Elected Office in America 101
I don’t know if someone said it before him — maybe his father, maybe someone else — but I first heard the following words from Ras J. Baraka when I was attending a Student Government Association meeting when we (he at this time was SGA Vice President) were students at Howard University:
“When you are elected to public office, you give up some of your power.”
Mr. Baraka went on to explain the simple truth that when you are elected to be the representative of a body of people, you give up some of your power in the sense that while you’re running for office you are only concerned with winning over those who believe you can lead. However, once you win and take the oath of whatever office it is you’re elected to, you are now charged with being the voice even for those who did not believe you can lead and did not vote in your favor.
An elected official has a duty to everyone in the body of people within his/her/their area of influence, not just those who put that elected official into office.
For example, let’s say as SGA Vice President, Mr. Baraka was tasked with signing off on the approval of different meeting rooms for different organizations to get together for their organization’s business or leisure.
Now keep in mind… He is responsible for doing this for every organization, not just the…
