There is too much disagreement for disagreement’s sake. 

In a time of persistent challenges that still call into question our most sacred aspirations as a country, we cannot afford shallow callous divisiveness in our public debate. We become distracted from productive labors by our perceived opponents; we become focused on them and not on our larger calling to advance our nation; our debate becomes more about scoring points against an adversary and less about advancing our common cause.  And we DO have a common cause.

In college, I was a fiercely committed Democrat – a meeting with Jack Kemp, then Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, challenged my blind partisanship. I met Secretary Kemp in East Palo Alto, California where I was working with youth.  He was a Republican, I was a Democrat yet somehow he cut right through my then natural state of cynicism. I must confess that I almost regretted that I immediately liked this Bush appointed HUD Secretary.  My mother has a saying, “who you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you say.”  It wasn’t his gift for gab that struck me but the power of his ideas and his authentic spirit.  Kemp was clearly passionate about urban spaces and the people of cities.  He immediately engaged me (a college student) in a direct candid manner; he appealed to my compassion and my logic.  And more than that, it was obvious that he was not  in East Palo Alto looking for a photo op surrounded by people of color —  he was there to listen, to share his ideas and hear concerns.

After that meeting, I sought out more about Jack Kemp.  I ordered some of his speeches and read what I could.  I found I disagreed with him on some matters of policy, but reading and listening to him, I found that he always challenged me in the most productive of ways.  My study of Kemp encouraged me to learn more about subjects from tax policy to international trade and, on occasion, I had to yield to the strength of his ideas and change my views. 

From my position as a Democrat, I began to look at him with more affection than some within my own party who were great with rhetoric but seemed to lack a substantive analysis of issues.  Though I had met him only once, following Jack Kemp was a gift; he challenged me, forced me to defend positions and invited me to engage in more dispassionate objective analysis of facts and less personalized partisan assaults on individuals that had me, in the past, often leaving ideas completely ignored. Even to the end of his life, this was how the man conducted himself – he didn’t believe in ad hominem attacks but wanted to keep everyone, even those within his own party, focused on what was important: (See his defense of Barack Obama against Sean Hannity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iqNKEK5xcs )

As Mayor of an American city, I can confidently say that one of the more successful federal/state urban initiatives of the past quarter century has been the creation of the Urban Enterprise Zone ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_Enterprise_Zone) (See also Bill Maher and Kemp mention: http://bit.ly/10GwFR ).  Jack Kemp was the evangelist for this idea and sponsor of the legislation in Congress which created the zones.  Urban enterprise zones, soon adopted by many states, have driven billions of dollars into poor urban areas all across the United States. 

The next time I saw Jack Kemp after our East Palo Alto meeting was when I was a Newark municipal councilman.  We began a friendship and, as always, he challenged me, but now (I’d like to think) I could challenge him a little as well (and felt comfortable enough to tease him about his hair and my lack thereof).  I was so encouraged by how much he seemed to be invested in Newark and the success of our City.  He really believed that our nation could never claim to have achieved herself unless we made the opportunity and promise of America accessible to everyone.  He freely admitted that we, as a country, were falling short and that there was great urgency in the fight to make America real to everyone.  He and I bonded on everything from the urgent need of education reform to what many must view as his courageous beliefs on immigration.

When I first ran for Mayor (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8jtAASYdLw ), Kemp joined with another one of my political heroes, Bill Bradley, to host one of my early fundraisers in Washington, D.C.  These two great men, both athletes, carried with them an intimate, almost visceral, understanding that black or white, Catholic or Jew, Republican or Democrat, we are all on the same team and we will either win or loose together.

Jack Kemp, thank you for helping this Democrat to be Mayor of this great American city. 

Thank you for helping to make me far, far more of an American than I am a Democrat. 

Thank you for challenging me to think first; consider ideas before individuals; and to always stay focused on the urgent unfinished cause of our country. 

Jack Kemp, you were a great American servant.  

This week, I became a more active tweeter (@CoryBooker)! I was encouraged by the dialogue that came from one of my tweets regarding education reform. There is no doubt that America faces severe educational challenges.

We are a nation that proclaims unalienable rights and “that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” These are not some ethereal principles — they are tangible and worthy ideals for which to struggle. Our children call to us daily from schools across the nation that we are “one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” Justice, liberty, life, happiness –- critical to all of these ideals are wide universally accessible avenues for our youth to obtain a high quality education.

Few can argue with this and few would argue that the long-term success of our nation, in an increasingly competitive global knowledge-based economy, relies squarely on what is happening in American classrooms every day. In the United States, a highly educated populace would result in a GDP trillions of dollars higher than our present GDP — more jobs and more opportunities for so many Americans.  (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/nyregion/23klein.html?_r=2&hpw).

As other nations continue to outpace us in K-12 education, our country must seriously grapple with the consequences of lack of progress in school improvement. Further, American demographic shifts should sober all of us as to the work that must be done in America. Every year, minorities comprise a greater percentage of our total workforce, yet the racial achievement gap (and socioeconomic achievement gap) in American education remains unacceptably large. We cannot be two nations — one with access to high quality schools and another with failing schools and limited options.

There is, however, tremendous hope in America for change. David Brooks’ opinion piece in last Thursday’s New York Times clearly articulates the potential of education reform (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/opinion/08brooks.html). Schools in Harlem, Newark and numerous other cities are succeeding in replicating models that are erasing the education gap evident along both racial and socioeconomic lines. In fact, the highest performing public school in all of Essex County, New Jersey –- a county that has both pockets of poverty and great affluence — is a Newark charter school with a student population that is nearly entirely minority and with a significant percentage near or below the poverty line.

In America now, I can confidently say that it is no longer a question of CAN we educate all of our children at equal and high levels –- it is a question of WILL we.

This is not a philosophical debate. I have no loyalty to charter schools, traditional public schools, magnet schools, small school models, publicly funded scholarships (vouchers) or private schools. I have loyalty to results. The important question should not be one of philosophy or political perspective, it should be: What is working to empower poor and minority children to have the same educational opportunities in America as those who are more affluent? We should embrace those successful school models, learn from them, infuse that understanding into all of our reform efforts and no longer tolerate any institution that fails to live up to our common community standards of excellence.

In Newark, there are many models of success and we are aggressively working to replicate and expand them. Last year, Newark was selected as one of three cities for a huge investment in our charter schools. The goal is to make our entire charter school sector in Newark high quality in accordance with the highest and most uncompromising standards and outcomes and work to expand those schools so more Newark youth can have high quality choice. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/fund_created_to_support_newark.html.

We have recently begun a small school initiative for our high school students who are at risk of dropping out. http://www.ahsi.org/2009/01/newark-mayor-superintendent-launch-alternative-high-school-partnership/  Further, among other things, our new superintendent is looking to expand our magnet schools of excellence which have long waiting lists and completely reorganize our persistently failing schools.

Here in Newark, there is much work to do and we face many challenges. As Mayor of this great city, I want everyone to understand that, beyond continuing the dramatic reduction in violent crime, the fight to realize our educational dreams for our children is the most important work of Newark.

More than this, the most important work in our nation is the fight in cities all across America to establish a United States education system of the highest standards and achievement to finally secure our nation’s ambitions. K-12 education is the front line of the fight for the American dream –- our elected officials, policy makers, educators, administrators, parents and students are engaged in the last great struggle to help our nation achieve herself – we all must join in this struggle for the outcome of this fight will determine our common destiny. If we fail, America fails.

Let us take up the cause of America again, like those who signed our original declaration, and the many more unnamed heroes who bled to push, pull, drag and lift our nation closer to its sacred ideals. Let us all take up the cause of educational justice –- it is the cause of American justice.

As our Declaration of Independence concludes, “With a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor”.

We graduated another class of seniors from our senior citizen police academy on Friday — I love this program! The seniors take a course in policing that reflects the actual police academy — they learn about the Newark Police Department from the inside.  This level of understanding and partnership is so constructive in many ways — although I think the most enjoyable day for them is when they get to go to the firing range and demonstrate their marksmanship.

I spoke at Friday’s graduation to thank them and inspire them in our new deeper partnership.

Our seniors have seen so many challenges — they have seen a world war (in some cases, two), a depression, bigotry and segregation and prevailed through it all. They have literally and figuratively built the bridges and roads upon which my generation now walks. They are the great generation – and this group profoundly stated at their graduation, “God hasn’t finished with me yet!”.

We are pushing this year to cut the total number of shootings in our City in half since my administration began in July 2006. I believe we will do it but our accomplishment won’t simply be a result of our great new police director or even easily summarized by the incredible work of our dedicated officers. The story of our crime reduction is both one of phenomenal policing and incredible community involvement on all levels.

Yesterday, I was proud to welcome the even deeper commitment of a truly committed group of seniors in our City.

My pastor, Dr. Rev. David Jefferson, held a small town hall meeting in our church.  My hope was to meet with residents and discuss what was going on in the City, to hear their concerns and ideas and to share with them what I thought were our current challenges and how I thought we would meet them.

It turned out to be an even better forum than I imagined.  Rev. Jefferson solicited questions from people in advance, had them on cards and acted as a moderator.  After I opened up the dialogue, he asked question after question and then allowed more from the audience.  It was such a good forum that we all decided to do it more frequently and to hopefully televise them to allow more people to benefit from the exchange.

I came away with one powerful thought (and an assignment for my team):  so many of the people were not aware of many of the services, programs and opportunities that the City has created for them.  We publicize them in many ways — from our website, to mailings, to press conferences, but we are clearly still not doing enough to make the public aware of critical opportunities and many of the great successes our City is achieving.  My team and I will have to brainstorm on ways to get more information into the hands of residents and find ways to challenge residents to better avail themselves of some of the avenues to information that already exist.

The worst kind of poverty is lack of knowledge.  Information is indeed power and in the information age, our City and residents must become masters of empowerment.

My schedule on March 26 was full — a long day with events ranging from visits to senior medical facilities in the morning to a  talk about government accountability at Rutgers in the evening.  I ended the day at one of our West Ward political organizing meetings – it started at 8 pm.  I was again impressed and humbled.  On a rainy night, well over 100 people of all ages turned out for a regular meeting to discuss upcoming elections and important issues facing our City.  These are all people dedicated to being a part of the change –- people dedicated to controlling the destiny of their City in the most positive ways.  This is what is so often missing from our common consciousness –- an understanding that our nation has grown strong over more than two centuries because of a powerful sense of collective struggle and collective destiny; that every generation has had ordinary people who were willing to do extraordinary things –- things not asked or expected of them – in order to further for our common good.  As people asked me questions, made statements and volunteered for work, I left my last meeting of a long day reenergized and inspired.

I attended my first Irish celebration at the North Ward Center today – the organizational home of Steve Adubato, who is unabashedly Italian (complete with a picture of Machiavelli on the mantel in his office).  In so many ways, Steve Adubato is a caricature of what one might imagine a tough urban Italian machine boss to be.  I could write a book focusing solely on my interactions with him – some of them so over the top that they strain credulity and perhaps necessitate the use of language (quotes directly from Steve) not appropriate for the ears of the faint.

But anyone who knows Big Steve, and has endured Big Steve, and has even suffered Big Steve, must agree with two things;  First, whether he is a Jedi Master or a Dark Sith Lord is up for debate, but the truth is that few people play the game better than him.

Second, Big Steve has built an institution that speaks far louder than even his brash thunderous persona (a persona often with a healthy dose of pomposity).  One powerful example is that the highest performing public school in all of Essex County – from wealthy suburbs to struggling cities – is the Robert Treat Academy, the charter school he started and still (though unofficially) leads.  I have extreme reverence for this school’s (and other of the North Ward Center’s organizations) ability to empower children, send them to college, break cycles poverty and enrich the lives of the people they touch.  Whatever you want to say about Big Steve (and trust me there have been times where I had a lot to say), his school and some of the other organizations he founded, will be one of the greatest Newark legacies any Newarker has left this century.

So the Big Steve debate will continue.  Does his angelic legacy justify the political carnage he left behind? Does political success necessitate the destruction and devastation of other people, organizations and political teams?  And can it be that one man knows an ethnic slur for every single ethnicity on the globe?

That all said, Big Steve and I are now allies – a story in and of itself worthy of an entire chapter in a book. No matter what you think of Steve, being around him, particularly for a young political activist, yields a whole lot of lessons (some of what to do and some what you should never ever attempt in your entire life).

So now, as a result of our strengthened ties, I was invited to my first Irish celebration at the North Ward Center.

I was told I would present the Irishman of the Year award to none other than my police director Garry McCarthy — an award well earned and I was honored to do so.  Garry is leading a tremendous team of police officers who have succeeded in reducing shootings and murders in Newark approximately 40% for the last two years (and this year is shaping up to continue the trend of reductions).

I was ready with an introduction for Garry that I thought befitting the event.  But,  upon arrival, I saw the challenge — this was a roast!

So, there I was, the jokes were flowing — and I soon realized that, not only was I expected to speak, but I was also expected to be funny.  There is nothing more dangerous to a politician’s career than spontaneous attempts at humor (take President Obama’s recent gaffe on the Tonight Show).

As speaker after speaker went up, most of them very intelligently with note cards with well thought out jokes, I began racking my mind for anything that sounded remotely funny. . . . .

I spouted something about Steve playing so many sides of any political contest that he should be called the Octo-Don.  And that he has such a great knack for getting people to trust him and give him money that he is Newark’s Bernie Madoff. . . . and then I made an attempt at circumcision humor.  All in all, not one of my finer moments — thank goodness there were no cameras and no YouTube – just a room full of some of New Jersey’s most powerful and influential.  Steve Adubato got me again –- some alliance.

I was asked the following question for a magazine today and I quickly wrote this response – thought I would share it. 

Q: What is the single most important mindset that people must possess over the next 3-5 years for them to be competitive in a global market?

We must have vision.  We must expand our moral imagination as to what is possible.  Even in difficult times, we must bring our creativity, innovation, persistence and hard work to task.  If we see things as they are, that is how they will be; but if we can expand our vision and see what is possible and then dedicate ourselves to that end, then extraordinary things can happen now and over the next 3-5 years.

We cannot sugarcoat our current challenges – they are real, sobering and having a terrible impact on so many of our families and communities.  But this is not a time to relent in the face of our crisis; it is not a time to lie down.  It is time to further evidence those values that have enabled our nation to thrive over the past two centuries.

Our mindset is the place we must begin – it is the only inhibitor of what we can accomplish.  We are showing that here in Newark today.  For far too long, people gave up on our City and judged it harshly even when they had never visited.  But in Newark, so many people kept seeing the truth – even amidst challenging circumstances, people saw the beauty, possibility and the change that would come.

Great people have great dreams, great visions, great hopes and are willing to do great things to make real on life possibilities – and when great people join together, extraordinary things happen.

In Newark, we are in the midst of the biggest parks expansion in over a century.  People said this couldn’t be done, our government didn’t have the money, people wouldn’t appreciate the parks that we built…so much negativity.  But great leaders and people came together from our community and we found a way.

For the past two years, Newark has led (and continues to lead) the nation in the reduction of shootings and murders – a 40% reduction.  Even before I was sworn into office, I was told that such a dramatic reduction was not possible.  The reasons were endless:

“There is a global economic shift.”

“You don’t control the inflow of weapons into your city.”

“The whole criminal justice system is broken – you can’t possibly change it as mayor.”

“These problems took years and years to build up; it will take years and years to begin to solve them.”

We didn’t listen to those with limited vision; instead we brought together larger groups of visionary, determined, dedicated people and began to shake things up. Collectively, we expanded the vision of others and we are now changing the larger community’s vision of Newark as a whole.

Our nation is in urgent need of people who have not resigned themselves to problems, who do not tolerate mediocrity or failure, who have an expanded moral imagination in the face of limited moral failure.  This mindset that accepts our world as it is in truth – a place of infinite possibilities – is what is important – not just to be competitive in a global market but to ensure that our globe better reflects the strength, dignity, and greatness of the people that inhabit it.

Mayor Booker and Mayor Fenty Joint Fundraiser at Local 16 in Washington, DC on March 11, 2009.

Wednesday was a very long day but a very good day.

I had a series of meetings around Washington D.C.  Among them, my team and I met with philanthropists involved with some outstanding education programs that could really make a difference in Newark, people working on urban economic policy and a great guy who is helping us with an innovative program to get free prescription drugs to the uninsured in Newark.

I must say that one of the best parts of the day was our visit to the White House.  I continue to be impressed with the Obama team and have increasing faith in what they will accomplish in partnership with towns, cities and people around our country.

In the evening, I had a great event with Adrian Fenty.  He is doing a great job as mayor of  Washington D.C. and I truly value our friendship.  I am proud of how so many mayors share ideas, experiences and encouragement.  Mayor Fenty and I took it a step further and shared a fundraiser.   Eric Broyles had the idea and he, together with a phenomenal host committee, pulled together a really successful (and fun) event.

We are definitely all in this together.  We may live or work in different cities but we are fighting in a common cause.  We may have unique and particular challenges but we have interwoven and interconnected destinies.  The challenges we face in this nation may be greater than me but when I stand with my brothers and sisters there is no problem greater than our collective power.  E pluribus unum!

Let us rise together or fall apart.

All right, my blogging hiatus is officially over.

I just took a quick trip to Los Angeles and it was truly fruitful. The great thing about our country is that thousands of miles can separate people but there is a growing understanding of our interconnectedness – that we are all in this together. I met a host of people who are working to create social justice, economic justice and working to empower our nation to live up to its fullest potential. I was grateful to find a lot of people who wanted to connect with me and, not only hear about what we are doing, but find ways to contribute to our progress. One of my meetings already looks like it could yield great help for us in constructing more housing options for low income families and in expanding our work on green building – more on this later I hope. This was probably my busiest trip ever in Los Angeles with very little free time to visit with my family there (my grandparents raised my mother, aunt and uncle here and many of my cousins still live in Los Angeles).

While in LA, I appeared on The Bill Maher show which was fun. Getting to know Bill off camera has been a real gift. He truly is a passionate person who, I believe, profoundly loves this country. Much of his humor, I think, reflects his frustration about what is not happening in our nation — I am pretty confident that his goal with the show is to not only entertain, but to inform, incite, and motivate people to act. He and I have much we agree on but also have definite differences of opinion – but I love to engage people who are not only smart but also who share broader core values that I think are critical to advancing our country.

Bill cares, he is sincerely interested in making a difference and I’m grateful for his Jersey roots and desire to see Newark succeed. And with the feedback from my appearance on the show, with the people who have reached out to help as a result of my appearance, and with some of the great people I met that night backstage, I can say for sure that he has already made a positive difference in our efforts in Newark.

And after California, another trip.

I am in Washington, DC right now. Later this morning, I head to the White House to meet with some Administration leadership to discuss the urban agenda and Newark. I will meet with other leaders while in DC as well as some people in the philanthropy sphere.

In the evening, I join my friend and fellow Mayor Adrian Fenty for our joint fundraiser. Loved what one newspaper down here wrote about the event, “They’re bald, they’re black and they are FABULOUS”.

It should be a good event. I am proud of the work Mayor Fenty is doing. Although I moved to New Jersey when I was two months old, I was born in DC and feel a special connection to DC. I am glad it has a great leader and I think our event will be a lot of fun.

More soon!

Over the past several months, the economic news for our nation has been sobering at best. Our nation’s economy is certainly in its worst state in my lifetime (and I hear this from so many).  It is in this context that I am particularly proud of the many things that Newark is doing to empower people here locally. Newark, like all American towns and cities, is going to face painful realities - I see the raw reality of a nation in recession everyday. Yet, the last two weeks have been full of encouraging news for Newark - happenings that stand in direct contrast to the growing bad news in our nation. My confidence is expanding that we will meet this economic downturn with innovation, courage, compassion, strong ideas and substantive help for our residents. Here is just a quick snapshot of the past two weeks.

Our foreclosure prevention task force continues to work to keep people in their homes. The ongoing outreach campaign to homeowners and renters affected by foreclosure is making more people aware of their rights, workout opportunities with lenders and other assistance available to them. Despite the numbers of people affected by this crisis, Newark’s coalition is helping many remain in their homes.

There was a lot of attention this week about my Administration’s conversations with Hunts Point Market and our efforts to attract their business to Newark.  There are talks - but, frankly, my team and I are having talks with companies all over the country.  But beyond talking, we have begun to have success in moving companies to Newark at an increasing pace - our efforts our paying off.  For example, last week we celebrated the opening of Mimeo.com here in our city - this is a big win as we successfully moved a cutting edge, rapidly growing company to our city that will result in the additon of hundreds of well-paying jobs.  It is a success story and testimony to the fact that Newark is now a powerfully competitive location for business. I was so impressed by the company’s leadership – a group of knowledgeable and committed people who are building a globally competitive firm.  I was particularly grateful when they told me that they had considered locating in Philadelphia but that Newark’s team was persistent and made it clear that, not only was Newark the better choice,  but that our leadership was far more customer friendly.

On December 4, the City joined Youth Build Newark and Corinthian Housing Development Corp. in the groundbreaking for an innovative project to prevent at-risk youth from falling into homelessness.  Together, we are constructing a facility on South Orange Avenue that will serve up to 20 youth and help them learn construction trades, get their GEDs and transition into independent living.  This is another example of the innovative housing models that has enabled us to more than double the production of affordable housing for our residents over the past two years and help many gain a strong foothold into self-sufficiency.

The demands on food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters are growing in Newark (as they are nationwide).  I am encouraged as we have seen some people step up and be even more generous during these difficult times. Last Sunday, we kicked off our Brighter Holiday campaign at the Boys and Girls Club on Avon Avenue.  It was so heartwarming to see dozens and dozens of people volunteer to hand out toys and warm clothes to over 3,000 children and their families. I am grateful to the Ruth Bass Foundation for another year of incredibly generous support in making this event possible - they not only contribute financially but come with a large contingent of volunteers to help staff the event. I am also so grateful for the herculean help this year from Roger Shiffman and his toy company, Zizzle, for their record-setting donations and the presence of his family at the event.

On December 10, we had a groundbreaking for a “Black Wall Street” project on South 9^th Street. These Newarkers are developing affordable and workforce housing for our residents. It is a triple win for our City: local minority developers creating wealth,  construction jobs for our residents and affordable home ownership and affordable rental housing for more residents.

On December 10, we launched another business on Halsey Street. After the Newark Art Supply store opened a phenomenal café in their store (THE BEST CUPCAKES!), another local minority business person opened up The Coffee Cave at 45 Halsey Street. This shop (with great coffee and food) opened up in a unique partnership among private philanthropy, Rutgers Business School, The Profeta Urban Investment Foundation (a foundation focused on launching small businesses in our City) and other local leaders.  This is another huge win for Newark in a struggling economy – thank you, John Murray, the phenomenal entrepreneur who is now at the helm of this new business. Halsey Street is getting HOT.

On December 10, we had our Small Business Training and Contractor Training Program graduation. I am proud of what Brick City Development Corporation is doing under the leadership of Joe Ritchie and Darryl Godfrey. I was so excited to see a host of local entrepreneurs who completed our program which offers them an array of classes on everything from payroll management to accounting and marketing. The program is also an introduction to other BCDC programs that include a small business loan program for local entrepreneurs and a bonding assistance program for local contractors who want to bid on government business.  Some of the graduates were Newarkers that I have gotten to know over the past few years - it was great to see them jumping into this program as they start their businesses or work to take them to the next level.

Finally, on December 11,  Anthony Santiago was a guest on my WBGO radio show. Anthony is someone I have had the privilege to know for several years - he is now the COO of Newark Now and responsible for their financial empowerment programs. This week’s show focused on how Newarkers can get more resources into their pockets.  I hope people go to WBGO’s website and download the show (at least the first 2 segments) as there is a lot of valuable information. Two  of the incredible programs we discussed were the new financial empowerment center and the new IDA program. The financial empowerment center, located on Bloomfield Avenue, is a one-stop shop where individuals and families can get a full financial assessment and find out about programs and opportunities that are available for them to get more money in their pockets, help with energy bills, job assistance and similar programs.  One of the programs that is offered (and is truly amazing) is the IDA program (individual development accounts). People can now get FREE money through a matching grant if they begin regular savings towards a home, college degree or launch of a business.  It is a great program - and I am so proud that we now have a pool of funds to match people’s savings if they are saving towards something that will further empower their lives.

These are difficult financial times – there is no way to candy coat it.  We, as a nation and a City, must pull together and do extraordinary things to deal with this extraordinary crisis. I know Newark will endure this challenge. We all hope that federal and state leadership will assist local communities and individuals but, in Newark, with partners near and far, we are doing our best to help ourselves. By pulling together, I know we can meet these challenges and possibly even distinguish ourselves through our labors, innovations and successes.

In the darkest of times, may we discover the brightness of our light.