and start over." Candidates like Chris Young who are not politically "savvy" but want to serve to bring about change are gaining traction. This Democratic candidate for the Mayor of Providence is unqualifiedly Pro-Life. I am a Boston born and raised former Democrat who still gets angry when I hear many Democrats purport to care about the poor and fail to hear the cry of those whom Mother Teresa called the "poorest of the poor", our first neighbors in the womb. Believe me I am not pleased with many Republicans on this front either.

Many who have written about Chris Young seem to delight in making him appear strange. I won't do that. I wanted to find out more about what happened last Wednesday and who this man really is. So, I contacted him. I found him to be inspiring. He was more than willing to speak with me at length about his reasons for bringing the statue of Our Lady to the debate. He was also eager to share his positions on issues and his reasons for running for the Mayoral Office. When I spoke with him I was also introduced to the love of his life and fiancée, Kara Russo. Ms. Russo is a Republican candidate for Congress and for Lieutenant Governor in Rhode Island. I found her to be similarly ardent, consistent and sincere in her Pro-Life convictions and desire for public service.

Here is a little of the background in order to set the incident in context. On Wednesday evening, July 22, 2010, Chris Young was scheduled to participate in Mayoral candidate debate at the Providence Career & Technical Academy auditorium. It was sponsored by the Rhode Island Latino Civic Fund. The debate was delayed when the organizers, assisted by many police officers, insisted that Mr. Young remove a weathered statue of the Virgin Mary which he had placed in proximity to himself. He refused to do so. So he - along with the weathered statue of the Virgin - was removed forcibly.

The debate proceeded with the remaining candidates, State Rep. Steven M. Costantino, City Councilman John J. Lombardi, former Housing Court Judge Angel Taveras and Jonathan Scott. They answered questions on issues such as immigration, police oversight, public education, housing and economic development. However, the night and the Press coverage belonged to the candidate who had been removed, Chris Young. This is not Chris Young's first attempt at the Mayor's office. In the 2006 Democratic primary for mayor, he secured 26% of the vote. Here are a few of the questions I posed to Mayoral candidate brown and his answers:

Deacon Fournier: Mr. Young, thank you for taking the time to speak with Catholic Online concerning your ejection from the debate on Wednesday evening and some of your positions. Please explain what happened that led to your ejection from the hall and inability to participate in the debate?

Chris Young: Thank you for this opportunity to be heard. I was invited to the debate as a candidate. I wanted to show the public that just as I am trying to restore a statute of the Blessed Virgin Mary - one step at a time, little by little - I want to restore the city of Providence, Rhode Island the same way.  I was given the statue to restore by the Saint Francis House; an assisted living center for Catholics which was forced to close because of over regulation in the state's fire codes. It would have cost over one hundred thousand dollars in repairs for them to stay open.  Kara Russo and I had gone to the Saint Francis House to help Sacred Heart Church in West Warwick. We were going to pick up pews after the Church had been flooded in one of the largest floods Rhode Island has seen in close to one hundred years.

I arrived at the debate with the statue and placed it behind the table.  I was going to bring out the statue of Mary later for a few moments to demonstrate both my faith in God and my faith in the people of Providence.  You see my faith convinces me that if we love each other - and we demonstrate this love by working together - we can restore and fix Providence, Rhode Island. We can make it the kind of City it is supposed to be, a place where all people are equal and the love of God is alive in our hearts. I left the table and went to the reception area to speak to the audience members before the event in the lobby.

I told the people I spoke to about the ties between racism and abortion. Kara and I handed out a pamphlet given to us by the Human Life Alliance (HLA.)  I pointed out that the sponsor of the debate that evening was the former medical Director of Planned Parenthood and is an abortionist.  I also made it clear that one of my opponents, Angel Taveras, has sought the endorsement of Planned Parenthood and will most likely get the endorsement of Pablo Rodriguez, an abortionist and president of the main sponsor of the event, Latino Public Radio.

Deacon Fournier: So this was basically a "meet and greet" before the debate? You shared your positions, including your Pro-Life convictions. What happened next?

Chris Young:  I was directed back to the debate table where I was informed that I could not keep the statute of Mary with me.  I refused to remove it. I told them it is a symbol of my faith. I was going to use it to make an important point of how things can be restored in our City. I called my attorney, Kevin McKenna, who is running for Attorney General in Rhode Island. He is also Pro-life.  He told me that I had first amendment constitutional rights such as the Freedom of Speech and Religious Freedom. However, hosts of the event had called the police. They came to forcibly remove me from this event where I had been invited to speak!  Eight police came and began to grab at the statute. They appeared to be trying to break the statue that I was trying to restore - so I decided it would be better to leave instead of allowing the statute to be destroyed. 

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Deacon Fournier: Mr. Young, Can you tell our readers a little about yourself, your background, your efforts at public office?

Chris Young: I was born and grew up on Daboll Street in South Providence, Rhode Island, a poor inner city neighborhood.  I lost my father at the young age of six. My father was a veteran in forces that served the highest casualty rate in World War II. I attended Saint Michael's, and later Bishop McVinney, Catholic schools in the inner city, as an orphan. I was later accepted into Classical High school, a prestigious public high school, and graduated in 1986.  I put myself through school and attended Northeastern University, the University of Rhode Island and then graduated from Boston University with an Electrical Engineering degree.  I am a fighter. I kept fighting through great adversity to finish school, and I have continued fighting ever since for my beliefs.

In 1997, I started the National Civil Rights Coalition (CRC) to fight for basic human rights issues. In 2000 I ran for the United States Congress for the first time in Rhode Island.  I ran again for congress in 2006 and 2008, and for Mayor of Providence 2002, 2006 and now in 2010.  As a candidate I have supported an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  I am 100% Pro-Life and have produced Pro-Life programming that airs on statewide public television.

In 2007, through the National CRC, I wrote one of the lead briefs in favor of man and women marriage in the state of Rhode Island.  In 2010 the National CRC and a number of other advocacy groups lobbied for an extension of unemployment benefits. The NationalCRC will continue to fight for this extension to help those in most need in our society. I am an advocate for the poor. I also fasted for 28 days in 2006 to make Rhode Islanders more aware of the fact that 28% of RI children go to bed hungry. Every week I go to church at Saint Charles on the corner of Cranston Street and Dexter Street.

Deacon Fournier: Thank you for taking this time with me Mr. Young.

Chris Young: Thank you for helping me to get the whole story out.

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