“Brick City”
Booker’s political fortunes were made in the concrete jungle of Newark, NJ. In fact, the city is portrayed more as a kind of fairytale location where average people go to magically transform into something special. It’s not exactly the Emerald City, but differs primarily as a result of construction material:
“In the 1950s and ’60s, hundreds of public housing buildings sprang up in Newark—some tall, some sprawling and low—and the city was transformed. The skyline of the city’s Central Ward was suddenly full of brick complexes, acres and acres of them punching into the sky, giving Newark a nickname that would last: `Brick City.’”
Hope
Hope is a big word for Democrat politicians. Bill Clinton was the man from Hope. Barack Obama, of course, was literally the poster boy for hope. And Cory Booker uses imagery to redefine hope into something different than its Pollyanna reputation:
“Hope confronts. It does not ignore pain, agony, or injustice. It is not a saccharine optimism that refuses to see, face, or grapple with the wretchedness of reality. You can’t have hope without despair, because hope is a response. Hope is the active conviction that despair will never have the last word.”
Booker the Showboater
One of the characteristics defining him as a politician that Booker can’t quite seem to shake is a reputation for showboating. The most infamous example of this as of the summer of 2020 was probably what has come to be known as his “I am Spartacus” moment. That was nothing compared to an incident he describes in the book which reads more like an “I’m Batman” moment:
“Angry and full of adrenaline, I looked at the man. He was probably in his late fifties. He looked even more frail up close, and seemed much less of a threat now that he was in custody. He had the appearance of someone mentally unstable or addicted to drugs…People were watching us. With my last bit of rapidly diminishing bravado, I exclaimed, `Not in our city! Not anymore!’ People applauded.”
Housing
Booker will forever be linked to the issue of housing discrimination and it is not by accident this issue became so important to his political fortune. Its origin is personal. A horrifying story about discrimination against his parents involving their attorney named Marty and a crooked real estate agent who kept a Doberman in his office is made palpable through imagery:
“At this point, the real estate agent stood up and punched Marty in the face, then grabbed his paperwork, trying to yank it away and destroy the evidence. The agent called the dog’s name, yelling at the dog to `Get ’em! Get ’em!' My father turned toward the dog as it ran at Marty and managed to corral it. He held the dog back as Marty and the real estate agent fought. Things slid off desks, a table and chairs were upended, and Marty was shoved against a window, breaking it.”
