If Gabe Amo, a young African American who won last week’s Democratic primary for Congress, makes it to Washington, it’ll reflect a concept we all embrace – a government that looks like its people.
But beyond that concept, I wondered about the personal impact of his surprise victory – the reaction of those who might now see themselves in Amo.
I began by calling Mitchell Tiah, a young Black man of 30 who shares an ancestry with Amo. Mitchell, who grew up in Providence’s Chad Brown housing project, was born in Liberia, as was Amo’s mom.
A year ago, I’d written about Tiah as a voice in the immigrant community who was excited about Pawtucket’s new soccer stadium.
But on this subject, I was making a cold call. I had no idea if Tiah had paid attention to Gabe Amo’s victory.
It turns out he certainly had.
First, some background.
Tiah lives in East Greenwich with his fiancée and now works for a Boston nonprofit called “Found in Translation” that helps low-income bilingual women become medical interpreters. Tiah’s mother worked three nursing home jobs to support him and five siblings as the sole parent. When I asked why she brought the family from Liberia, he said she saw America as a beacon of hope.
Still, he said, life here can be a struggle, and folks like him sometimes wonder how far their community can rise.
Gabe Amo’s victory was a reminder that with a dream and a work ethic, there are no limits.
“To see someone with a fellow immigrant background like Gabe Amo do the work through the Democratic process we all believe in and come out victorious,” he said, “it really resonates.”
I asked Tiah if Amo’s win hit him emotionally.
It got a laugh. “Come on, man,” he said, “his family is from West Coast Africa – Liberia and Ghana. When I saw his campaign, I saw myself in those shoes, and hopefully my kids one day in those shoes, and my nieces and nephews.”
When you’re interviewing someone this eloquent, the best question to ask is, “Tell me more,” so I did.
“To see this gentleman who walked the same streets as me in Providence,” Tiah said, “whose story resembles my story, and is now a potential congressman, it brings hope on so many levels, about the America we all hoped for when we came to this country.”
Next, I did another cold call, dialing the number for a Providence nonprofit called the Liberian Community Association for Rhode Island.
Winston Gould answered. He’s 61 and co-chairman of the group’s board. He came here at age 29 as a political refugee and has since worked in various jobs, from cable installer to electrician.
Coincidentally – or perhaps not, given the closeness of the community – he got to know Gabe Amo’s family while doing cable work in the Providence liquor store owned by Amo’s father.
He remembers a young Gabe in seventh or eighth grade already talking about a political career.
Flash forward and Gould was back at the dad’s store after Tuesday’s victory.
“I was inviting every Liberian to come,” he recalled, “saying we’re about to go to Congress.”
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Gould’s use of the word “we’re” says everything.
“It makes the whole community feel represented,” he said.
He told me that on primary night, he even got calls from people in Liberia who’d heard Gabe Amo had won – they were following Rhode Island’s CD1 election during Liberia’s early-morning hours.
“It’s amazing,” said Gould. “It makes me feel that America is the land of opportunity, and once you come here, if you behave yourself, stay out of trouble and go to school, you can become anybody.”
Finally, I called Kevin Olasanoye, an impressive Rhode Island achiever who is somewhat under the radar here but shouldn’t be.
Kevin, the son of Nigerian immigrants, went to Classical High School, URI and Roger Williams Law. He worked as a lawyer in Providence City Hall, later ran the state Democratic State Committee in New Jersey and is now the political director of the Washington-based The Collective PAC, which supports Black candidates nationally.
Although the PAC was an early Amo endorser, Olasanoye was skeptical when he first heard Gabe wanted to run.
“I told him he was crazy,” said Olasanoye. “He had a lot to lose. This is a guy who was working in the White House in a prominent role who had never run for office. I wouldn’t say pie in the sky, but it was a long shot.”
Yet Olasanoye said Amo ran a near-perfect campaign, raising $700,000 and winning 33% despite a huge field.
I asked Olasanoye, an African American with similar roots, what Amo’s win meant to him.
“It’s everything,” he told me. “The videos of Gabe’s dad at the victory party – I thought about my own parents, what they gave up to put me through school, all the sacrifices.”
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Olasanoye, who is 39, assumes that Amo, a Democrat in a blue district, will win in November, becoming the first person of color from his home state to serve in D.C.
“My son’s going to be 3,” he said, “and he won’t have to wait nearly as long as I did to see somebody who looks like him representing us in the halls of Congress.”
Let’s finish with an image of Mitchell Tiah. He recalls being home alone on primary night, watching the results come in. Amo, he knew, wasn’t the favorite.
But, stunningly, he came through.
“I’ll be honest with you,” said Tiah, “I’m not really an emotional person, but I felt some teardrops.”
It wasn’t just that a young Rhode Island Black man with immigrant roots had won.
It’s what that said to Mitchell Tiah about the state, and the country, he loves.
Source link : https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/columns/2023/09/09/gabe-amos-cd1-primary-victory-brings-hope-to-ris-african-community/70790450007/
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Publish date : 2023-09-09 07:00:00
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