Through a fluke, I got to hear Newark mayor Cory Booker speak at the Leadership Academy luncheon today.
Booker is the young (and he says sexy) mayor of Newark, New Jersey, who has made national news by voluntarily living in housing projects, by having a goal of Newark becoming the national standard for urban transformation, and because his first run for mayor was the subject of "Street Fight," an Academy Award-nominated documentary.
In an interesting Memphis connection, his older brother is Soulsville Charter School Chancellor and Stax Music Academy Executive Director Cary Booker.
In preparation for the luncheon (yes, sometimes flukes give you enough time to prepare), I listened to an interview Booker did a few years ago with David Remnick of The New Yorker.
For anyone not lucky enough to attend the luncheon, I'll write more about it later, but I'll also leave you with a link to the Remnick interview.
I remember the interview being fairly long (probably too long to watch at work unless you're me) but not so long that if you're at your house you won't be able to watch it comfortably in one sitting.
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Who is our Cory Booker indeed?...
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I had the fortune of being at the luncheon, and I have to say - Memphis was ready for this message! I understand that almost 900 people were in the room, and it was a wonderful representation of all sectors of our city. The message I left with was that all of us are responsible for our city's course, and we can't continue to point fingers. You don't have to be the mayor to have a huge impact on Memphis.
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