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Deval Patrick (b. 1956 in Chicago, Illinois ) is a Boston businessman, lawyer and a Democratic candidate for Governor in the 2006 Massachusetts Gubernatorial Race . BIOGRAPHY Patrick was born on Chicago's South Side in 1956, into an African-American family living on Welfare and residing in a one-bedroom Apartment . While in middle school, a teacher of his referred him to A Better Chance , a Boston Not-for-profit Organization that provides urban youth with scholarships to attend private secondary schools. Patrick earned a scholarship to attend Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts . Patrick graduated from Milton Academy in 1974 and from Harvard College in 1978 . He then spent a year working with the United Nations in Africa , and enrolled in a law school there. In 1979 , Patrick returned to the United States and enrolled at Harvard Law School . At Harvard, Patrick was elected president of the Legal Aid Bureau , where he first worked defending poor families in Middlesex County . Upon graduation, he briefly worked as a law clerk, then became an Attorney for the NAACP . While working with the NAACP, Patrick met future President Bill Clinton , then serving as governor of Arkansas . Clinton was being Sued over a Voting Rights case, and the two worked out a Settlement . Also while working with the NAACP, Patrick married Diane Bemus , an attorney specializing in Labor and employment law. In 1986 , Patrick went to work as a private attorney for Hill & Barlow , a Boston law firm, becoming a partner in 1990 , and continued volunteer work with the NAACP. In 1994 , Clinton appointed Patrick to become Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. At the position, he worked on a range of issues, including Racial Profiling , Human Trafficking , and Discrimination . He has been referred to as "quota king" for his strong stance on affirmative action during this time. {Link without Title} In 1997 , Patrick returned to Boston to join the firm Day, Berry, & Howard, and settled a case for Texaco , and was appointed as a legal executive for the company. From 1999 to 2004 , Patrick worked as an executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary of the Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta and New York City . He resigned and returned to Massachusetts in 2004, in part due to conflicts over investigating rumors of violence against workers in Colombian bottling plants ''(see Coca-Cola Company Criticisms for details)''. Deval and Diane Patrick have lived in Milton since 1989 . They have two daughters. If elected the first African-American Governor of Massachusetts, he could be one of up to three (along with Lynn Swann in Pennsylvania and Ken Blackwell in Ohio ) who could become the second African-American Governors in U.S. history. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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