Dominican men have always possessed the capacity to chart successful paths. The truth is many men of Dominican lineage have soared to prosperous heights – often quietly and devoid of fanfare – in sectors or occupations few dare to travel. In celebration of the Dominican Republic’s Independence Day, we salute five Dominican men you need to know.
Thomas Edward Perez
Chairman, Democratic National Committee
What’s the alternative when your dreams of playing professional baseball evaporate as quickly as your breath in cold weather? Become the nation’s 26th Secretary of Labor and that’s just for starters. Nominated by then President Obama, Secretary Perez, the son of first-generation Dominican immigrants who was born in frigid Buffalo, NY, has a list of educational and professional credentials that rival the most intelligent brain trusts in Washington, DC. A graduate of Brown (undergraduate) and Harvard (Schools of Law and Government), Perez was directly accountable for fostering, promoting and executing national programs that benefited wage earners and job seekers as well as improve working conditions and assuring work-related benefits and rights. All of this while overseeing 28 agencies, 17,000 employees and nearly $100 billion dollars. Not without his critics and professional setbacks throughout his career, Perez is the first Dominican-American to hold a presidential cabinet post and joins only a handful of Latinos to hold such a distinction. If that weren’t successful enough Perez is now serving as the head of the DNC, were fighting for issues such as DACA, Obamacare and energizing the democratic base are his new mission.
Image credit- Joshua Lott/Reuters/Corbis