RESOURCES
The Candidates
Cory Booker - Video & Articles
The New Yorker: The City: 2012
Cory Booker, now the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, talks with David Remnick about politics and change in a troubled city. From "2012: Stories from the Near Future," the 2007 New Yorker Conference. (May 7, 2007)
Salon.com: A star's setback
He was supposed to be the dreamboat savior of a troubled New Jersey city. Then he lost. (May 15, 2002) (Note: You'll have to click on the free day-pass link and watch the advertisement in order to view this article.)
The Huffington Post: Cory Booker on Brick Towers
Commentator Arianna Huffington recently launched this website, which collects blog entries from hundreds of personalities from the entertainment and political worlds. Cory Booker was asked to contribute and wrote about how he came to live in Brick Towers, the public housing project in Newark where he still resides. (May 10, 2005)
New York Magazine: The New Natural
This profile of Cory Booker details his rise as a promising young politician and his campaign for mayor of Newark. (April 2002)
The Newark Star-Ledger: A Man on a Mission: Cory Booker
As Cory Booker geared up to run against Sharpe James, Newark's The Star-Ledger newspaper ran a biographical piece about him and his motivations for running. (October 3, 2000)
Mayor Sharpe James - Articles
Government Technology Magazine: Mayor Sharpe James: Pulling the Chute on Newark's Decline
This interview with James focuses on the opening of the $250 million, 2,500-seat New Jersey Performing Arts Center and what it means for Newark. (May 1998)
Official Websites
Newark Now
An organization whose mission is "to equip and empower Newark residents with the tools and resources needed to transform their communities through neighborhood-based associations and tenant organizations." Newark Now was founded by Cory Booker.
Meet the Mayor: Sharpe James
In addition to this page about the political of Mayor Sharpe James, Newark's city web site includes resources for residents and those curious about the city.
The New Generation
Salon.com: Rise of the new black leaders
Reporter Chris Thompson writes about a new generation of black politicians striving to put racial patronage and civic corruption behind it, and unite an increasingly diverse nation. (December 12, 2005)
Salon.com: Keeping the new black candidate down
Political correspondent Jake Tapper writes about what often happens to young black challengers as they hit the campaign trail against civil rights era incumbents. (June 18, 2002) (Note: You'll have to click on the free day-pass link and watch the advertisement in order to view this article.)
Salon.com: Hip-hop nation
A spokesman for the new generation of African Americans says hip-hop can ignite a fresh wave of black activism -- but first the civil rights veterans have to get out of the way. (July 10, 2002)
Washington Monthly: The Great Black Hope: What's Riding on Barack Obama?
Cory Booker has often been compared to Barack Obama, a rising political star who was recently elected to the United States Senate. This piece compares the parallel careers of the two young, black, and ambitious politicians.
Alternet: Big Dreams, Big Hopes
Read the transcript of a commencement address delivered by Senator Barack Obama at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois on Saturday, June 4, where he was awarded an honorary degree in recognition of his accomplishments in public service. (June 30, 2005)
The American Prospect: The Next Generation
This article discusses the political and social origins of the new generation of black political leaders, including Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr., and Cory Booker.
Time magazine: Harold Ford Jr. Reaches for the Stars
Harold Ford Jr., a congressman from Tennessee, is often mentioned in the same breath as Barack Obama and Cory Booker. Read here about his failed bid for House Minority Leader in 2002 and his bright political future.
Also on PBS and NPR
PBS.org Websites
POV: Chisholm '72
In 1968, Shirley Chisholm becomes the first black woman elected to Congress. In 1972, she becomes the first black woman to run for president. Shunned by the political establishment, she's supported by a motley crew of blacks, feminists, and young voters. Their campaign-trail adventures are frenzied, fierce, and fundamentally right on!
NewsHour with Jim Lehrer: Front Line Views
This is a transcript of an interview in which Ray Suarez talks about the impact terrorism and a weakening economy have on American cities with four mayors, including Sharpe James of Newark. (December 7, 2001)
Thirteen.org: A Walk through Newark
Award-winning documentary maker David Hartman and historian Barry Lewis journey across the Hudson to explore the culture, history, and people of New Jersey's largest city. From one of the country's oldest museums to a local delicatessen, get to know a bit about the colorful neighborhoods and vibrant past of Newark.
The First Measured Century: Black Elected Officials
A three-hour PBS program that documents the history of the 20th Century in America by looking at statistics like population growth, disease rates, and other social indicators. In this section the program discusses the conditions leading up to the rise of a new generation of elected black officials.
Newshour with Jim Lehrer: Essay: Acting White
Essayist Clarence Page talks about the ramifications of using the term "acting white" and about taking personal responsibility. (September 27, 2004)
Newshour with Jim Lehrer: Tough Talk
Comedian Bill Cosby created controversy recently with pointed public criticism of parenting practices in certain African-American communities. Ray Suarez discusses Cosby's controversial comments with Dr. Alvin Poussaint, a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School, and Ta-Nehisi Coates, a writer for the Village Voice. (July 15, 2004)
American Experience: Reconstruction: The Second Civil War
During the Reconstruction that followed the Civil War, African Americans were elected to government posts, but as the white South grew disenchanted with this new state of affairs, they devised a host of laws and regulations that effectively stripped blacks of the right to vote. This timeline details the events of the Reconstruction that led to black Americans' loss of suffrage.
NPR Stories
Hardboiled New Jersey Politics: Street Fight
Steve Inskeep discusses Marshall Curry's Street Fight. (July 2005)
The Tavis Smiley Show: Two Generations: The Newark Mayoral Election
In two separate interviews, Tavis Smiley speaks to the candidates running for mayor of Newark, New Jersey, in tomorrow's election. In the first interview, Smiley speaks to the challenger, 33-year-old city councilman Cory Booker, about what he sees as new era of black leadership. In the second conversation, Smiley talks to incumbent Mayor Sharpe James about his achievements in Newark and why he feels he's still the right man to run city hall.
All Things Considered: Newark Mayor's Race
David Cruz of member station WBGO has a report on this year's bruising Newark, N.J. mayoral race. Incumbent Sharpe James is running neck and neck with challenger Cory Booker, his first serious opponent in almost 16 years as mayor. (May 11, 2002)
Political Junkie: African-American Women in Congress
Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman elected to Congress died earlier this year and the political junkie takes a look back at those who followed in her footsteps to D.C. (January 10, 2005)
The Tavis Smiley Show: Candidates of Color: Marion Barry
Continuing a series on candidates of color in regional races, NPR's Tavis Smiley turns to Washington, D.C., and a bit of deja vu. Former mayor Marion Barry returns to city politics as a city councilman. Barry talks about his return, his criticism of the financing of a new baseball stadium, and the struggles to help the poorest area of the District of Columbia. (October 14, 2004)
The Tavis Smiley Show: Black Elected Officials and the Political Glass Ceiling
Have male African-American elected officials reached a glass ceiling? A report conducted by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies looks at the decline of black male elected officials, while their female African-American counterparts are increasing in number. NPR's Tavis Smiley discusses this change of political tide with the center's David Bositis.
Roundtable: Mayors Critique 'Time' Report Card
Two big-city mayors tell Ed Gordon why they question Time magazine's story on the best and worst mayors in the country. Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and Philadelphia Mayor John Street both made the "worst" list. They cite evidence of progress in their respective cities, and say Time did not do enough investigative work. (April 21, 2005)