Last Tuesday when I saw the film Street Fight by Marshall Curry, I had no idea what to expect. As a New York City girl who was 6 years old at the time, I had no recollection of the national importance the mayor election between Sharpe James and Cory Booker had on the people of Newark, let alone the nation. Marshall Curry depicts the story of the corruption, emotion, and raw details surrounding the election in his first documentary.

I found the documentary very interesting to watch and felt myself rooting for Cory along with Curry and the rest of his campaign. Even though Booker lost the election to incumbent Mayor James, I was surprised to see how much faith he still kept for himself and for Newark — the man really wanted to see a better Newark rise out of their local government. Booker himself grew up on the streets of Newark and knew the neighborhood well. I loved his genuine commitment to try to make Newark a better city for those who were economically struggling and his will to convince people on the streets why he should become the next mayor of Newark.

One of the moments that struck me the most during this film was during the slander surrounding Booker by his opponent Sharpe James. Booker was accused of being a correspondent with the KKK, that Jews were giving him his money, a lot of really ridiculous accusations in order to keep Sharpe the mayor for the next 4 years. Representatives for James ridiculed Booker for being Stanford and Yale-educated and even went to say he wasn’t part of the true black community because of his light skin. One of Booker’s representatives openly spoke about Booker’s character and believed in him as a good man, as well as his platform. “Don’t hate him because he’s educated, we should be wanting the same for our kids to be like him.”

I loved hearing about what Marshall Curry had to say about his film and what followed after the end of the documentary. Booker eventually went on to become mayor of Newark in 2006 and subsequently the Senator of New Jersey. A lot of people, himself included, were surprised at the success the film has had — it went on to receive an Academy Award nomination — especially since a large part of the work was Curry himself filming the streets of Newark alongside the candidates. I myself am proud to see how far this film has some and can’t wait to see what other works Curry has in store.