Maina wa Njuguna
Yemi Mobolade is the Colorado Springs mayor elect in a decisive victory several days ago. Mr. Mobolade’s rise to the powerful local seat is unconventional in the conservative city.
Yemi, a Nigerian-American migrated to the US twenty-seven years ago from Lagos, Nigeria 🇳🇬 as an international student.
What makes his election so unique is that he is the first Black man, first migrant and first Independent to lead the majority White city.
Mr. Yemi is also a political newcomer who trounced a much more seasoned politician, Wayne Williams, a former Colorado Secretary of State with 57%, about 18,000 votes.
He is a small business owner, a pastor who will take office on June 6th. He describes himself as a common sense leader and has no interest in polarized politics that have become the main staple of the American politic.
CAREER
Mobolade was the vice president of business retention for Colorado Springs’ chamber of commerce from 2017 to 2019 and small business development manager for Colorado Springs from 2019 to 2022. (Wikipedia)
OTHER AFRICAN MIGRANTS IN HIGH ELECTIVE OFFICES
ILLHAN ABDULLAHI OMAR – US CONGRESS REPRESENTATIVE
Image: /official portrait/
Famous Somali-American 🇸🇴, Ilhan Abdullahi Omar migrated to the US as a refugee . She arrived in New York in 1992 with her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, together with her sister, Sahra Noor and was eventually granted asylum in 1995.
Ms. Omar holds a Bachelor’s degree from North Dakota University in political science and international studies.
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE – WHITEHOUSE PRESS SECRETARY
Martinican born Haitian-American 🇲🇶🇭🇹 Karine Jean-Pierre holds one of the most visible offices in the US. Even though the US Press Secretary is not an elective office, its visibility, proximity to power and branding of US policies makes it one of the most powerful positions on the land.
Image credit: /Gary Gershoff/
She formally served as the deputy press secretary from 2021 to 2022 and as the chief of staff for U.S. Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris during the 2020 presidential campaign.
She was also previously a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC and a lecturer in international and public affairs at Columbia University.
She holds a bachelor’s degree from the New York Institute of Technology, and a Masters of Public Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), Columbia University.
She is fluent in English, French, and Haitian Creole.
