Hyattsville Elections 2017: A Lesson in Forgiveness
Talib Karim
Family, Friends, & Colleagues:
Friday, I listened to a sermon on forgiveness. As I sat, it was as if the Almighty was speaking directly to me as a way of bringing ease to my heart following the recent elections in our small city.
Over the election season, language used by some, even our elected officials, appeared worse than what we witnessed during the 2016 presidential election. This form of negative campaigning amounted to nothing less than a theft.
Voters in Hyattsville were robbed of an opportunity to hear and engage in a substantive debate over real issues facing our community. In our city, there are very real divides over issues such as taxes, the heartless and unreasonable actions of the city’s parking and code enforcement teams, public vs. private education, and even the Council’s vote to make Hyattsville a Sanctuary City. Instead, (at least in the Ward 1 council race), we were overrun by name-calling, rumor spreading, and ridicule. On some days, campaigning by some in our city’s political elite, reminded me of scenes from the film “Fightclub.”
Not only did people attack me, they also targeted my supporters.
Numerous neighbors reported that they were visited by the incumbent and/or his supporters after posting one of my yard-signs. In one case, an owner of a business that I frequent as a customer was asked to post the sign of the incumbent next to mine. Insulted, the business owner refused pointing out that in the two years that he’s been in business, the incumbent, who was supposed to represent him, had not once till then, visited his enterprise.
The saddest part of the elections was the way some on this list chose to attack me personally...as if they knew me. For a fact, they have no clue...about me and my life’s story.
Those who attacked me didn’t know that my mom died when I was 17, weeks before my high school graduation. Afterwards, I was responsible for looking after myself and four of my six younger siblings while we finished the semester in order for my father to prepare for our family’s relocation to his birthplace of Memphis.
They don’t know that despite attending one of the most deprived public schools in Michigan, I earned scholarships to some of the nation’s top universities, including the U.S. Air Force Academy, where I decided to attend.
At the Academy, I was the only American Muslim. African Americans there amounted to less than 9% of the Cadet wing. In the face of conditions that for me, as a teenager, were hostile, I managed to excel---majoring in Astronautical Engineering and winning the Cadet Wing Open Boxing Championship, as a freshman. Even though I was ultimately compelled to leave before graduation and finish up my engineering degree at Howard, my commitment to improving the Academy gave birth to a group that continues to positively impact the campus of our Colorado Springs military academy, even to this day.
Those who attacked me and who pride themselves for their liberal credentials, don’t know that, as a Howard student, I led national marches to oppose the first Iraq War and campaigned to make community service a graduation requirement. In my last semester, to graduate on time and fulfill my military commitment, I had to take 30 credit hours of classes, while working three jobs. In the years after graduation, I’ve been a talk show host on progressive stations like WPFW and helped negotiate and advocate for provisions of the Affordable Care Act as the chief health counsel for a senior member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
And of the siblings that I helped raise after my parents’ death, I can report that four of us earned engineering degrees with three also earning law degrees. The one sibling who chose not to continue to law school opted instead to pursue a doctorate in computer engineering. My youngest sibling, who was three when my mom died, earned her degrees from Ivy League schools and is now working in international development.
The people who questioned my character, don't understand that I have practiced law for over 20 years. The majority of my career has been spent at the law firm I founded which has provided mostly free or discounted services to over 100 clients. And in my two decades of practice, not one client has ever filed a complaint against me.
Some questioned if, had I been elected, whether I would have been able to work with people who opposed me. However, they could have simply looked to the fact that after the last election, I worked with one of my opponents, Councilmember Kevin Ward, to host the city’s first Ramadan feast that attracted dozens, mostly non-Muslims. And for this election, I asked another former opponent, Winnie Obike, to work together with me to bring about change in our city. She not only agreed to endorse my campaign but also accepted my offer to serve as my treasurer.
For sure, I’ve made my share of mistakes in life. From not passing the bar on my first try to a failed marriage, I have truly stumbled. As I reflect on these trials as the eldest of my siblings, I actually feel a sense of joy. By witnessing my falls and commitment to dusting myself off and picking myself up, my siblings have gained invaluable lessons and, in many cases, have surpassed me in success.
However, I assure you, that the rumor circulated about me standing outside one of our catholic schools telling parents that the city was seeking to close it was a complete lie. No doubt, there is at least a perceived bias against catholic schools in our city as manifested in a recent council vote to deny these schools grants while favoring only public schools. However, to claim that, to win votes, I would stoke fear among the parents of catholic school students is an insult to both me and the intelligence of the parents.
Apparently, the rumor was intended to create suspicion in the minds of voters. And for many, the rumor worked. The incumbent councilmember in Ward 1 was re-elected.
According to Friday’s sermon, I am commanded not only to forgive those who harmed me but also to essentially forget their harmful actions and never to mention them again. So, as someone who tries hard to adhere to his faith, I forgive all of you who wronged me in this past election season and plan to never bring up these wrongs again.
I do however issue a challenge to every member of our city’s elected class, both old and new.
In this campaign, I promised that if elected, my neighbors could count on me to do three things: (1) keep them updated on the actions that the council took via an email newsletter and article in the Hyattsville Reporter and/or Hyattsville Life and Times; (2) seek their input matters before the council BEFORE voting on their behalf; and (3) ask them to help me in developing and implementing concrete solutions to the problems facing our city.
This simple pledge earned me 165 votes, the third most of all candidates in the entire city, more than three of those who won.
To our elected officials, I challenge you all to adopt this pledge as your own. If not, four years from now, you may find yourselves up against myself or another candidate who is willing to make this commitment to transparency and accountability.
Finally, I thank everyone of my 165 neighbors who took a bold leap of faith and cast their vote for change. I pledge to work with each one of you and everyone else in our city, willing to come together, to make our city even better. Because...by working together, we all win together!
Talib I. Karim, #TogetherHyattsville
P.S. If you would like to show your support, help us cover our remaining campaign expenses by making a donation today at: paypal.me/KarimforCouncil. Checks can be mailed to me at my law firm care of “Friends of Talib I. Karim”, 1629 K Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006.
Attorney at Law & Writer