Brick City aka Newark, New Jersey. A place, as a kid, I was afraid to go. All I remember was the rumor that if you went to Brick City, your car was getting jacked. To be honest, I was scared straight of the Bricks. I was happy to stay on the other side of the river, New York.
I never even thought about Newark, unless I had to catch a flight out there. But, I knew a lot of kids who patrolled those streets in the Bricks. A lot of the girls that were part of our film, On The Outs, would run away to Newark from Jersey City…and to run to Newark was a big time move, cause Newark was big time. But, I still knew nothing about the city.
But then came the Street Fight. And I caught the tape before the flick hit the stores. This filmmaker, Marshall Curry, had caught the intense Mayor’s race between the old-timer Mayor Sharpe James and this young dude, who came out of Yale Law School, but lived in the projects, Cory Booker. And I looked at dude, and I was ridiculously impressed, because I had never seen someone who cared so much about young people ever run for office or ever sit in office. But, he lost. And I was like, damn.
Four years later, Booker was back. Back for another street fight. Back for another chance at the title. And like Money Mayweather, Booker could take a punch, but he also could knock you out. Knock out punch, he did. Title was taken. Not just for Booker, but for the people of Brick City.
So, after all this hype, I had to go out to the Bricks to see for myself what this guy was all about. After sitting with him and his team, I am comfortable saying that there is not another elected official who understands the issues of young people better than Mayor Booker. This man goes to work everyday not to change a community or to empower a zone…he goes to work to revitalize an entire city. Like my hero and his, Mayor Booker has vowed to Muhammad Ali Newark and “shock the world.” This is not about supporting a Democrat or Republican, this is about supporting an elected official who gets it done. To list his accomplishments in this blog would be a disservice, so the best thing to do is just check out this list of 25 accomplishments in the first 25 months of office. And most definitely follow him on twitter @CoryBooker.
On Sunday Night, January 30th, 2011, on Sundance Channel, the second season of the Award Winning documentary series, “Brick City” premieres. This is a must-see show as it really tells the remarkable story of Newark and Mayor Booker. If you caught the first series last year, you know you are in for a wild ride. Brick City is a changed city, and it is only getting better. It has leadership who I can confidently say will always look at for our best interests. Brick City is not the city I was once scared to visit as a kid. I look forward to visiting Newark more often and enjoying all it has to offer. And I offer all of my support in moving Newark forward to Mayor Cory A. Booker, the best politician in America.
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