A member of Daily Kos community is taking his initial step into New York state electoral politics tomorrow. (Bless his heart!) Jeremiah Frei-Pearsonknown to folks here as JeremiahFPwill formally announce his candidacy for New York State Assembly (District 36) at a free concert in Athens Square Park at 6pm tomorrow in Astoria, Queens, New York.
Some reasons you should come out for both the party and the candidate tomorrow after the fold.
I can tell you, I met Jeremiah both on this site and in real life. Oddly, I didn't make the connection immediately (because one meets so many Jeremiahs, right?). I read his diarieson Daily Kos and was impressed by this thoughtful, sensitive but unapologetically progressive voice.
And I also met him in real life here in New York, as we worked on activist efforts to sway last year's Senate vote to bring marriage equality to New York State. In person, he also impressed me as thoughtful, passionate and empathic. He really put himself out there for NY's LGBT community. He and his beautiful soon-to-be wife Karla, made an eloquent and moving case for marriage equality in the video below, which was taped in the venue for tomorrow's party.
Jeremiah's fight for marriage equality is just an extension of an extraordinary sense of empathy I see in him. A telling paragraph from his website's biography:
He attended private schools in Baltimore, but lived on the city's troubled east side—an area wracked by crime, where he saw too many friends end up in jail or dead. The difference between the opportunities available to the kids from his neighborhood and the kids he met in private school has driven him ever since.
Jeremiah attended New York public schools after his family moved to the state. He studied at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs and got the opportunity to intern in Senator Ted Kennedy's office(ah, that explains a lot, doesn't it?). After attending Stanford Law School, he settled in Astoria, Queens in 2003.
Currently Jeremiah works as a public interest lawyer for Children's Rights,representing foster children in class action cases to reform broken foster care systems.Prior to his work with Children's Rights, he worked as an associate at Kaye Scholer LLP, where, in addition to his regular litigation practice, he took on many pro bono cases to secure social security benefits for elderly and disabled people.
So to recap: He's a straight, white guy that has dedicated himself to fighting for orphans, elderly, disabled and the LGBT community. He wants to move from working the judicial side, to working the legislative side.
Now, why a great guy like Jeremiah wants to go to the cesspool known as Albany, NY, I can't imagine. But I do know, when a guy like this steps up and offers to be a part of the solution, we should seize the opportunity to send him before he changes his mind. And he will need a grassroots push. The Democratic machine of New York seems to be favoring another candidate for this seat. But it isn't their seat to bequeath and with September's primary we have the opportunity to tell them so.
I've known Jeremiah the activist for a while. But I got to observe Jeremiah the candidate for the first time recently at a Queens LGBT political club candidate's forum. Nearly a dozen candidates for state offices were there, and even US House Representative Carolyn Maloney. They each got ten minutes or so to make their case and then took questions.
Jeremiah was well-know, and well-liked by the audience for his work as a marriage equality activist. If anyone had pass to phone-in their pitch for support, it was Jeremiah.
But quite the contrary. Jeremiah stepped up and was clearly most thoroughly prepared of the lot. Though it was a safe assumption to make he'd be the odds-on favorite of the night (and he was) he choose to go the extra mile, which impressed me more. He did speak with a charismatic spontaneity, suggesting he may be well suited to politics. But it was also clear he'd given a great deal of thought into what his pitch would be, and what points he wanted to make. He strikes me as in it to help redefine the game in Albany; changing the role of government from one that perpetuates the self-interests of the those who control it, into one that fights for the disenfranchised, the vulnerable, the people who can't afford to pay lobbyists to watch out for their interests.
Tomorrow's event promises to be not only a fun and possibly dazzling party featuring many big names from Broadway, but also a good cause; there will be a local food drive. That's so Jeremiah. From his website:
The concert will feature Broadway Stars and local performers. Performers include: Karla Mosley Frei-Pearsonof "Guiding Light" and "Hi-5", Brent Carter of "Hot Feet" and lead singer of Tower of Power, Erica Dorflerof "Avenue Q", Marva Hicksof "Caroline or Change" and backup singer for Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Lena Horne, N'Kenge Pacurar of "Sondheim On Sondheim," Thom Warren of the "Lion King", and many more!
We'll have free refreshments and lots of fun and games for the kids as well. And, because change must start now, we'll be holding a canned food drive to help the more than 80,000 children in Queens who live in poverty.
Photo: Erica Dorfler at Broadway for Barack fundraiser, via Broadway World.
Directions to Athens Square Park are here.Please RSVP to this Facebook event,post it to your wall, and forward to friends. Join his Facebook Fan page hereto keep updated with the campaign. Or you can contribute to his campaign here.
And of course, you could rec this diary, so word gets out. ;-)