Mayor Byron W. Brown of Buffalo, New York

2/01/2017

Mayor Byron W. Brown

c/o Office of the Mayor

City of Buffalo

65 Niagara Square, Room 201

Buffalo, NY  14202

Dear Mayor Brown,

My name is Matt Winick from Ann Arbor, Michigan with a strong interest in learning history with public policy. In these subjects, I like to learn the need to advance on Civil Rights to reduce discrimination, have education reform to improve learning, protect the environment from pollution, and many others.  Mayor Brown, the main reason I’m writing you a letter is to explain how I find your work as current 62^nd Mayor of Buffalo, New York to be very inspiring to me.

In 2005, I was amazed on how you made history by becoming the first African American to become Mayor of Buffalo, New York.   I’m very proud on how you are a strong supporter of protecting women, minorities, and people with disabilities from being discriminated in public places including education. Also on Civil Rights, I like on how you support funding women including minorities businesses to help them compete in the economy, advocate for people with disabilities’ rights, push for laws to combat against hate-crime to protect people who are different, and express the need for equal pay for women.  Funding special education to help students with disabilities get educational accommodations they need, pushing for after school programs to help student get help on their assignments from tutors, working with city council to push for fund to upgrade schools with technology along with renovate the schools to make them safe, implementing Mayor’s Summer Reading program to help improve literacy rates for students including youth who struggle with comprehension, and expanding early childhood education to help young children develop reading skills are great ways to improve education.  On the environment, I liked on how support funds for renewable energy projects (solar, wind, biofuel, and energy efficient projects) to reduce addiction to oil with gas, push for funds to clean up parks including water resources to make them safe for people to use, improve recycling with trash services to help reduce littering while make community clean. Your approach on the criminal justice reform like hiring police officers to patrol the streets including neighborhood to reduce crime, pushing for treatment programs to help drug-users get the care they need, working with law enforcement to find ways to reduce racial profiling, improving to court system to help assist victims of crime or victims of domestic violence get help, and implementing community service to help rehabilitate non-violent offenders including juveniles so they won’t re-offend is common sense.

Mayor Brown, I have Autism with a learning disability. Having a disability is hard for me because I have trouble comprehending on learning different subjects, sometimes I struggle to communicate my thoughts, and get teased.  Your commitment to be a strong supporter of Civil Rights and your support for people with disabilities’ rights really inspires me to work hard on my disability.  Your current role as 62^nd Mayor of Buffalo, New York motivates me to continue my interest in learning history with public policy. My future goal is to someday work in history or in public policy to create common sense ideas to make society a better place.  My letter is a gift to you for inspiring to me and for Black History Month to help recognize African Americans who worked hard to make a great impact for society.

I strongly believe that you make a great difference for society in your current role as Mayor of Buffalo, New York. Mayor Brown, I’m proud on how you work hard to improve education, to make Civil Rights stronger,  to have a better environment, and many others.  I was wondering if you could explain your favorite achievements as Mayor and to share some advice about working hard on a disability.  Here is a picture of me as a gift to you for inspiring me.  Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, making a great difference for society with common sense ideas, and inspiring me. I wish you well to continue to make great progress in your current role.

Sincerely,

Matt Winick

62nd Chaplain Barry C. Black of the U.S. Senate

2/07/2017

Chaplain Barry C. Black of the United States Senate

c/o Office of the U.S. Senate Chaplain

S-332, The Capitol

Washington, D.C.  20510

Dear Chaplain Black,

My name is Matt Winick from Ann Arbor, Michigan and I have a strong interest in learning history. In history, I like to learn the need for Civil Rights to be stronger to reduce discrimination and many others. Chaplain Black, I’m writing you a letter is to explain how I find your work as 62^nd Chaplain of the United States Senate and as an activist to be very inspiring to me.

When you served as a chaplain in the United States Navy for 27 years, I was very proud on how you would give prayers to our troops who serve our country to help them have faith when times are hard or when they struggle from a lost one.  In 2003, I was amazed on how you made history by becoming the first African American to become the 62^nd Chaplain of the United States Senate after being elected to serve.  In your role as the 62^nd Chaplain of the United States Senate, I liked on how you give prayers in Senate sessions to help give hope to constituents along with public officials when there are political obstacles or when people use their political views where it gets extreme.  During the government shutdown in 2013, I was amazed on how you had the courage to speak up and using quotes like “strengthen our weakness, replacing cynicism with faith and cowardice with courage” and  “ Save Us from the madness, and We acknowledge our transgressions, out shortcomings, our smugness, our selfishness, and pride…. Deliver us from the hypocrisy of attempting to sound reasonable while being unreasonable.”  Also when there was news of the delay of death benefits for military families, I liked on how you express your prayers for those families and worked really hard to convince U.S. Senators to support benefits for military families.  Another thing that I really appreciate your work as an activist and as 62^nd Chaplain of the U.S. Senate and as an activist is how you are a strong supporter of Civil Rights along with protect minorities’ rights, be an advocate for people with disabilities’ rights, express the need to help give guidance to youth, support the need for equal opportunity, and emphasize the need for religion to used for good things like accept people who are different or have a disability including care about the poor along with the need to help improve health. These fundamental principles that you value and support is common sense for our country.

Chaplain Black, I have Autism with a learning disability. Having a disability is hard for me because I have trouble comprehending on learning different subjects, sometimes I struggle to communicate my thoughts, and get teased. Your commitment to be a strong supporter of Civil Rights and advocate for people with disabilities’ rights really inspires me to work hard on my disability.  Also as a Christian with a disability, I struggle because many Christians judged me or use prejudice on me based on a disability.  However, your role as 62^nd Chaplain of the United States Senate and your role as a speaker at churches preaching about how religion should be used for good things like accept people who are different (minorities, women, and people with disabilities), the need to help the poor, and many others gives me motivation to continue to be proud to be a Christian when I face different struggles.  Another thing is your role as Chaplain of the United States Senate drives me to continue my strong interest in learning history and to have faith when government has it’s own struggles. My future goal is to someday continue my interest in learning more history, visit some historical sites or museums, and many others to help expand my learning at an even pace.  My letter is a gift to you for inspiring me and for Black History Month to help recognize many African American individuals who work hard to make society a better place.

I strongly believe that you are making a great difference for society, government, and religion. I’m very proud on how you use prayer to help give people from different backgrounds hope when they face different struggles, express the need for religion to be used for good things, support Civil Rights, and advocate for people with disabilities’ rights.  you have inspired me to work hard on my disability, continue my faith as a Christian when I face different struggles, and be motivated to learn history. Also I was wondering if you could please share with me what it is like being Chaplain of the United States Senate.  Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, inspiring me, and making a great impact on society.  I pray for you and your family to do well and to continue using faith with activism to make society a better place. 

Sincerely,

Matt Winick

Hawaii State Representative Beth Fukumoto from Hawaii 36th District

2/14/2017

State Representative Beth Fukumoto

c/o Hawaii State Capitol

415 S. Beretania Street, Room 333

Honolulu, HI   96813

Dear State Representative Fukumoto,

My name is Matt Winick, an Asian American from Ann Arbor, Michigan with a strong interest in learning history with public policy.  In these subjects, I like to learn the need to advance on Civil Rights to help protect people who are different from being discriminated, protect the environment from pollution, and many others.  State Representative Fukumoto, I’m writing you a letter to explain how I find your ole as a moderate Republican State Representative from Hawaii 36^th District and your commitment to the Asian American Community how you inspire me.

In your current role as State Representative from Hawaii 36^th District , I’m very proud on how you are a moderate Republican along with working with Democrats on many issues like Civil Rights, the environment, and many others when your own party gets too extreme on different issues. On Civil Rights, I like on how you advocate for people with disabilities’ rights, support funding women including minorities businesses to help compete in the economy, and express the need for women to have equal pay. On the environment, I like on how you are supporting renewable energy projects to help reduce addiction to oil with gas, providing funds to help protect parks including water resources along with beaches to make them safe for people to use, and emphasizing small businesses along with industries on using energy efficient products to reduce high energy cost.  Pushing for funds for special education to help students with disabilities to get educational accommodations they need, providing schools with money to help fix their schools, implementing after school programs to help youth get assistance on their assignments or get them engage in the community, and supporting funds for the arts including diversity classes to help make learning more diverse are great ways to improve education while make a learning environment a better place.   To improve public safety, I like your approach like increase funding to combat against Little Fire Ants to protect wildlife along with people,   Co-sponsor legislation to help reduce homelessness by increasing more shelters including medical services,  propose measures on increasing school safety, and work with both political parties to find ways to fix infrastructures.   Expanding on educational awareness about Asian American Pacific Islander with Asians to help teach people about their culture,  advocating for Asian Americans with disabilities, and providing funds to help Asian American communities get the help they need to improve their community, and expressing the need for more Asian Americans to be in public service is common sense and a great way to improve awareness about Asian American. 

State Representative Fukumoto, I have autism with a learning disability. Having a disability is hard for me because I have trouble comprehending on learning different subjects, sometimes I struggle to communicate my thoughts, and get teased.  Your commitment to being a strong supporter of Civil Rights, advocating for people with disabilities’ rights, and emphasizing the importance on making Civil Rights stronger really inspires me to work hard on my disability.  As an Asian American with a disability, I face many struggles due to some Asians including Asian Americans being judgmental or using prejudice on me due to not meeting their standards and push me away from social groups.  When I face these struggles it is hard for me to have hope along with feeling like I don’t fit as an Asian American.  However, your role as an Asian American in public service and your commitment to help Asian American community with awareness and your support for Asian American with disabilities really gives me motivation to be proud to be an Asian American when I struggle with a disability.  In 2017, I enjoyed watching your speech at the Womens March in Hawaii on youtube because you did an excellent job explaining the need for respect for diversity, protect women’s rights, and make Civil Rights stronger.  Another thing is I was very proud on how you had the courage as a moderate Republican to give that speech and standing up for good values when the party gets too extreme. My letter is a gift to you for inspiring me, to express my appreciation for your commitment to make society a better place, and to help give motivation to you to continue to work hard when you face different political obstacles.

I strongly believe that you are making a great difference for society including the Asian American community.  Even though you struggle in your own party for standing for good principles, I’m very grateful for your commitment to be a strong ally for Civil Rights, the environment, Asian American communities, and many others.  If you decide to leave Republican Party, I wish you the best to continue to make a great impact on society and will support your decision. You have inspired me to work hard on my disability, be proud to be an Asian American with a disability when there are struggles, and continue my interest in learning history. I have enclosed a picture of me as a gift to you for inspiring me and I hope my letter can give you motivation to continue your work including give you inspiration.  Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, working hard for good policies when there are political obstacles, and inspiring me.  Keep up the great work and please continue to make a great difference for society and Civil Rights and even the Asian American community.

Sincerely,

Matt Winick

Mayor Rosalynn Bliss of Grand Rapids, Michigan

2/22/2017

Mayor Rosalynn C. Bliss

c/o  Office of The Mayor

City of Grand Rapids

300 Monroe Avenue, N.W.

Grand Rapids, MI  49503

Dear Mayor Bliss,

My name is Matt Winick from Ann Arbor, Michigan and I have a strong interest in learning history with public policy. In these subjects, I really enjoy understanding the need to make Civil Rights stronger to reduce discrimination, protect the environment from pollution, make education a better learning environment, and many others.  Mayor Bliss, the main reason I’m writing you a letter is to explain how I find your work as Mayor of Grand Rapids, Michigan to be very inspiring to me, share you my experience in visiting Grand Rapids, MI, and many others.

In January 2016, I was amazed on how you made history by becoming the first woman to become Mayor of Grand Rapids, Michigan after winning the 2015 Mayoral election.  On Civil Rights, I really like on how you express the need for equal pay for women to protect them from being discriminated in pay based on gender, push for funding women including minorities businesses to help them compete in the economy, and advocate for people with disabilities’ rights.  Your approach on improving the economy like expand job-training programs to help train youth including workers to develop job-skills to help prepare them for the workforce, implement businesses programs to help women including minorities learn how businesses works, encourage businesses to hire women, minorities, and people with disabilities to work is common sense.  On education, I liked on how you expand funds for special education to help students with disabilities get educational resources they need to learn, push for afterschool programs to help engage youth in recreation or get help on their assignments, and provide funds for the arts program to make education diverse. Supporting funds for renewable energy sources to reduce oil with gas, implementing volunteer programs to clean up the city including parks from litter, pushing business to use energy efficient products to reduce high energy cost, and working on river restoration projects to help clean the river along with other water resources to make them safe for people to use is a very excellent approach on protecting the environment while improving people’s lifestyle.  Another thing that I like about your work in your current role as Mayor of Grand Rapids, Michigan is how you use your experience in working in social work to push for treatment programs to help drug-users get the care they need to reduce addiction, work with other community organizations to find ways to help people who are low-income or youth who struggle with different needs, expand on law enforcement services to help victims of crime including provide funds for forensic science to make solving crimes efficient to reduce sending an innocent person to jail,  and work with public schools to find ways to have counseling services including anti-bullying to help protect women, minorities, and people with disabilities from being targeted based on their origin.   Also I like on how you provide funds to help preserve museums including other attractions including Art Prize Festival and do an excellent job recognizing people who are different like women, minorities, and people with disabilities who work hard to make a society a better place to make learning history, culture, and art fun to learn.

Mayor Bliss, I have Autism with a learning disability.  Having a disability is hard for me because I have trouble comprehending on learning different subjects when I learn a new subject or task, sometimes I struggle to communicate my thoughts, and get teased. Your commitment to be a strong supporter of making Civil Rights stronger and advocate for people with disabilities’ rights really inspires me to work hard on my disability. Also your approach from your social work experience including your work on improving social justice gives me motivation to watch documentaries along with read articles about the need to improve social justice.  I have visited Grand Rapids where I went to see Frederik Meijer Gardens where I got to learn about different plants, go to the Art Prize festival to see different artwork along with learn different artist perspective, and visit the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum where I enjoyed learning about President Ford’s life with his presidency including paying respect the President Ford and first lady Ford in their memorial.  Your work as current Mayor of Grand Rapids, Michigan drives me to continue  to be interested in  learning history with public policy.

I strongly believe that you are making a great difference in your current role as Mayor of Grand Rapids, Michigan. I’m proud on how you are working hard to make a positive impact on social justice, the environment, Civil Rights, and many others. I have enjoyed visiting Grand Rapids and seeing some attractions with museums where I enjoy learning different things.  You have tremendously inspire me to work hard on my disability, understand the importance of the need for social justice, and continue my interest in learning history with public policy.  Here is a picture of me as a gift to you for inspiring me.  Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, working to improve society, and inspiring me. I wish you well to continue your role as current Mayor and I hope someday I can get a chance to meet you.

Sincerely,

Matt Winick