2008 New Leaders Fellows
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DaMareo Cooper
Hometown: Akron, OH
Age: 28
School: Kent State University
Interests:
Placement: Mahoning Valley Organizing Committee
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DaMareo Cooper is originally from Akron, Ohio. While a student at Kent State University, he has worked with the NAACP and the Urban League, and was the president of Black United Students for two years. As a campus and community organizer, DaMareo's major concerns is the distribution of power in our world and how that affects the realities of the powerless. Recently, he was an organizer for A.C.O.R.N. and will be working with the Majoning Valley Organizing Collaborative, an organization committed to building power in lower income and urban areas in Northeastern Ohio. |
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- DaMareo Cooper,
2008 New Leaders Fellow |
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| More about DaMareo |
What particular experience has contributed to your desire to work with a progressive organization and participate in the NLP? What do you hope to gain from participating?
I’m from Akron, Ohio, which at one time in our nation's history was the rubber capital of the world. During that time Akron’s economy flourished, but when the two major corporations, Goodyear and Firestone, closed their factories the city’s prosperity declined, leaving a large porting on the working class out of jobs and under educated to deal with Americas changing economic realities. Crime, specifically non-violent drug offenses, consumed the lives of many members of my family as well as my friends. With a poor educational system and under funded after school programs a lot of us fell victim to street life mentalities. I left Akron and went to the Marine Corps in an attempt to escape the realities of living in a post-industrial city; however in the Corps I was greeted with more of the same silent racism, and lack of representation indicative of urban communities. When I returned home I had the opportunity to look at my city through a new lens, asking myself how we ended up in this situation. I began studying Black history and culture and realized that policies and hidden agendas were playing a huge role in the disenfranchisement of not just African Americans, but all “lower class citizens”. At that point I decided to enroll into college. I became involved with campus politics and a member of Black United Student. I felt that we had a positive impact on the lives of Students; however my goals reach further than the campus. I know that we are at a point in American history when a new type of leader will be needed, and I feel that the CPL New Leaders Program will help me fine tune the necessary skills to make a positive contribution in the struggle for equality in all forms.
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