Newark mayor Cory Booker came to the rescue again last week, after he came upon a pedestrian lying in the road unconscious after being hit by a car. Although a police officer was already on the scene, Booker ran from his car and sat with the man, holding his hand and talking to him.
CBS New York reports that the man soon regained consciousness and recognized Booker. Booker then brought him ice and water while they waited for an ambulance to arrive. The mayor tweeted that the driver who struck the man “did the right thing” by staying on the scene until medical help arrived.
This isn’t the first time Booker has saved the day—in April, he ran into a burning house to pull a neighbor out of bed and bring her to safety. He was treated for second-degree burns and smoke inhalation; the neighbor was also hospitalized but was expected to recover.
These are great stories, for sure, but to those who know Booker—not least, the people of Newark— they may not be so surprising. After all, Booker has always been willing to “get involved,” as both mayor and citizen. As Barry Boyce writes in the 2011 Lion’s Roar feature “Making Peace in America”:
Booker famously went on a ten-day hunger strike to draw attention to the need to take back the streets from drug gangs. For five months, he lived in a motor home he parked near the notorious drug corners. After an unsuccessful mayoral run in 2002 left him out of office, he founded Newark Now to promote creative problem-solving and community leadership. It continues to be one of Newark’s prominent nonprofits.
And then, there’s all that Booker’s done to help Newark turn itself around and face a new, better era, plus his work, with the Dalai Lama and Tibet House, to make the groundbreaking Newark Peace Education Summit happen last year.
It goes on and on; so while this newest Booker story is a great one, there are more reasons that this leader deserves to have the spotlight shine on him.