By Kate Snow and Jessica Hopper
Rock Center
Svante Myrick, the new 24-year-old mayor of Ithaca, N.Y., shies away from increasingly frequent comparisons to President Obama, but he admits the president’s journey certainly influenced his decision to enter politics.
“Well, if this, you know, guy with that name and those ears can do it, then a guy with this name and these ears can do it,” Myrick said.
When he was just a teenager, Myrick’s grandmother gave him a copy of Barack Obama’s book, “Dreams From My Father.” As a biracial teenager, he found solace and motivation in reading Obama’s story.
“It was so full of things I saw in my own story. I mean, his struggle with his identity growing up without his father and raised by a white mother in a largely white school district. I mean, he had been through things and he had wisdom,” Myrick said.
Myrick’s mother is white and his father is African American. The family was at times homeless. Myrick’s father struggled with drug addiction and faded from his life when he was six years old, Myrick said. He was raised primarily by his mother and grandparents in a Earlville, N.Y., a tiny town with just one stoplight. He and his three siblings were the only black kids in the town, Myrick said.
“Our family was the black neighborhood,” Myrick joked.
Myrick entered politics while still a student at Cornell University. He was elected to Ithaca’s City Council when he was a junior. He served on the council for four years before running for mayor.
“Frankly, there’s nothing you can tell people that will show them that you’re ready to do it. All you can do is point to what you’ve done already,” Myrick told Kate Snow in an interview scheduled to air Wednesday, Feb. 29 on Rock Center with Brian Williams.
While running for mayor, the democrat admits that his age was sometimes a hurdle. He wore out two pairs of shoes canvassing the town of 30,000 people to convince voters to support him.
“When somebody questions your age, it’s not that they’re wondering if you’ve had enough birthdays to do the job. They’re wondering if you’re dedicated enough, they wonder if you know enough about the city. They wonder if you have the experience it takes to get things done and if you show them those things, then the age is just a number,” Myrick said.
Along with his political experience, Myrick’s rise from humble beginnings also seemed to resonate with voters. His mother, Leslie Myrick, worked multiple jobs to support the family. When NBC News interviewed her, she’d just finished an overnight shift at the front desk of a local hotel.
“He’s full of love and has always been full of love,” Leslie Myrick said of her son.
Myrick seems to have gleaned his own wisdom from his upbringing.
“I’m sure it makes you a little tougher. I’m sure you learn to take advantage of every opportunity you’re given, you know?” Myrick said. “Because you know what it’s like to not have those opportunities, you know? You learn to recognize an advantage when you see one, I think and it, I don’t know, it’s a motivator.”
Leslie Myrick said that a young Svante devoured books as a child and was a “real charmer.”
She quietly campaigned for her son during his mayoral run, rarely revealing she was his mom when she would knock on a door.
“Ordinarily, I would not tell them, but if I thought they were on the fence and if I thought the personal touch would help, I would tell them,” she said.
Svante Myrick calls his mom a superhero.
“I think she had superpowers to keep all five of us together and to keep us clothed and fed and housed and to get us our first jobs and to get us to practice and back and to get us to these meetings and to get us all off to college safely and soundly and sanely,” Myrick said.
When Myrick tries to thank his mother, he says she shrugs it off and instead apologizes for what she couldn’t provide for him.
“It’s a feat of human endurance. It’s up there with, you know, climbing Mount Everest. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Myrick said of his mother. “It’s like she doesn’t know what she did. She saved our lives, all of us.”
Myrick credits his high school teacher, Jonathan Sherry, with pushing him to really think about his future. He said that he wasn’t much of student, but after getting near perfect scores on the SATs, Mr. Sherry encouraged him to apply to Cornell. Myrick had never heard of the Ivy League school which was less than 100 miles away from his family’s home.
“I saw from a young age what he was capable of,” Sherry said.
When Myrick left high school, he left a note behind in a yearbook for Mr. Sherry.
“P.S. In 2040, when I’m president, I’ll keep you in mind for secretary of education,” the note read.
Myrick, like any trained politician, now refuses to talk about any presidential ambitions.
“Ithaca is my home, you know. This is the place I want to serve, so I’m excited about serving here,” he said.
He’d have to wait 10 years before he’d even be eligible to run for the presidency.
For now, the new mayor still lives like a college student. He has a handful of roommates who live in a house not far from Cornell.
“He doesn’t cook very much, but I know whose peanut butter spoons those are,” said roommate Eddie Rooker.
Myrick and his roommates, all in their twenties, jokingly call the home they share “the hall of justice.” Under one roof lives Ithaca’s mayor, a city council member and a member of the county legislature.
Despite all of his hard work, Myrick does not consider himself a self-made man. He believes strongly in the government programs that helped sustain him as a child.
“This is not the story of a self-made man. This is a story of a community that conspired together to raise, you know, a child. I mean, that’s the truth,” Myrick said.
Editor’s Note: Kate Snow’s full report, ‘Mr. Mayor,’ airs Wednesday, Feb. 29 at 9 pm/8 c on Rock Center with Brian Williams.
Leave a Comment:
Good for him.
On the other hand, don't wanna jinx the guy by setting expectations so high at age 24 - that's just making him a target for jealous crabs eager to pull him back into to the bucket :D
The only thing he has to do is start sticking his chin up towards the ceiling during meetings or media coverage.
Actually, he sounds like a young, ego-driven parasite - elected by older, less ambitious parasites for his support of parasitic government practices.
Maybe he's closer to being Obama than the author of this article knows.
Keep working hard son, you could be the next president of the United States in the next 10 to 20 years...this is a free country, a country where hard work, education and doing the right thing does come in handy...
One advice is; politics is not for the faint of hearts, ya gotta stick to your guns, folks like conviction, determination, and somebody willing to sacrifice for his fellow countrymen through public service and their country...good luck kid
wow Fitz...aren't you a beacon of positive though and encouragement
doom and gloom....no wonder you teabaggers are having such a hard time with the roster of GOPthug presidential candidates...none are quite negative enough for you
See ya next Tuesday
To Fitz Balm F... You. You Racist pig bastard.
Sorry Fitzbaum. You are still a racist pig bastard.
Sounds like your typical democrat. Abaondoned by a deadbeat father who left his responsibilites for the mother's side of the family to deal with. Yet, he will most likely find a way to blame it all on whites anyway.
And wouldn't you know that the far right haters would just have to put this ambitious young man down. He worked hard and succeeded yet the right wing hate mongers can't appreciate what he has done. Pathetic.
DunkinH - how sad it must be to be you and so filled with hate.
Ido - I never expect any better from you. Just a bitter little nothing!
NOBODY with a brain would want to be compared to Obozo the Marxist. Good for you Mayor.
@DunkinH...you're kidding right, did you see or read the story? He credits his success because he was raised by a white lady in a town of white people all due to the fact that adoption government programs helped. How is he going to blame white people? wow you conservative sheep never cease to amaze me...smh
Do you on the right HAVE to act like @!$%#s? Was this godforsaken attitude home-schooled, church-schooled, or inherited? Seriously! Where does this crap come from?
Yep, another success story, and the angry racist ignorant teabagging rightwing nutjobs are out in force to make him look bad on this discussion board. Stick someones teabag in your mouth boys, you've earned it.
I think sucking presidential genitals is more of a democratic thing! LOL
Oh, and
No, but then, neither do the people on the left. They all just get off on it.
Dexter-morgan, Jeff-299070, you are both suspended for a day for violating rule # 1 of the Code of Honor.
Hard work do pay off. Myrick prove this .
Are you incapable of conjugating verbs and writing words in the proper tense?
Maybe English isn't this persons first language. How's your Czech?
They don't teach those things in school any longer. If it's not on the NCLB test, it doesn't get taught. Thank you, GWB.
"I'm Rick Santorum and I approve of these cut backs in the education of our young people."
Buffalo, I'm careful with my money. None of my Czechs have bounced.
Buffaloe51 "How's your Czech?"
My Czech is very well. Just ask Citibank!
*Sorry, couldn't resist * :)
Oh dang drwtsn. I stole your line. Didn't realize you beat me to the punch. Sorry!
i could be wrong but didnt obama write that book while in office? that would put this guy in his 20's when his grandma would had given him the book.
Yes, you are wrong.
I believe you confuse that with "the audacity of hope", which he wrote 2 years before he won the white house.
use the internet fooool.
No, he wrote that book before he became President.
-
If there were only a way to look up this kind of information ...
Bibliographic Details
Title: Dreams From My Father: A Story Of Race And ...
Publisher: Times Books, New York
Publication Date: 1995
Binding: Trade Paperback
like i said i could be wrong. and i can admit i was. people act like i made a personal attack against obama. learn to take things as they are ment not how you turn them into being so defensive. i just remebered seing obama pushing a kids book while he was in office. and thanks to everyone who corrected everything, math included.
Learn to take things as they are *meant* [and] not how you turn them into being so defensive. You're welcome for the helpful correction.
danaa-really? We all understood dave and should look past the grammatical errors. He is at least participating in the democratizing medium that is the web. Comments like yours prevent citizens from entering discourse in the public sphere. If you were going to comment on anyone regarding the story how about the repeated "you know" from the 24 year old mayor. Pretentious people suck "you know".
Why is everyone so butt-hurt and defensive about Obama?
All things considered, he's not that bad of a president, no matter what anybody here believes.
Dude you are on the internet, why would you ask that question here?
Actually, he is pretty good, if you consider the condition the United States were in when he became the President.
I didn't realize Obama was the Mayor of a small city in his 20's. Not to make light of Obama's achievements, but, they shouldn't be comparing this kid to Obama.
So you move into your relatives white house.Its a mess and the bills are enormous.You tell your relatives ill fix it just put me in charge.So you start spending money like crazy until things seem better.Than you hand your relatives a bill for 15 trillion dollars plus and smile and act like you did a good thing.And all your relatives are broke with no jobs and cant pay for the bill.
I would be happier if the guy was like Ron Paul.
dreams of my father is a racist, manifesto
what an absurd comment... you, sir, are the racist
Would you like to cite to us the passages in the book that are racist? Oh, what's that, you didn't actually read it? Then never mind.
You obviously have not read the book.
No, Linda, you're a racist. A bonafide, down-home, bible-thumping, noose-tightening, cyanide-gas wielding white supremacist bigot.
You should be investigated for hate crimes.
That's about how much sense your post made.
Fitzbaum, you are suspended for a week for violating rule # 1 of the Code of Honor.
Dreams of my Father was written in 1995 which means that Myrick would have been 7 when it was published but was presumably given to him when he was older.
Dave Smith: You say that you could be wrong, which is discerning of you, because you are. The book was published in 1995, when Svante was 17. It took less time for me to look up that information than it took for you to write your post. See, this thing called the internet actually has uses besides allowing people to advertise their lack of knowledge.
And you might want to check your arithmetic skills. 1995 was 17 years ago. If he is 24 now, he would not have been 17 in 1995. Try 7.
BruceGee: You say that the internet actually has uses besides allowing people to advertise their lack of knowledge, which is discerning of you, because you clearly advertised yours.
The story's headline: "24-year-old mayor's personal life story guides political career." In your rush to berate Dave Smith, you apparently forgot basic addition and subtraction. 1995 was 17 years ago, so he would've been 7--not 17--when the book was published in 1995. So while you are busy trying to "edumacate" the poor, misguided souls who don't use Wikipedia immediately or as dogmatically as you do, perhaps you should focus more on adding and subtracting.
And in case I didn't make this clear, you definitely used the internet to advertise your lack of knowledge. So next time don't be a condescending jerk to someone who admitted he might be wrong, especially since--on this thing called the internet--everyone will point out the ridiculously stupid mistakes that you make. Learn some humility, as well as your basic math flashcards.
Oh, BruceGee, you've made my day!
I second that !!!
dumb a-s-s.
Good for him, and his mom too. I'm sure there are many paths he could have sidetracked on that would have led him down a wrong road. Sounds like a good guy.
So....is it a 'racist, manifesto', or
is it a 'racist manifesto'?
Are you a frikkin, idiot or
a frikkin idiot?
go easy on the mental midget
teabaggers come unglued when anyone who is not white, redneck, Nascar loving, christian in name, uneducated, and half-stupid succeed
just look at their comments
So if you dont agree with someone,calling them names is the adult correct response.
I still don't understand why someone who is half black and half white is considered black.
I don't understand why an American of black color is considered African-American.
Its a sick and sad part of our history. That is the only reason. I hope you are honest in your "not understanding" because its nice and clear. But you NEED to understand for your own edification. Its a symptom of a great country with a tragic past, and amazing resolve.
he is considered black because society looks at him as a black man. I have a friend who is korean-irish (yes, they do exist) but look 99.9% Asian, so he is asian. all the racist he faced referred to him as Asian. Not once in his life, where people mistaken him for a white dude.
look at it this way, we are are human and yet there are terms like: beautiful, hot, ugly, etc...
Since the earliest fossil evidence for anatomically modern Homo Sapiens was found in Ethiopia shouldn't all Americans be considered African-American. Not saying, just saying.
That's the way it is. My two adult children are bi-racial, and they were always considered "black" even though they themselves identify as bi-racial.
because that's what the cops see when they pull him over.
Unfortunately, our country is still so cought up in race, it still throws a few things off key. Just like the article the other day about affirmative action with the caucasion girl suing for discrimination. I still think we need to get rid of documenting race and have everyone considered 'American'. Just my opinion though...
Are you serious Kate L. ???? If your skin had color to it, and you had nappy hair ... would people refer to you as white?
My daughter has a couple of friends who come from mixed parentage, just as I do. We don't consider them anything other that her friends. I don't consider myself anything other than American. I just find it odd that people continue this labeling, when they are as white as they are black, or as any other combination. I don't label someone based on their looks, there is no need to label at all.
It's a lot easier getting guvment benefits if your a person of color.
Kate, as others have hinted, it is shameful remnant of an awful time in our history. Children born of slave masters and slaves were classified as 100% Negro to ensure that they had no claim to their "father's" property and wealth. Through the stroke of a pen, all Americans of mixed ancestry that included African blood were declared to be all African or certainly not White. That practice did not end with slavery. (Look up Strom Thurmond and his "Black" daughter). That misguided thought still holds today, although more Americans are dropping the old labels and identify as "mixed" or "other".
It is only perpetuated because some people want it to be. If he calls himself black, isn't he dissing the white side, and vice versa?
He isn't dissing the white side. You have to be old enough, Kate, to understand that humans like to put things into camps:
Democrat - Republican
East - West
Pro Choice - Pro Life
This mixed race man has no control of how society at large views him. If his dominant physical features are those of a black man, people who insist on placing others into camps are not going to consider him a white guy because he says he is. When he walks into an all white neighborhood with historical racial predjudices, he has to be on alert. The crowd of white guys on the basketball court isn't going to say "leave him alone. He's of mixed heritage". They are going to see a black guy and act accordingly. And from his life experiences, if that was the reaction from the average person, to recognize him as black, he's given in and chosen a camp to identfiy with and belong to. Until we are all mixed race, there are still way to many that will see a mixed race person as simply black, and treat them accordingly.
Im waiting for hispanics to be the majority and see how much special treatment i get as a minority.Im not going to hold my breath.Folks dont do themselvesd much good with hyphenated names and asking for special treatment.Im sure national caucasion month would go over well.Obama blows because of his thinking.The dept he is leaving for my children is horrible.He is very devisive and plays the race and class card in a most sickening way.
Nice read! None of us are doing the 'comment' section any favors...
I'll bet this kid wasn't even born in this country! I'll bet he took his oath of office on the Koran (at least this is what the emails I get tell me.............)
base on his surrounding (30,000 people, only 1 black family), this kid has great potential.
You morons came onto this site just to spout Racism ???? REALLY ????
Van stated, "base on his surrounding (30,000 people, only 1 black family), this kid has great potential."
Guess again. Ithaca has 30,000 people, but he is NOT from Ithaca. He is from a town 80 miles from there. Also Ithaca is home to Cornell University, student population 14,000 and Ithaca College student population 6,000. Being mayor of Ithaca is like being 'class president'.
You are wrong.
My dad and his siblings grew up in the old Odd Fellows Orphanage (now an institute that studies mammoths). The Christie's, whose wife owned the Bank of Ithaca, and whose husband was a prominent minister, took him in at HS age, put him through Cornell & McGill Medical, and regarded my dad's kids as grandkids. When Mrs. Christie died, we found out & met nearly a dozen orphans they'd similarly helped through the years, but none knew about each other until her funeral.
Ithaca is a GREAT city!
Great Kid! Now please understand that you can do anything in the world son. Don't screw up a Country like Obama.
You again like all the other clowns of the world (mostly white and uneducated) prove how President Obama has screwed up this country. Little do you know you did already by your statement.
please tell Craig exactly HOW Obama screwed up this country? Because last I checked according to REALITY, the bush administration did that. He's trying to clean up the mess.
Oh that's right - on that note, Svante, please take ownership for your decisions or lack thereof. DOn't do like your idol and blame everyone, then 3 years later, still blame the last guy when you and your party held the reigns of the country for ~2 years and you could've passed AND FIXED any real issues from the previous adminsitration.
That hosing you think you're getting, "we're getting hosed!", is the result of pissing on yourself.
Craig, What has Obama done to make the country better?
Bush's supporters blamed everything on Clinton for many, many years. Bush will go down in history as one of the worst presidents ever inflicted on this great nation. You can blame the deficit on Shrub and his two unjustified wars. You people can't take it but you sure can dish it out.
you're an @!$%#.
Great article. Keep up the great work ethic. Just think we will have the privilege of knowing where you went to school, your friends, and even where your were born!
Well, they both have about the same amount of real world experience.
What a great story. He sounds like an awesome human being, who is humble and grateful to those who helped make a difference in his life. It's so sweet that he realizes all his mother went through to feed and clothe her children, instead of holding it against her or feeling embarrassed about her working multiple jobs. Other kids would be whining about the fact they are the only ones without a car in high school and designer clothes, while this young man calls her a superhero. He may be a 24 year old, but he certainly seems more mature. I like him, and if he were to run for president some day, I would definitely consider him.
It took until the last lines to tell us that he was indeed raised on welfare.
I like seeing that someone raised on my tax dollar actually knuckled down and made something of himself. Too many kids just follow in momma's footsteps and live on the dole as long as they can get by with it.
I certainly wouldn't compare this young man to Obama. That would be an insult to Svante.
why exactly would it be an "insult" ?????
You should read the 8/18/11 Washington Post story written by Matt Peterson. I'm not going to post the entire article but it sums up:
"In short: our president is a small and small-minded man, with neither the temperament nor the intellect to handle his job.When you understand that, and only when you understand that, will the current erosion of liberty and prosperity make sense. It could not have gone otherwise with such a man in the Oval Office"
The only real talent that Obama has is passing the buck.
The article you quote apears to actually be a column. Are you aware of the difference? It is an opinion piece that does not have to supported by facts and it isn't. "The current erosion of liberty and prosperity"...Which President pushed through the awful Patriot Act? I can't seem to remember. Perhaps you should do a little more research before you jump to conclusions. The prosperity part is also not supported by current reality. Are you aware that the stock market is at a four year high? Are you aware that unemployment claims are at a three year low? The US auto industry is turning in profits; GM at a record level. Tell us again how we are all doing so badly under the current administration.....Crickets....
Laura, you can post but you cannot read very well. His mother worked multiple jobs in her struggle to raise her children, but you focus on the last two sentences to conclude "they were raised on welfare". You are a troll....
NB820
"He believes strongly in the government programs that helped sustain him as a child." = WELFARE
ANY "government program" is a program that is paid for by the tax-payers. Clearly she didn't work multiple "full-time" jobs.
NB820,
The very fact that you resort to name calling makes your comments meaningless.
Laura--She had four children, so she could work more than one job and still qualify for "welfare" assistance. Perhaps you would prefer to return to the days of child labor? Kids begging on the street corners? Sweatshops where women and children worked for pennies a day at jobs with no safety precautions? I worked for 40 years and I am really glad that my tax dollars went to help kids like Svante Myrick fulfill their potential.
Becsmom,
I was married when I had my four children. When I became a single mother of four children, I worked two jobs; one full-time and one part-time. We received NO public assistance of any sort. No food stamps, no child care assistance, no housing assistance, nothing.
Apparently the crown following this story includes a lot of welfare loving, Obama loving individuals. There doesn't appear to be any other reason to collapse this comment.
People should not be having children that they have no hope of supporting on their own.
More foolish white women
More bigoted white boys?
Of course whites are the only racist.
Just don't go down the BS of "Hope & Change", what ever promises you make - keep them. Be willing to work with others who may disagree with you.
This is, you know, a great story but I'm wondering why he's interjecting "you know" every other sentence.
He is young and hasn't yet learned to speak like a robot, politician or tv talking head.
because you're an a-hole.
What a great story.
I live 10 miles north of Ithaca, NY and find this young man refreshing as far as his ability to govern the city of Ithaca. He does have challenges facing him with the corrupt police department but I believe he will soon have that under control
There are several police officers under investigation for assisting drug dealers
The young mayor has several of his police officers under investigation for assisting drug dealers