Washington, D.C. – September 22nd, 2009

(Many of us in the political world are very focused on campaigns and politics, but have less interest or experience in how to govern. To help us all gain more knowledge on this subject, we thought we would publish a few articles over the course of this year on that subject.)

The story of Mayor Cory Booker is an inspirational one. He ran for mayor twice, being defeated in his first run, but winning the second. Since his win, he has been a dynamo of hope and energy for the city of Newark. This is not to say that he has turned the city around, far from it, but he has brought hope to many.

A new documentary, which premiered last night and continues over the next three, chronicles the story of Newark under Booker.

The documentary is called Brick City a reference to Brick Towers, a dilapidated housing complex that Booker lived in. The documentary not only chronicles Booker’s struggle to lower gang violence, homicide, and drugs in the city, but follows cops and residents through their own struggles to improve their city.

It looks like a great case study for “how to govern.”

And just so you know, Booker is not the only Mayor to arrive in dilapidated American cities to bring hope and change. Check out this New York Times article about the Mayor of Braddock, PA. It is another great example of governance in action.

Here is the Brick City trailer:

Image Credit Here.