Cory Booker is the man. Despite politics being one of my favorite topics, I resist posting on it because it is so polarizing. Cory Booker, current Mayor of Newark, NJ, is enough to make me break my rule. He seems to be a genuine, brilliant, and inspiring guy. He’s also incredibly pragmatic: almost every one of his policy positions, I agree with.
Cory in a nutshell: from NJ, football scholarship to Stanford, Rhodes Scholar, then Yale Law. Returned to NJ and ran for Newark City Council. Newark is one of the most corrupt and crime-ridden cities in America. He moved into the Projects so he could be close to how his people live. He went on a 10-day hunger strike and lived in a tent in front of one of the most blatant open-air drug dealing areas. He also lived in a motor-home for almost 6 months in known drug trafficking corners to highlight how blatant it all was. He ran for Mayor and lost in an ugly election. There’s a great documentary on it called “Street Fight” that shows the struggle. Undaunted, he ran again, and is currently Mayor of Newark.
Anyway, if you have some time, there is a great video interview of him at the recent New Yorker conference here. I say it’s a must watch.
4/30/13 – Hasn’t changed. Still love Cory.
You are right Surya – a must watch. I wish more people were like Cory – not only inspirational and knowledgeable, but willing to live directly in the community in order to both understand it and show the community that he is part of it. I especially enjoyed the part about the lady who asked him what he saw around him, and challenged him that he needs to see the positive and not just the negative. Thanks for sharing.
This comment has nothing to do with Cory Brooker 🙂 Apprentice started last week in India and I HAD to google you.And its quite a pleasant surprise to come across your blog.