Exactly a month ago before COVID-19 took its toll, the students of BCCHS were in their normal setting, Suraj Patel took the stage on March 5th and wowed the seniors with a very personal story. The students perked up to hear what he had to say. 

So, who is Suraj Patel? He was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, but grew up in NYC. Patel is now 36 years old and is an amazing activist, attorney, business leader, and a lecturer at NYU! He got his BA in Political Science from Stanford Univerity, then his MPP from Cambridge University, and then his JD from NYU School of Law. Amazing, right?

He is currently running for Democratic Congress in the 12th district, which includes the East Side in Manhattan, some part of Astoria, Sunnyside in Queens, Greenpoint in Brooklyn, and Long Island City. He is running against the current representative – Carolyn Maloney. He stands for giving families the opportunity to end child poverty, a debt-free K-14+ education, the expansion of security and medicare, cooperation on climate change, pandemics lie this current one and better economic growth. He defends immigrants and DREAMers because of his parents’ history.

Why did Patel come to our school? He came because of Civics Week. This took place on March 5th. Mayor Bill de Blasio created it so we would have more students and people registering to vote. Schools celebrate the youth’s voice and the importance of voting. It strives to encourage young adults to understand that OUR VOICE MATTERS. On the same day, the DOE and Patel’s group helped the seniors register to vote! 

Sources:

Brady, Ryan. “Patel Jumps into 5-Way NY-12 Race.” Queens Chronicle, 26 Sept. 2019, www.qchron.com/editions/queenswide/patel-jumps-into–way-ny–race/article_45b00754-c0cc-5b3b-9aa8-2bbff61354ce.html.

Civics for All, www.schools.nyc.gov/learning/in-our-classrooms/subjects/civics-for-all.

“SURAJ PATEL 2020.” SURAJ PATEL 2020, www.surajpatel.nyc/.