Brooklyn councilman Jumaane Williams tried to use a briefcase when he was first entering the workforce, but it “never really worked out.”
Instead, the former candidate for lieutenant governor is often seen with his gray and black backpack — one he’s had for a year or two (“I run through them so much,” he says).
He keeps it on at campaign events, protests and even on dates, and he usually won’t let people hold it for him.
“Staff sometimes is like, ‘Oh, just put it down,’ and I’m like, ‘No, I’m all right, thank you’,” he said, laughing. “And my mom always hated it.”
That devotion left us wondering what he has in his beloved backpack.
Here’s a peek inside:
Wallet, keys and two phones: The basics that he has with him every day.
iPod Touch: Williams hasn’t merged his music with his two Samsung phones, and instead keeps it all on his iPod Touch. “I have a lot of music on there,” he said. His iPod is another item he always has with him, listening to it on his commute and at the gym. “I get very irritable if I can’t get to my music when I need it.”
Headphones: He’s strictly a corded headphones person. “I still have this thing against cordless,” he said. “That’s probably generational.” But he added that he often has to replace them because he loses or breaks them.
A fidget spinner: “It’s a pretty cool one,” Williams said, describing it as gold with different gears. “It’s fun,” he says, adding that he was using it at the time of our interview. “I don’t think I’ve used it in a while … It’s interesting, I know they designed it for people with ADHD and I have Tourette’s syndrome and ADHD, but they didn’t have it when I was younger.”
Court summons surcharge: Williams was arrested at a protest in support of immigrant rights leader Ravi Ragbir in January. Following his trial in August, he has to pay a mandatory surcharge of $250 by October, he said. “I keep this in here so I can remember that,” he said.
Other items: A moleskin pad, a small bottle of cologne, lotion, chargers, campaign literature and some nuts and raisins.
