Dalbin Osorio

and the Magna Cum Laude under my undergraduate degree despite spending ten days in the Intensive Care Unit. What my resume does not tell you is that I was kicked out of college and fell into a deep depression as my mom became sick and my dad re-entered my life. It does not tell you that I was fired from a job for offering to purchase sneakers for a youth that did not have any. It does not tell you that my mother worked until her hands bled to make sure we never went hungry. It does not tell you that I am standing here today as proof that the systems currently in place are not fair and that you can work to bring them down while working to uplift those around you. It is the strength I found in those moments of failure that make me who I am. I am running because politics, in general, has a lack of representation in regards to people of color. We followed a qualified candidate that happened to be Black with one of the most unqualified candidates to ever run for office, and this person won by stoking a racist fear that had been dormant in people for a long time. I believe that it is time that all levels of politics represent the most qualified regardless of race, and President Obama made it acceptable for someone like me to run. I am running for this particular office because Montgomery County is my community, and there is a unique perspective that is severely lacking from the people that have been on the council in the past. They have been attorneys and businesspersons, and while their perspective is appreciated there are very few people who are actually on the ground every day working with the children impacted by the policies that they are working to pass. I speak to my neighbors and fellow community members and hear from them how they don't even know what the Council does despite being impacted by zoning policies or minimum wage law implementations. As a Montgomery County Councilperson, this office would allow me to collaborate with other members of the council on issues that directly impact the people I serve and interact with on a daily basis. I am still connected to this Community, and think it is important that that perspective is not lost.