Below is a copy of an email that I have sent to Newark Nj Mayor Corey Booker. I wanted to share it with you and get your take on the matter.
My plea to Newark NJ Mayor Corey Booker
By George Cook www.letstalkhonestly.com
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Mayor Booker
Right now I know you are grieving as you do every time one of your citizens are murdered. I know there is no need to repeat the name of the three young people slain in the Ivy Hill section this past weekend because something tells me you know them all. Something tells me that while you may not remember the names of all 60 people killed this year off hand you know the names when you see them.
That same something tells me you are a good man with the very best of intentions who has been thrown into a cess pool of violence and given only a roll of paper towels to try to clean it up. Something tells me that even with your limited resources you will keep fighting to protect the lives of every man, women , and child in Newark. Those calling for you to resign need to put the political games to rest and stop thinking about bringing you down and help to bring Newark up.
The brave men and women of the Newark Police Department will do their best both we both know there are not enough of them to stop the violence.
The NJ State Police will help, but how much? They already are in other violence plagued cities and can only offer so much help. That lead me to think about something that made me cringe but at the same time made perfect sense.
Mayor Booker maybe it is time to ask Governor Corzine for help from the NJ National Guard. This has been done before in Puerto Rico with good results. Yes, the ACLU and groups like them will cry out but they are not the ones burying their children. Yes criticism will be heaped upon you even by those whom you seek to protect but can it be any worse than it is now?.
I as former military and as a black man know the ramifications of what I propose. As a black man I would probably be stopped and questioned by the same troops I wanted to come there. I understand the negative connotations that it may give about the African American Community and the city of Newark..
I understand the disconcerting visual of a US soldier guarding a corner where once drugs were sold. But I ask you Mayor Booker, What's more disconcerting soldiers on your streets on the bodies of our young on those same streets?
George Cook
www.letstalkhonestly.com
