So here's the short of it, 
This evening we went to hear Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, speak at UTC. 

And here's the long

 I really enjoyed the evening with Alan at UTC.

There were several things he said that just resonated with me. 

He said when he was growing up, his parents spent a lot of time teaching him that he had an obligation in the world. They told him, "All the privilege that you have young man was paid for by someone else, you drink deeply from wells of freedom and liberty that you did not dig. You eat lavishly from banquet tables that were prepared for you by your ancestors. You have an obligation; you have a burden - a righteous, glorious burden, because this nation is not finished. We have so much work to do. So this was the charge of my brothers and my life."  They told him that he could earn that freedom by going out and continuing this work.  I really like that!

Another one of his themes was the choices we make every day, no every minute.  "Every moment of our lives, we make a decision to accept things as they are or to begin to change it." He also said something that may have energized me and given me another burst of energy for my work.  He said his parents always said to him, "If you could not fail, what would you do." 

This is just a bit of my take away for the evening. 
I think I'd vote for this man if I had a chance.

Oh yes,  I had several other favorite sayings from his talk, "You can learn more from a woman on the fifth floor of the projects than from any of those fancy professors."  - attributed to his father.  And he said that his mentor Mrs. Jones taught him that "the world you see outside of you is merely a reflection of who you are inside."

A good evening was had by all......