By Glenda Cadogan


There is a little girl who lives in the heart of Brownsville, Brooklyn . We do not know her by name, but we know her by her social condition. The daughter of a welfare mother, she lives in abject poverty. She is lost, alone, uneducated and misguided. She is seemingly hopeless, assuredly voiceless. But a new day is dawning for this little girl. Its first rays of sunlight were seen on Tuesday, September 12, 2006 when Yvette D. Clarke, a second-generation Caribbean American woman was elected as the Democratic candidate for the 11 th Congressional District.

Stephen Finger, who is running on the Republican line and Marianne Blume on the Conservative Party line are seen as no competition for Ms. Clarke in the nearly 80 percent Caribbean and African American district. However, though her victory in November is a virtual certainty, she continues to campaign hard, taking nothing for granted and seeking a huge voter turnout to give her unparalled voter approval to take with her to Washington .

So w ith Clarke's election, that little girl will have a role model, but moreover, she will have gained a voice in The United States House of Representatives. And there are countless others who have been disenfranchised and marginalized, who are looking to Clarke to sound a different trumpet on Capitol Hill.

In an interview with The Positive Community, the congresswoman-elect looked beyond the grueling election battle by committing herself to her constituents in general but to the “next generation” in particular. “I will be spending a lot of time and energy working with people who share this vision for a better life for the next generation,” she said. “I am just overwhelmed by the work that needs to be done in areas like Crown Heights and Brownsville which has one of the poorest census tracks in the nation. However, my enthusiasm is fueled by the fact that children need to see that there is hope. They need to know that they can rise above their surroundings,” she added. “They need to see that this is something beyond what they get on MTV or BET or the images that are portrayed as successful through our mass media and popular culture.” Her duty, she said “is to pull resources and develop a support system that helps our children out of this poverty syndrome. In my opinion, this poverty syndrome is nothing more than a legacy of slavery.”

Clarke, the daughter of successful immigrant parents, Leslie and Una Clarke, was born at the then Brooklyn Jewish Hospital, which is located in the Congressional district she will most assuredly represent. Her mother Dr. Una S.T. Clarke, has her place in history as the first Caribbean-American elected to the New York City Council. She served for 10 years and left a powerful legacy before she was term-limited out in 2001. That's when the younger Clarke woman stepped boldly into the political arena and succeeded her mother as the representative of the 40 th Councilmanic District.

Her journey to Washington is a long and colorful one on roads paved with Caribbean pride and black nationalism. She was a candy striper at Kings Country Hospital , a day care sitter, a retail clerk and a postal worker. (From her experience in the latter she says she totally understands the meaning of the term, “going postal”). And then there is this little known fact of which she is quite proud. “Very few people know that I was a contestant in the Miss Jamaica USA Pageant,” she said. “I was Miss Glenn's Jerk Chicken and I placed fourth,” she said with girlish pride as she embraced the memory. But in her heart, Clarke's ambition was to be a pediatrician. As a child my pediatrician was a black woman. I thought Dr. Thompson was a miracle worker because she fixed every bump and bruise I had. But because she was a black woman and a doctor, she became my role model. So I seriously wanted to become a doctor.” So serious that Clarke became a science major and pursued an education track known then as Murrowmed – a series of courses that prepared high school students for medical school.

However, the close relationship between Clarke and her mother and the family's strong history in the Black Liberation struggle, were influences that resulted in her pursuit of electoral politics. For her two terms in the City Council, Clarke has been an outstanding lawmaker. She has been a vocal advocate on women's issues and as co-chair of the Council's Women's Caucus, she secured $9.5 million in funding for 24 organizations that address issues such as domestic violence prevention, breast cancer awareness, housing advocacy and HIV/AIDS counseling for New York City women. She was unquestionably one of the strongest voices in the Council. She had to be. She had the large shoes of one Una Clarke to fill. Though that may have been the public's perception, to Clarke, she never had to live in her mother's shadow. “To everyone on the outside looking in, they have their view of Una Clarke,” she said. “And though I can see what people see, to me she is just Mom. Our relationship has been such a close one that I think we live vicariously through each other. So in other words, I never felt I had to fit into her shoes; I've been walking in them with her all my life,” she said. “My mother and I came of age together understanding what it means for our community to have a political voice. I am fortunate that she laid a very strong foundation and empowered a constituency within a constituency.”

According to Clarke, she believes that her mother's run for the same 11 th Congressional seat against the incumbent Major Owens in 2002 solidified that foundation. “Then my run against Major Owens in 2004 showed people that it was possible.”

Now, having the distinction of being only the second Caribbean woman in Congress following in the footsteps of the incomparable Shirley Chisholm, Clarke is taking the mandate given to her by 31.9 percent of the voters very seriously. She believes her victory for this historic Voting Rights district proves that electoral politics in Central Brooklyn is changing. “Voters are making their preferences known,” she said, adding, “And in so doing, they are supporting candidates who are reflective of their values and who have allegiances to the issues that will help move their families and children forward. That's the person they see in me. Therefore, my principal goal must be to empower this constituency within a constituency; to open many more corridors for people to utilize their talents and skills. Because America is that type of nation.”

Clarke believes that her story is one that is the embodiment of the concept of village rearing. “People often talk about it takes a village to raise a child,” she said. “But no one talks about what that product is. And if that product feels indebted to the village, what would the product do to support the growth and development of the village? Well, I see myself as that product,” she continued. “And I had a very positive experience growing up in the village. It is as a result of this sheltered upbringing in the village that I am who I am. And I am the eternal optimist. I recognize that there is evil and pain and crime and all the negative aspects of the village. But in my heart, I also believe that there are more people of good in the world. And to the last day, good will always overcome evil. This is what I am taking with me to Congress.”
And so the little girl in Brownsville sits and waits. Hope is on the horizon. On January 3 when Yvette D. Clarke is sworn into Congress and takes her seat in the south wing of the Capitol building, maybe, that little girl will whisper Maya Angelou's words: ‘I too can be a woman, phenomenally. A phenomenal woman, that's me.' But maybe, though without a physical home and still in search of mental freedom, her petition will be on behalf of the “land of the free and the home of the brave,” as she reflects on the prayer that is the National Anthem of Jamaica:

Eternal Father, Bless our Land,
Guide us with thy mighty hand,
Keep us free from evil powers,
Be our light through countless hours,
To our leaders, great defender,
Grant true wisdom from above,
Justice, truth be ours forever.