Video Review: Street Fight

Political elections and votes are determined by the success of each representative’s campaigns. In the film, “Street Fight” by Marshall Curry, describe a life- sequence event of a political battle between two African American political leaders running for mayor of Newark, New Jersey. The first significant aspect I noticed throughout the video was the fight between rich and poor. Cory Booker who was a community leader was challenging the already current mayor in Sharpe James. However, James is a strong political leader who is considered to be political elite. “Political elite are those who get more than others of the values society has available (such as wealth and respect)… Elite often reinforce their position by gaining authority” (Wasserman 4). For example, James used police officials to rip down political signs and information of Cory Booker campaign in the streets of Newark. James was known to be a “political machine” that carries major advantages in terms of political power distribution. “Power in America – at

James took advantage of promoting his roots of being African American born in the city of Newark. For example, in the video you can see people holding up signs and yelling, “We need an experienced leader,” referring to James’s 16 year as the mayor of Newark. James focused on the African American and his already established agenda of improvement in his community whereas, Booker focused more of a biracial approach and expose many issues surrounding the minority communities in Newark in his election campaign. For example, James gave a speech quoting, “They move here because of political agenda… We been here good times, bad times, and we going to stay doing improved time and we don’t need no carpetbagger telling us how bad we are, stay out” (Street fight film). Overall, James questioned Booker’s roots of being African American and had accused him “of being something other” (terrorist,