Deval Patrick

Deval Patrick was born in Chicago, 1956. His family lived in a poor part of the city. After hearing one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s, he was inspired. The leadership and power caught his attention. One of his middle school teachers suggested A Better Chance, a Boston organization. He got a scholarship to Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts. After graduating in 1974, he attended Harvard College. After graduating from Harvard, he spent a year in Africa. He participated in a United Nations program to help youths near Darfur. He was then accepted into Harvard’s law school.

There have only been two African American governors in our country. This is because of a few things. There is still racism towards blacks in our country. The reason for this is because the blacks were originally slaves. Knowing that, some white people think that they should not lead our country because they were primitive to the Americans and do not have enough power. This country is thought of as run by white people, so they want it to stay that way. There are also many more white people that run for governor- Patrick was the only black of the four candidates.

Patrick wants communities to expand and create affordable housing. He wants to do this by encouraging towns to build smaller houses or apartments near public transportation, such as train stations. Patrick will be successful doing this if he can convince towns to build the housing. He would have to give a reason, such as money back from the state.

Patrick also talks about improving education in Massachusetts and closing the achievement gap. This means that students of all races and heritages would do the same on tests. He plans to do this by extending kindergarten to all day, and raising funds for special education. He will be successful doing this if he can get the funds to do so. This would work because it would get more teachers to help in special education, and parents who work would know that their child is in an educational place all day and is learning as much as they can.