If you follow me on Twitter, it’s no secret that I LOVE Mayor Cory Booker. I have been singing this man’s praise for the almost full year I have been following him. So when I heard the news last week, I wasn’t shocked.

And the news was big. Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook, pledged a $100 million grant to the public schools of Newark, New Jersey. Newark mayor Cory Booker, New Jersey governor Chris Christie and Mark Zuckerberg all came on The Oprah Show this past Friday to make the big announcement. And when Zuckerberg was asked his reasoning behind the donation, why Newark, why education, he had one answer… “It’s because of these two guys.” He said that by placing his faith and money in these men, he is hoping to set the example for education for all of America. Here is the announcement…

Now this whole thing fascinates me, because I am a social media addict… that is my addictions run deep. And I’m loyal… really Twitter and Facebook is where I lay and play, alongside my Blackberry. So, when the story involved the place where I play, plus another young entrepreneur, I tuned in. Now, let’s call a spade a spade… $100,000,000.00 is actually no big whoop for this 26 year old Westchester County, NY native. Forbes estimates that Zuckerberg is worth $6.9 billion, placing him seven spots ahead of poor Steve Jobs, who is only worth… $6.1 billion.

Plus there are many speculations. Speculations like this move was very calculated, and was announced perfectly alongside the release of the new October 1st Facebook Movie, The Social Network, which has painted Zuckerberg in a somewhat unfavorable light. I also read this comment and many other similar in nature, which I find completely disgusting and judgemental:

“A lot of Americans give 10% of their gross to charity and they’re not worth billions of dollars. Giving 1.5% of his income to charity is hardly worth celebrating.”

But my reason for Blogging about this today, is to highlight the good, and for you to walk away with a lesson, as always. And that good, and that lesson is Newark Mayor Cory Booker.

Truth is, when he started following me on Twitter, actually on the same day as Ellen Degeneres did, I had not even heard of him. What caught my eye was, this guy has over 1 million followers! Who is he? What does he do?

Well Cory Booker is son to two trailblazers– Cary and Carolyn Booker, who were amongst the first few African American executives at IBM. He also grew up in a predominantly white, affluent neighborhood of Harrington Park in Bergen County, New Jersey. But this man is out to change the world. This man is a person of action. I have been following his daily words, his daily actions, and his daily message for almost a year. He is shaping America. I would not be surprised if we see this man run for President of The United States one day. He survives and thrives on little to no sleep, a ton of coffee, lots of adrenaline, and positive change. His attitude is quite different than mine– “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” Personally, I need my beauty rest or else!

So, the lesson for today’s Blog is care of Mayor Cory Booker. Watch this short video. Learn the lesson.

And finally, before you leave, you must watch this. It’s all laughs. And I say this with love, because Cory Booker is one of the finest people on this earth. But the pairing of Zuckerberg and Booker, is a little like this…

I wanna form a new coalition… of soul people and bagel people.

What do you think about the $100,000,000.00 donation to the public schools of Newark? Should Zuckerberg have given it elsewhere? What’s your opinion, I’d love to know.

xoxEDxox