Celebrating Amsalu Kassaw - A Win For Aurora

His Appointment is A Historic Step Forward for Our City and the Immigrant Community

Let's all take a moment to celebrate a historic milestone in our city. Today, I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Amsalu Kassaw on his appointment to the Aurora council.

Amsalu’s appointment marks a profound moment—not just for him, but for every immigrant, every child of immigrants, and every person who has ever been told their voice doesn’t belong in the rooms where decisions are made. He is the first immigrant to serve on this council, and that achievement deserves our full recognition and commendation. It’s a reminder of the resilience, contributions, and leadership immigrants bring to our communities.

Amsalu’s appointment is a a reminder of the resilience, contributions, and leadership immigrants bring to our communities.

I look forward to supporting Amsalu in his success. His leadership will hopefully bring fresh, much-needed perspectives to this council. I hope he will consider the hard truths and opportunities I’ve discussed recently—about courage, equity, and addressing systemic challenges. (For those unfamiliar, I shared these reflections recently—Hard Truths, Courage, and Everything in Between—and I encourage everyone to take a look.)

I also must also take a moment to call out what cannot be ignored. The comments made by current councilmembers Stephanie Hancock, Steve Sundberg, and Danielle Jurinsky in the wake of Amsalu’s appointment expose a troubling pattern.

Sundberg's proud and joking retelling of the time his son "went through the halls of his school to find some Ethiopian kids to join the track team" after he noticed some "weaknesses" on said team demonstrates an absolute lack of understanding—at best—of what inclusion is or what it really looks like in practice, and—at worst—this county's horrendous history of exploiting African men through slavery. What he shared as, what I'm sure he believed to be a harmless and wholesome story demonstrating proof that Aurora loves its diverse population came across to some, myself included, as a modern-day example of white power structures profiteering from Black and African natural resources.

What Sundberg shared came across as a modern-day example of white power structures profiteering from Black and African natural resources

Hancock's casual joke about "eat with your right hand" (in response to another awkward Sundberg comment) also perpetuates and reinforces outdated, harmful, and incorrect stereotypes about Africans and their cultures. Her fake outrage when Councilman Curtis Gardner pointed out their hypocrisy was as unbelievable as Jurinsky's claims to "hear, understand, and acknowledge" all of Mr. Kassaw's supporters. Her repeated media stunts both locally and nationally, in effort to villainize and instill fear in migrants in Aurora have clearly shown she has little tolerance for others despite her theatrics and ready-for-camera posturing and hugs.

Their attempts to use Mr. Kassaw as a shield—leveraging his historic achievement, his willingness to represent his culture and community and his commendable qualifications in order to deflect from mostly legitimate and deserved criticism of their bigotry and support of racism—is blatant tokenism.

It is not enough to celebrate diversity, equity or inclusivity only when it’s convenient or self-serving. It is not enough to appoint leaders of color while dismissing the realities of systemic inequities and hate that still exist in our policies and practices. Tokenism is not progress; it is performance. And performance will not move us forward.

I have no doubt Mr. Kassaw is qualified, willing to serve with honor and integrity and will not allow his skin color or nationality to be co-opted by the elected officials who voiced their support.

Let me be clear: I have no doubt in Mr. Kassaw's qualifications, his willingness to serve with honor and integrity, and I am happy for him and the City of Aurora—particularly the immigrant community he represents. While I do not know him personally, so many people from the community who do know and trust him showed up in support of his appointment. I have faith that he is a man of honor and integrity and will not allow his skin color or nationality to be co-opted by the elected officials who voiced their support.

I write this not as a losing candidate but rather as a Black man and Aurora resident who was sickened by the not-so-subtle tone of moral superiority demonstrated by the council members who chose to grandstand, secure in the knowledge that they can deflect criticism and accusations of perpetuating xenophobia and racism now that they appointed an African.

His appointment is a definite win for so many who have been scared or embarrassed because of their immigration status or nationality due to the lies and rants of local politicians with national professional and personal agendas.

Once again, I extend my sincere and heartfelt congratulations to Amsalu Kassaw. I hope his appointment serves as a catalyst for change and that he will be empowered to push back against performative gestures and advocate for meaningful, equitable progress.

Let’s support his leadership—not as a token, but as a trailblazer for the inclusive future our city deserves.