Disrupting the Political Elite

We admire the person who overcomes adversity to succeed in a chosen profession or line of work. Perseverance, tenacity, and passion create the drive to expand the horizons of the “possible”. This is the story about an individual who transformed his early life struggles into a desire to improve the opportunities in marginalized communities.

Our conversation in this podcast is an eye-opener about the grip of the political elite and the challenges of growing up in a marginalized community. Hard work led to a scholarship to attend UCLA, followed by law school. But that was just the start as Ajwang decided to address the inequities of his early years by seeking elected office. Recognizing the leverage inherent in our legal system, he has decided to run for the congressional representative for the 16th California District in the heart the Silicon Valley.

In this interview, we will discuss the following factors:

The uphill effort in challenging an elected incumbent
His passion for addressing climate change
The first meeting with a political fundraiser
Inspiration and support from his mother
The experience of growing up un-housed
Living inside the failure of public policy
Why early education is so critical
Why he went to law school
His purpose in disrupting the political elite

My guest is Ajwang Rading, legal counsel at Wilson, Sonsini, and a candidate for the House of Representatives representing California’s 16th District.

More information on Ajwang’s mission is available at www.ajwangrading.com

The podcast is available:

Key Points

I think even as a spectator or a just casual interest in politics, you understand politics can be messy, but it’s a place where you make a change. It’s the place where you have to fight in the ground for that inch to make a difference.

<class=”p1″>But little did I know that it is a game where there are… I was told very early on, that I am cutting at least 15 people waiting for the seat, for the Congresswoman’s seat, and that I should be waiting my turn and I should go through the traditional channels. I was told, you need to go through this school board, then you should probably go to the City Council then, etcetera.

And not only that but now there’s already been this anointing process that’s occurred, that it’s just politics, as usual.

So what our campaign is about is to try and disrupt that respectfully and say: Look, if there’s one political party that should be espousing the values of what it means to be a democratic country, it should be the Democratic Party, and I think “talk is cheap”, and we need to be really providing a new generation of leadership to really tackle these issues because politics, as usual, is just not gonna cut it.

My story is one of like a divine conspiracy in a series of miracles, so I’m hesitant while I worked like hell to get out from under my circumstance, and I had a mom, her prayers shielded us, and in more than one miraculous instant, it really took a village of Americans to come around and support me and to say, You know what, I’ll give this kid a chance. Give him my frequent flyer miles so he can afford to go across the country and get his internship. I will give this in a room in my house, and somewhere along the way, you start to really understand the values of this country are really predicated on serving our brothers and our sisters, and so that’s what’s really I’ve internalized for a great period of my life.

But, I grew up in a car, in a 2001 Dodge Neon for over 12 years of my life, mom in the driver’s seat and me in the passenger seat. I know firsthand what it’s like to wash yourself in public restrooms every single day, having to brush your teeth and public sinks, having to do your homework at a public library into closes at 9:00 PM, and then going to In and Out burger, which stays open to 2:00 am, but it’s not unusual to find young people there with their books open. That was my background, and when you live to have that type of experience, you learn about public policy earlier than most, you understand the failures of local government earlier than most, as well as state government.