Produced by students in Communication courses
at Capital Community College

Who is Raul Dejesus?
by Shanielle Redmon | April 2011

There’s no doubt about it, Raul Dejesus made a conscious decision to change all odds against him at a young age. Before Raul was born, his mother had already been tested to overcome her own set of obstacles. She became pregnant her senior year; due to the pregnancy she was not able to graduate from high school. If that was not enough, she was faced with the challenge of raising a child with Down syndrome all by herself. Shortly thereafter, she met Raul’s father and they added on 3 more children to the family. Along with the new additions. Raul’s loving mom, adopted another child with special needs and two other children with drug addictions. These three additional children came from other family members. This laid the solid ground work to understanding where Raul got this amazing strength; from and amazing mom.

Before Raul reached the age of ten, both of his parents had been affected by injuries that left them disabled. Since churches and food pantries were not enough for the family of nine, Raul took matters in his own hand; he had to find a solution. Most kids his age were focusing on sports, game systems and etc. Raul was left to put those luxuries on hold. As Raul stood outside a local grocery store he analyzed how much money he needed to feed his family. Meanwhile, he over heard a couple complaining about how long the cashier took to ring them up and bag their groceries. A light bulb went off in Raul’s mind and he decided to approach the grocery store manger about bagging groceries for free. Raul’s mission was to be paid in tips! Although it was a great plan, Raul was only 10 years old and the manager declined his offer; however, due to Raul’s persistence, the manager allowed him to give it a shot. Raul started bagging groceries and was making about $3 a day. This business mind state was only the beginning for Raul, he would soon there after start cleaning windows and selling chocolate. These other money making ideals brought in about $150 a day. And by the time Raul was 19 years old he a proud homeowner and provider for his family.

Since he never seen himself in a position that he could be at a better place, he was able to stay focused in the midst of opposition. He uses his family as his strength to remain focused on his short and long term goals.

During Raul’s 2005 internship with Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez, he became inspired to run for mayor. Although the internship was a prestigious one, Raul instantly knew he would have to prove himself. Raul wasn’t born into this lifestyle by parents nor social class, just pure dedication. No one paid his dues; everything was up to him to attest. While interning Raul was exposed to some issues that made him even more passionate about becoming a part of the solution in Hartford. One of the main pushes came when he was watching the David Letterman show one night. On this particular show, there was an 18 year old, by the name of Michael Session, who was recently elected mayor of Hillsdale, MI. Session had became the youngest mayor in the United States. Raul was inspired and he began to set out on his own mission to run for Mayor of Hartford at age 18.

He also made preparation to get in contact with Michael Session himself; the two remain good friends to this day. Because of Raul’s courage to run for mayoral office, he was selected to be a part of a movie released in November 2010 called "The Youngest Candidate." The movie consist of Raul and three other young candidates who were determined to run for City offices despite their age.

Given that Hartford is Raul’s birth place, a lot of history and time have been spent there. He believes Hartford is a good City; although, it has the potential to be a great City. Hartford is a melting pot, which welcomes people from different countries.

He acknowledges, due to the fact that there is a lot of movement (migration) in the Hartford schools there will be some degree of social issues. He explains how they do not have the luxury as suburban neighborhoods. Suburban schools typically have home owners; people who have a vested interest in their neighborhood and schools. While the city is more consumed of renters and if you move from one block to another, your child could be in a totally different school. Raul encourages parents to believe in the schools and come together as a whole to address the issues that people tend to not want to address.

Although Raul enjoyed his experience running for Mayor, he is unquestionably not interested in running again. Having worked for the Police department for three years, Raul thought a career in law enforcement would be a good idea for him. At the time, Raul only possessed high school education and a police officer would be the highest paying career for him with job stability; it sounded perfect! Upon revisiting the path, he decided it wasn’t him; he felt it would be settling because it was not his true passion.

This was a tough decision for him, since his family felt like it was the most secure path; it was not his path.

Raul DeJesus presently sits on the board of a couple committees. Just to name a few, The Hartford Food System, The Parents Academy, Charter Oak Boxing Academy and The Youth Commission. He feels it is crucial for him to play these roles in the community because he is able to bring understanding of minorities into a room of more privilege people who may not otherwise been able to comprehend.

Raul and lovely wife Margaret Dejesus have been together now for seven years and married for two. They both welcome Raul Dejesus III into the world March 14th 2011. Raul explains his birth as being the most uplifting thing that has happened to him. Although Raul’s dad only completed the 9th grade and his mother dropped out as a senior in high school, they always instilled the importance of family to Raul. Now it is important to Raul to break this cycle and leave a legacy for his son to continue.

Even though Raul is full of wisdom, he acknowledges that is no set tips or words one can say to assist in the improvement of someone else’s development. He makes it clear that in life we get a lot of signs; some we need to learn how to read and ignore others. Raul knows we all are capable of trying to reach our goals; however the key is not trying for only 5 minutes, but for a lifetime.

Raul’s level of humbleness is simply amazing. When asked if he considered himself to be unique from most young men his age, he proclaims there are a lot of people just like himself. He clarifies that he can juggle a few things that others can juggle too, but choose not to.