mayor cory.

Cory Booker is the man. I resist posting about anything political despite the fact that this might be favorite topic because of how polarizing it is. But Cory Booker, current Mayor of Newark, NJ is simply put, the man. He seems to be a genuine guy, who’s obviously brilliant and inspiring. He’s also incredibly sensible– everytime I’ve heard or read one of his policy positions, I agree with it. Probably because they’re incredible practical.

In a nutshell: he’s from NJ, went to Stanford on a football scholarship, Rhodes Scholar, then Yale Law grad. Came back to NJ, and ran for Newark City Council. Newark is one of the most corrupt (if not the) cities in America. Crime is atrocious. He moved into the Projects so he could be close to how his people live, and then did some pretty incredible things. He went on a 10-day hunger strike and lived in a tent in front of one of the worst projects to protest blatant open-air drug dealing and also lived in a motor-home for almost 6 months in the known drug trafficking corners to expose it/cut down in it. He ran for Mayor and lost in an ugly election. There’s a great documentary on it called “Street Fight.” Yeah, it wasn’t pleasant. 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.