Michael Blake came to PRE to talk a bit about his life, his work, and his ideas about the intersection between politics and race.
Blake resides in and is the assemblyman for New York’s 79th District. His parents are Jamaican American immigrants, who presciently named Blake after two Jamaican politicians. Both of his parents worked hard jobs to support their family, allowing Blake to attend Northwestern University, where he majored in Journalism.
After deciding a career in the television industry was not for him, he dove headfirst into politics. He soon discovered how passionate he was about government after working on several campaigns in Michigan, joining organizations like Operation Hope and Green for All, and eventually becoming the National Deputy Director of Operation Vote in 2012 for Barack Obama’s re-election campaign. He said that without taking an internship on a chance in 2005, he would not have followed the path he did in his career. According to Blake, you need both hard work and luck to make it in life.
Following all of those opportunities, Blake had the chance to run for New York Assembly in 2014 when Eric Stevenson vacated his seat. He entered a crowded primary field and did not initially have support from his local Democratic Party, but he prevailed nonetheless; he won the primary and then the general election, with an astounding 92% of the vote. He owes this success in large part to the hard work of his campaign team and his ideas about empowering communities from within. To that end, Blake spoke about his passion for supporting businesses owned by minorities and women, members of communities who have emotional and physical capital in the place that they live. When you have those kinds of people as business leaders, they give it their all to reinvest in their homes, as well as to hire residents in the areas their businesses are based in.
Throughout all of Michael Blake’s remarks to PRE members, there was a constant central theme: you cannot talk about politics without discussing race and ethnicity. Race and ethnicity are not some niche political interests. Instead, they permeate into all facets of politics, and, without understanding that, you cannot fully engage in the political process.
He closed with a call to action. He emphasized the fact that you cannot escape politics – it affects every aspect of your life from birth to death, so the only logical choice is to be involved. He reminded us to be knowledgeable, active, and prepared to represent our communities. After all, are we going to let people who do not know our lives, our communities, or our peoples to make decisions for us? It doesn’t have to be that way, and, with concerted action, it won’t.
Eli Langley is a freshman at the college from Elton, Louisiana, currently living in Massachusetts Hall. He plans to concentrate in either Government or Social Studies, with a secondary in Computer Science.