fighting for what's right
last night ac and i watched a documentary on pbs called "street fight". rarely am i moved to do something, but this film inspired me to get up and try and help.
"street fight" is part of pbs' pov (point of view) series and tells the story of the turbulent campaign of cory booker, a 32-year old rhodes scholar/yale law graduate running for mayor of newark, nj against sharpe james, the four-term incumbent twice his age. i really have never been so inspired to do something to try to make a difference. i don't even live in newark and, of course, i can't vote there, but i was on the phone with the booker campaign first thing this morning to ask how i could help.
i made a banner to put on my site until the election is over and plan on updating it with information on the race for newark's mayor in 2006. i also signed up to volunteer with the campaign and help however i can. i'm not asking you to do the same, but i am writing merely to express my sincere hope that some of you might take the time to watch "street fight" on pbs. you can click here to see when it's playing in your town. to make a long and horrible story short, this race was so dirty, so unfair and so disgusting that i couldn't in good conscience sit by and do nothing. so, my voice and support with be with cory booker in 2006. i know political posts are dangerous territory online, but i'm willing to take whatever comes my way for standing up for what i think is right. so, i hope some of you out there will take the time to investigate this story for yourself and will come to understand why i felt the need to discuss it here. to cory and any of cory's people that by some chance read this: this person and this site are behind you 100%- may 2006 be the year that the wrongs of 2002 are undone.
editor's note: the film is by marshall curry, you can check out his website here to find out more about the movie.
posted by design*sponge @ 6.7.05
4 Comments:
hey design*sponge,
I've been reading your blog for the last few months and was surpised to come across marshall curry's movie mentioned on your site. I know Marshall through work - and we're all following his movie's success... check out his site and his movie - and give a nod to good documentary filmmaking :)
http://www.marshallcurryproductions.com/
people are talking about this film: http://discussions.pbs.org/viewforum.pbs?f=123
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/05/arts/television/05mart.html
I saw this film and was moved also... I live in Jackson, Mississippi and it reminded me a lot of our recent mayoral election. It got dirty [here] but not nearly as dirty as the scene in Newark.
What shocked me most was the racist comments from Blacks about a member of their own race. Goes to show racism (even within races) is not dead.
Glad to see this is making headlines. Honestly, I'm surprised I hadn't heard about this earlier. Seems like more news outlets (20/20, etc) would have thoroughly enjoyed exploiting the drama that went down during the elections...
Before moving to Brooklyn last April, I lived in Newark for five years with my husband, a Newark native who grew up during the height of sixties riots (from which the city –truly– has yet to recover.) We are both staunch Booker supporters and experienced firsthand so much of what Curry documents in his film; the worst of which was a false letter on (presumably stolen? photocopied?) 'Booker letterhead' informing me that my polling place had changed, from the public elementary school a block away from my apartment to another six miles away, in one of the most dangerous sections of the city. My neighbors, all happily-registered Republicans, received nothing. (DIGRESSION: I took the letter to the Booker North Ward HQ, days before the election, where they looked at me dejectedly, informing me that I was only one of many to receive such a letter. Fortunately, that particular intimidation tactic failed as Booker ended up taking the North Ward by over 1400 votes –still.)
So while I was happy to see Curry's documentary –to see Sharpe James' ridiculously corrupt machine exposed to an audience *beyond* Newark– I couldn't help but feel saddened by it as well. Saddened that this film was most likely NOT reaching its' most crucial audience: uninformed, undereducated Newark voters. This film is essential viewing for the city's population and I'm scheming to find a way to get a copy into the hands of every Newark resident before next year's vote!
Though geographically no longer a Newarker, I still have hope for that blighted city. I still have a Jersey license and am still registered to vote there, something I don't plan on changing until after Booker takes office next year.
You might be interested in this article:
Deconstructing 'Street Fight': Why some insurgent candidacies take hold, while others fail
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