New York, By: Dr. Walid ElNaggar bemyfreiend@gmail.co
The Columbia’s master alumnus (in International Affairs), Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm, who started his career in politics from the center of problems, with the destitute, as a volunteer in NGOs both inside and outside the US, understands how the formula of the penurious, the minorities, and injustice, can simply boost the society if wisely handled; rather than destroying it!
The more you read, and fortunately meet with de Blasio, the more you practically recognize a self-made man; a man from the old good days, where values and morals have the priority! A man who truthfully defends interests of people. A matter that was based on its own foundation: suffering and struggle for justice, both personally and professionally! Often, creativity gets out of the womb of suffering!
Such a creativity, honest feelings toward all people, and sincere efforts are traits, which qualified de Blasio to hold the tri-state region’s highest-ranking HUD (United States Department of Housing and Urban Development) official, during the administration of President Bill Clinton. His success with Hillary Clinton US Senate bid, as her campaign’s manager, encouraged him to run as the NYC Council’s 39th district of Brooklyn.
Amazingly, the man of people/“populist”- de Blasio, unprecedentedly swept his peers in three consecutive terms (2001-2009) as NYC Council’s 39th district of Brooklyn! He won the elections by 32{2c289d7b2659ab6207670dd8e4d34cd2c245bfab6e6da19450a4f50a7bbfcf10}, 72{2c289d7b2659ab6207670dd8e4d34cd2c245bfab6e6da19450a4f50a7bbfcf10}, and 83 respectively for the three terms! De Blasio, as noticed, had eminent efforts accompanied by various worthy results in the fields of environment protection, affordable housing, developing education and welfare, and introducing technology to the government. De Blasio has been busy with equality and narrowing down social gabs, as portrayed in the famous “A Tale of Two Stories”!
Astonishingly, with the same level of magic and energy, de Blasio swept his stubborn famous peers in all the stages of the elections to competently and reliably hit the position of NYC Public Advocate (2010–2013)!
After a series of serious actions, incidents, struggles and nonfortuitousness, de Blasio knocked down his peer by 72.2{2c289d7b2659ab6207670dd8e4d34cd2c245bfab6e6da19450a4f50a7bbfcf10} votes, to confidently earn the position of NYC mayor, in 2014, to become the 109th and the present mayor of New York City. Thus, de Blasio became finally and again the first NYC mayor from the Democratic wing, succeeding David Dinkins (1990-1993).
De Blasio, who started his career in New York City Department of Juvenile Justice in 1984, has been calling for “Justice for All”! De Blasio, who volunteered in 1988 to distribute food and medicine for the needy in the underdeveloped Nicaragua (the largest country in Central American), feels meaning of “injustice”, as he saw it by his eyes and lived it through real feelings! This is why when de Blasio, specifically, talks about “Justice For All”, he means literally each and every letter, as well as the burden, fear and suffering hidden under this logo!
You will find de Blasio among people all the time! If we consider, students, as somehow a minority, we will find him with students from kindergarten to high school! Similarly, if we consider MTA riders as another set of minorities in one sense, we again find de Blasio among the crowd! Once again, de Blasio squeezes among the real ethnic communities: the Muslims, the Spanish, the Russians, the Blacks, and the Chinese! The biggest ethnic community, in my view, is the Muslims; including all races, colors, ethnicities, and backgrounds, across NYC, and the US! De Blasio was brave enough to stand in the middle of the crowd and in front of the media to announce his protection to the Muslims, to the extent that he raised the logo “I am Muslim too”- a stance that never happened before, neither coexisted with a similar!
Muslims say they enjoy! They enjoy their relation with de Blasio administration. They enjoy practicing their rituals and occasions in the NYC, under the leadership of de Blasio. For example, they pray “Eid” (feast) twice a year in the public gardens, under heavy security! Also, they pray during Ramadan (holy month), in their mosques, under heavy security! The same happens during Friday prays, all the year!
Moreover, de Blasio visits Muslims during their feast pray! Similarly, de Blasio recognized Muslim holidays in the school system!
The importance of the Muslim community basically stems from the fact that it includes Arabs from twenty-two Arabic countries, forming the middle east, plus Turkey, Pakistan, other adjacent countries in this area, plus Africa, Europe, regions and individuals from various parts in the world including the US!
Nothing is quite as potent as dealing with people of various ideologies! However, de Blasio- the brave “populist”, as a man of action, usually builds bridges of communication, cooperation and trust all the time with all clusters in the society; a matter that reflects his respect to the society, as well as his shrewdness!
Another important sign that reflects truthfulness of de Blasio’s logo “Justice For All”, which basically is the one of the pillars of the US constitution which states: “Freedom and Justice For All”, is the diversity of his staff members in his office, who are of different races, and ethnicities. This is how NYC shows its proudness of its diversity. A society that is rich by its variety.
Well, the more you read about that brave “Populist”, you never finish! Thus, regardless whether we agree or some disagree on some of de Blasio’s strategies, we all have to confess the reality that de Blasio’s history is full of struggles, battles, challenges, work, and activities, which are all crowned by success and remarkable achievements. Objectively speaking, without bias at any level to the brave “populist”, we need to realize that “actions speak louder!” Thus, those who try hard to criticize de Blasio for one action or a policy, they do not have all the details! They do not know the real concomitant circumstances that pushed him to adopt a stance or another! Finally, they cannot offer what de Blasio has achieved successfully?! Yes, he may be perfectionist; yet not perfect!
When one thinks to run against a character like the brave “populist”, one really needs to worry about the history he/she will present to the public! The achievements de Blasio has left, in all the positions he assumed since he was firstly elected, make the situation more tangled in front of other nominees, especially when it comes to the feelings and emotions people have for de Blasio! De Blasio practically works with people hand-in-hand and shoulder-in-shoulder; de Blasio calls for one united happy healthy society, free from any form of injustice or inequality. De Blasio, previously experienced all forms of injustice, calls for what we dream of forgiveness, equality, and hard-working to flourish the NYC economy. Practically, de Blasio proved to share his dharma with the community! In other words, de Blasio was clever to turn pain into purpose to achieve!
Well, with that said as a list of mere facts and realities, we recognize that de Blasio is a class-A politician, with whom we can agree and disagree without any fear or consequences; de Blasio knows how to enclose opponents and make them friends! The NYC community has touched many achievements of de Blasio, who is still working on both enhancing results and accomplishing more targets. As shared by the society, De Blasio is aiming for prosperity, welfare, and justice for all. Yet, we the society should take part in achieving such goals, through positive actions with the mayor and his officials.
However, the question that proposes itself is whether the “populist” will choose to continue his list of achievements! The following point is how de Blasio will pursue the extension of his mayoral period! However, the real concern here is actually the role the society would play with the “populist”! Based on the above, it seems that de Blasio, if decided, can successfully run for another two terms at least, as he did as a city council. It also seems that de Blasio is clever enough to cope with the game, to change any criticism or a delinquency to a potential advantage, during his next term(s).