Cory Booker ...'s Mom

Good day everyone!  I hope you're having one.

If you haven't heard of Newark's champion mayor, google him and read some articles.  Then YouTube him and watch some of the speeches he's made as an activist, a councilman and as the mayor of what used to be one of country's most dangerous and dismal cities.

My post isn't about him though, but about his mother.

While reading the piece titled "Local Hero: Cory Booker", Booker offers the writer, and us as readers an intimate look into the inspirations who have helped him along the many paths life has laid in front of him.  Booker could currently be making 6 figures as a hot shot lawyer, instead he began his career as Newark councilman living in an apartment with no heat or hot water.  He did this under his own volition.  Now being a councilman may not be the most glorious positions in a city office, but, he certainly didn't have to live in such "tough" conditions.  But he did, and I'd like to think that he did so knowing that to help his adopted city  he needed to see what the city could be from the gutter, not from the proverbial "ivory tower."  We can make an educated inference that he heard a call to action.  I think his mom had a lot to do with this.  In the article he recalls a conversation he had with his mother after he graduated from law school:

At the same time, Booker recalls a conversation he had with his mother when he was in law school trying to figure out what to do next. “My mom said, 'You have this obligation to live a fearless life. You should try to push the limits of what’s possible, because you were given so much, that’s what your obligation is.' So I guess my question for my future is: Am I answering to what I believe is my personal calling? Am I telling my truth in the decisions I make with my career?” 

Now I know many of us are huge fans of Booker.  He's a modern day Batman, or maybe more appropriately he's an evolved version of Christopher Nolan's depiction of Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight film.  He's super and a hero, who seems to be "better" than politics.  Yes he's awesome, but I wonder where he would be had he not have his mom (a little more "everyday" than Booker) whisper those words of wisdom into his ear.  Be fearless, push the limits of what's possible.  He certainly has done that.  But maybe he has his mother to thank for not sliding down the slippery slope of personal mediocrity. 

Thanks Mama Booker!  

And to all of you... I hope you can do whatever you can to live fearless and to push whatever limits you see before you.  

Now Listening to:  

Kid Cudi ft. Cee Lo Green - Scott Mescudi vs. The World