A week ago, I had no idea who John Fritchey was. I have been living in the United States for over 20 years and until now I had never heard of Illinois’ Assistant Attorney General and State Representative John Fritchey. Maybe it was the fact that I lived in Miami, Florida and I didn’t follow state politics. Or maybe there was no need for me to know who John was. After all, there are many American politicians like Mr. Fritchey that I don’t need to know or will never get to know in my life. But, this politician in particular, John Fritchey, has a story that caught my attention and sent me straight to Google looking for more information.
Born on March 2, 1964 at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, Louisiana. Son of a Vietnam veteran father and a Moroccan immigrant mother from Oujda, John Fritchey is a true example of the American dream.
After changing homes for few years moving from one air force base to another, John and his parents returned to southern Illinois where his father grew up. When John turn 2 years old, his parents got divorced and he and his mom moved to Chicago. A very difficult period in John’s life that will shape his personality forever.
His single mother who hardly spoke English decided to stay in the United States despite the challenges she faced as a Moroccan immigrant. Making a decision between going back to Morocco to be with her family and giving her son a better future was the result of who John is today.
While struggling to make ends meet, John’s mother was a big believer in good education. She enrolled her son in The Latin School, under a financial hardship scholarship. John graduated from the Latin School and moved to the University of Michigan where he got an economics degree. Keeping with his education and mother’s push to be the best, John went to Northwestern University Law School in Chicago where he received his law degree.
After he graduating from the law school, John worked as Illinois’ Assistant Attorney General, representing the State. John’s strong desire for service continued to drive him to do more. He run for State Representative and was first elected to the Illinois General Assembly at the age of 32.
While the whole world stood still to watch history in the making, the election of Barak Obama, another chapter was about to be written. John Fritchey, also a son of an African immigrant, decided that it was time to expand his role in the government. John announced that he is running for the former U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel in the 5th Congressional District.
As a Moroccan American, I got to know John through his campaign web site, www.fritchey.com. I learned about his vision, what he stands for on healthcare, immigration, foreign affairs and the economy. More over, I learned that he supports Morocco’s plan for the Sahara.
Excited about the idea that an American, son of a Moroccan immigrant, was running for Congress, I sent John an email to tell him how proud I was of his accomplishments. John Fritchey wrote, “As a Moroccan-American I am proud of my heritage and I look forward to representing our community, and all communities, with distinction in the U.S. Congress."
I am looking forward to the day when the first Moroccan American would be elected to Congress. More than ever, we should unite and support a person that embodies the American dream, Congressman candidate John Fritchey.
Visit the official site: www.moroccanamericansforfritchey.com
Let’s make history AGAIN in 2009 by electing a
Moroccan-American to the US Congress!
“As a Moroccan-American I am proud of my heritage and I look forward to representing our community, and all communities, with distinction in the U.S. Congress.”-Illinois State Rep. John Fritchey, Democratic Candidate for U.S. Congress, 5th District, Illinois.
Sponsors
Ambassador Ed Gabriel, Fatima Kurtz, Driss Temsamani, Hassan Samrhouni, Jordan Paul, Jim Zogby
Co-Hosts
Jean AbiNader, Bob Holley, Ambassador Roger Noriega, Garth Neuffer
invite you to help elect this important Moroccan-American to the US Congress. This is an historic opportunity to elect someone from our
community to such a critical and influential position
But he needs our help RIGHT NOW.
(The primary election is March 3, 2009, so John needs our help today!)
$2,400 Sponsor - $1,000 Co-Chair - $500 Host
Donate here: http://www.actblue.com/page/morocco/
Contributions or gifts to Fritchey For Congress are not tax-deductible for federal income tax purposes. Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation and employer for individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in an election cycle. Corporate contributions are impermissible by federal law.
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Comments (18)
"The son of a Vietnam veteran, John Fritchey was born on March 2, 1964 at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, Louisiana."
Nothing is said in his site about the Moroccan mother that raised him to be who he is now. I don't blame him, Obama won by distancing himself from anything that smells Islam.
Very sad to see that mentioning that you are from a Muslim country triggers hate and suspicion in this country and in the west as well.
Well we have Mr Osama to thank for placing us among the most hated race on the face of the Universe.
Anyway if he's for the autonomy, then this tells me that he understands that Algeria is the fabricator of this long lasting conflict. he's got my support.
I don't want to spoil your depression festival
But don't you see anything positive in this?
Your question was:
"don't you see anything positive in this?"
Answer:
Mr Driss mentioned that John is a son of a Moroccan immigrant and asked us to check his site, I did my homework and did just that. I went to his site expecting this guy to mention his mother from Morocco, to my surprise he only mentioned that his father who left him is Vietnamese and his Moroccan mother who chose to suffer in the US to give him a good eduction was not mentioned at all.
I understand that he chose to hide his mother's Nationality from his site because of politics.
Now what's positive about that?
I am sure that you as a moroccan will never hide your mother's nationality to gain votes and support, if anything you will be proud of your mother that raised you despite the extremely hard circumstances, if anything you will use her as an example that by working hard and being persistent, you can reach your hopes and dreams and that obstacles in her life made you realize that everything can be conquered if you just put your head and soul into it.
I would however give you credit for mentioning "Depression festival" , I found it pretty funny and I actually thought that you can be entertaining.
take care yourself.
Mohammed C.
Warm regards,
Boubker Mazoz
Why all this negativity? Why you search meticulously to spot an error or a negative point just so you can say NO. Even if this guy does not mention his mother's origins for obvious reasons, show your support just because you have something in common with him.
He is a politician, and politicians know what people what to mention, and not mention, in their campaigns. Why would he give his rivals the chance to find something they can viciously manipulate to defeat him or put him on the defensive. He is a politician running a public campaign and needs to avoid anything sensitive. Let's face it:Morocco and Islam can be sensitive issues in American politics.
Let's focus on the positives, this guy supports the official Moroccan stance on Sahara issue. That should be a good reason to show your support for him, regardless if he mentions his Moroccan or Burkinabi mother.
Thank you Driss for the effort in spreading the word.
What can I say man, I have been following your comments ever since the Wafin Forum, and I can tell you that I have seen lots of people hanging around The Moroccan Political Cool Aid fountain. I am happy to tell you that you are definitely NOT one of them. I can also tell that you are well read and you do NOT allow your belly botton to do the talking as it is copiously manifested in this thread alone.
Thank you Sir!! I do mean it
Polisario finds ears to listen to their "plight" because the abuse of the Moroccan government against Sahrawi is embarrassing and shameful. It is not because of anti-Moroccan senators or congressmen.
Few years back, it was reported that the Police partially burned some Sahrawi activist while he was in custody.
Do you condone these acts?
I don't and for that reason I will not stand with the official stand of the Moroccan government until they renounce these abuses or put security officials on trial anytime they commit these crimes.
I will continue to defend the Sahara while keeping distance from the official line.
Cheers.
While your concern for the human rights in the Sahara is a valid one, I am afraid you are mixing it all up.
Firstly, as we all know, human right violations are taking place in all of Morocco, not in only in Sahara. So to stand up for the human rights, one would stand up for the principle and denounce any occurrence of it in the whole country. Morocco has made some giant steps in that respect but still has a long way to go.
Secondly, showing support for the above mentioned candidate does not mean you are supporting any alleged human right abuses in Morocco. It's not an either-or situation. You can show support this candidate because he is a future friend of Morocco in the Congress, and continue your denunciation of any human rights abuses taking place in Morocco.
Lastly, let's not fall in the trap of the reactionary and negative attitude. This guy Driss chose to be positive and optimistic and acted upon his positive attitude to support this candidate, regardless of how allegedly flawed his logic is. He chose not to sit idle and do nothing but criticize the initiatives of others and find faults in them. At least he is doing something. That's much better than nothing.
To Tendrara,
I don't think it's fair to accuse others of being government's sycophants, unless if you have some valid evidence. Nobody here mentioned Rabat. I would encourage you to make a point and defend it in this forum instead of throwing allegations left and right.
Thank you all.
I say basta, enough, baraka, assez.
It is simply not working, Morocco should not rely on congressman, senator, or an assemblyman to make their case. Morocco needs to show the work that they are serious and they mean what they say. When you read about Morocco on the western press, all you see is bad news or perhaps the anecdote that an 80 years grandma that had a fetus in her stomach and she never noticed or the guy who claimed that he cures AIDS and cancer and people were visiting him from all over Morocco or the many bloggers that were arrested and Barcelona fan who got his butt kicked in jail.
Here is something for you those who want us to shup up and who accuse us that we are hiding behind our computers and criticizing " every good deed", instead of lobbying congressmen and senators, why don't we support our public servants and make them respond to the will of the people? why don't we help them become decent human being? why don't we help them eradicate theft that engraved in their brain? why don't we help them help themselves? why don't we help them start caring about the country and its citizen and not only their own people?
Why don't we help them help us?
This is not to diminish the work that some such as Hassan, Driss, and others do to bring about peace to Morocco. This is simply to say that we need to start doing things the other way not the usual way.
Bouteflika just received the UN envoy and made clear to him that " no referendum for independence, no peace"
"Morocco has made some giant steps in that respect but still has a long way to go."
Clearly, you and I are not even in the same ball park. I have heard this hollow statement thrown around so many times, dare I ask where do you guys get your facts and figures from?
First and foremost, we need to be politicians to speak about politics, we know we are not !! The issue here is about a guy that it happens to be a son of a Moroccan Mother from Oujda, Morocco. This guy when he decided to run for office, I guarantee you that he was not thinking or counting on the support of the Moroccan community, and I'm sure again, that one of these guys who sponsor him found out about his relationship to Morocco and they are trying to support him just because of that , therefore, we need first to applaud these people that we know some of them are natives, and showed their true love to Morocco for years . these people put their money on this candidate just because of his Mother relationship to Morocco. on the other hand, I assure you again. if this gentleman was 100 % pure blood Moroccan, one of you would said. This guy is Fassi or Rbati , why I will put my own Casawi money on a Fassi to be a congressman , Lkhbar fraasek
Driss Talbi
He is a great example of an insider politician.
This guy's stepfather was the brother of the famous real estate mogul Charles Swibel, and Chairman of the Chicago Housing Authority, who was quite close (to put it mildly) to Mayor Daley.
He married into a political family, the Banks. Please check out his wife's uncle, Alderman William Banks and his father-in-law Samuel Banks. Now, the article focuses on the "hardships" that his mom had to face etc, but does not mention any of the details above. Why?
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