FLIPPABLE: Amir Malik for MN-HD37B
Amir Malik was born in Hoopeston, Illinois, in April of 1978. Growing up with a sister and two brothers, Amir remembers his early life in this blue collar community as the strong foundation on which he has built his life. “I remember my dad getting up really early every morning, putting on his uniform and leaving for work at the local canning plant. One very special summer, my dad took me with him on a business trip to a food conference. As a little kid, it was great; he worked and I ate…a lot!
One of my brothers joined the U.S. Navy and remained in the Navy during medical school. Even today, he continues to treat active and retired members of our military at a V.A. Hospital. My younger brother is a county attorney in Nebraska. My sister lives the farthest from home; she has made Los Angeles her home, and we try to visit her every year.
I didn’t really like school at first. How many children would say that Kindergarten was hard? For me, coloring within the lines wasn’t easy, and I never got any better at art. Fortunately, things got better at school after that, and while I played basketball and baseball and pickup football after school, I didn’t excel at those either. Even though I didn’t grow up to be the team doctor for the St. Louis Cardinals, I still enjoy playing sports, especially with my own children in our backyard in Blaine
Over the course of my adult life, I’ve experienced profound personal joy in my marriage after meeting my wonderful wife Rim through common friends in New York and the births of our children: Khadijah (14), Muhammad (12), Yusuf (10) and Ibrahim (infant). Being able to raise them in Blaine will ground our children’s lives in a strong sense of community just as my small-town Illinois upbringing did for me. This community is a far cry from the streets of New York City where I lived during law school, and that’s a good thing.
Like most American families, the kitchen was the heart of our home. In fact, our love for family, food and fellowship spilled out into the yard where my parents grew our garden. I remember planting and picking, but mostly I remember sharing the crop in the fall and taking the extra tomatoes and peppers to all our neighbors.
My children are having a very different childhood than I did. I remember liking to be in the public library, reading, because of the air conditioning there. You know, we only got two channels on our television set back then. Now everything is online. No more cards to check out books; it’s so different.
I learned to drive on a stick shift, a Geo Metro. Our family was a Chevy family. At one point, we had two Chevy Corsicas, one blue and one white. I got to drive the white one.
We bought our first home in Blaine. My wife and I are raising our children here in hopes that when they are grown, it will be their choice to build their lives here as well. Can there be any more important reason to serve in the state legislature than to make sure the Blaine our children inherit as grown ups is even better than the Blaine we know now?
http://malikformn.com/
