Meet Pious Ali, The First Ghanaian To Hold Elected Office In Portland, US

Pious Ali

Pious Ali has been elected Mayor Pro Tem

He is the first in the US state of Maine

Ali before going to the States was a journalist in Ghana

Pious Ali, a 52-year-old Ghanaian-born American, has been elected as the Mayor Pro Tem in Portland, Maine, becoming a member of the city’s elected Board of Public Education.

A tweet by the Ghana Embassy in Washington DC indicated that Ali achieved that height in his political life because he has been the longest-serving city councilor in Portland, Maine.

“Meet Councilor @PiousAli: the first Ghanaian to win an election in the United States (US) and be elected into any US public office.

“Now Councilor Ali is Mayor Pro Tem, he became that by virtue of being the longest serving city councilor in Portland, Maine,” the tweet stated.

About Pious Ali

Pious Ali, a well-known public advocate, and voice for the immigrant communities before leaving Ghana to the US in 2000, worked in Ghana as a photojournalist. When he got to the States, he first arrived in New York but after two years, he moved to Maine in 2002 where he married and started a family. He has two children and the oldest will graduate from high school this year.

Pious Ali, after settling in Potland, started to look out for those who were marginalized and gave them support especially young people.

According to a report by portlandphoenix.me, Councilor Ali worked with the Preble Street Teen Shelter, the Oxford Street Shelter, Seeds of Peace, and with programs in neighborhoods like Kennedy Park, Riverton Park, and Sagamore Village. Eventually, he founded an organization called Maine Interfaith Youth Alliance, which brings kids together to talk about public service.

While doing all these, Ali noted, he had no thoughts about seeking elected office. He had no interest in politics, or at least organized politics but after prodding from a friend, he “reluctantly” took out papers to run for the School Board in 2013.

He said his work involving youth in the community helped him win the seat, and he discovered a calling.

“I was accessible to a lot of people across the city,” Ali said. “Even though I was on the School Board, sometimes I would receive emails from people about city-related issues. Then I would forward the email to whoever I should, or meet with people to talk and help them find solutions to whatever issues they were bringing forward.”

Ali was weighing his options as to run for the City Council, when the time came for him to seek reelection.

He said he put out a feeler on social media, and the outpouring of positive responses was “overwhelming.”

“At the core of what I do, I think that elected office is an elevated platform and an elevated opportunity to look at some things or the way I look at the world, the type of community I want to live in,” Ali said. “Being on the council gives me the opportunity to look at things through the lens that I want to see.

“How can we bring people who are on the extreme end of every issue together and talk about these issues? How can we bring people who traditionally do not have access to power access to that decision-making table, who the system does not engage when the system is making a decision? How can we equitably share opportunities that this amazing city brings forward?”

“I don’t count scores,” he said. “Even on some of the initiatives I took the lead to bring forward, I would not have been able to do it by myself. So working collectively both with those I agree with and those that I don’t agree with is what I see as success.”

.ghanaweb.com