Meeting face-to –face with Representative Yvette Clarke:
A RESULTS Story By Sarah E. Goodman
Since I was in high school, I have been working within organizations that promote educational access, economic justice, and environmental activism. Most of the models of political engagement that I was exposed to were
limited to direct work or large scale protests. While I admire the people who march in the streets, I found the personal interactions I had with individuals to be more personally rewarding and pursued that route professionally as an educator. Personally, I focused on my individual environmental impact and gave to charities that supported the poor.
As I grew older and lived through the Bush years, I saw the power that our President and Congress had on all of the issues that mattered to me. I remembered walking door to door with my mother when I was ten in Quincy, MA as we campaigned for Senator John Kerry and I decided that that must be the best way to focus my energies to bring about national and global change. In between the endless cycle of breast-feeding and changing diapers, I used my maternity-leave to become very involved in the 2004 campaign for Kerry. When he lost, I
was left feeling emotionally crushed, angry at my country, and disempowered politically. It seemed my voice would not be effectively heard by my government.
Last fall, my brother Dave asked if I would like to be involved in a NYC RESULTS chapter that he was founding and I was immediately intrigued. I loved the idea of working with a family member again on a political cause I cared about, the end of poverty, but it was the other stated goal of RESULTS that spoke to a need within me- that of empowering individuals to have breakthroughs in exercising their personal and political power.
I knew that my Representative in Brooklyn, NY was Yvette Clarke and I knew that she had a fairly progressive voting record- but I had no idea how to contact her office about the issues that mattered to me aside from clicking on a button within an e-mail from some organization I supported. I was hoping my work with RESULTS would help provide me with that road map and it surely has.
During the inviting team stage of our RESULTS group, the first action I was asked to take part in was to call Rep. Clarke’s foreign affairs aid in D.C. and ask the Congresswoman to sign on to the World Bank letter. I agreed to make the call but had little faith it would go anywhere but to someone’s voice mail box. Later that week I found the phone number for the D. C. office on the web, dialed the number, and asked the receptionist if I could speak to the aid in charge of foreign affairs. I was told that he, Jehmal Hudson, was not available but that I could leave a message. So far everything was going as planned and I dutifully left a message and followed up with an e-mail to him directly.
What I was not prepared for was the return call the next day. Not only did he call me back but he had read my e-mail. We had an extensive conversation about the Zellick letter. He had a series of questions for me that I had to answer as “the expert” regarding more specifics on micro-credit, particularly in the Carribean (where Ms. Clarke’s family and many of her constituents are from). Over the course of the next 2 weeks I found myself e-mailing and speaking to this aid many times. I also contacted the RESULTS staff in DC for help with many questions that I just couldn’t answer myself. They were always so knowledgeable and got back to me immediately. Meanwhile, my brother had already secured his Representatives signature on the letter and was working on congress people outside of his district. Some healthy sibling rivalry spurred me on and I kept at it. On the last day that the letter was open, Ms. Clarke agreed to sign it. The feeling of accomplishment I felt when the aid confirmed that she was officially on the letter was amazing and I called Dave right away to share the news.
When it came time in the late fall to ask for a face to face meeting with the congresswoman while she was in her district in April, I felt even more confident that I would reach a real person. I called and asked to speak with the scheduler and was first sent to voice-mail. I left a message and followed up with an e-mail and received a call back within days. The brusk scheduler informed me that she was completely overbooked and that I would be placed on a waiting list. She told me I should not expect to see her in April. Though disappointed I also felt relieved. Our RESULTS group was just starting and I wasn’t really ready to meet with a congressperson yet anyway.
As I promised my RESULTS chapter, I followed up by calling the DC office and asking to speak with the scheduler again in January. This time I was told that there was a new scheduler and I was forwarded to his line. Another voicemail left, another e-mail sent, and another call returned in a few days at 8 at night. This time however, the scheduler was extremely friendly and said that Ms. Clarke did indeed have an opening for our group in April. “How about Tuesday,April 7th at 3:30?” I couldn’t believe that I was having this conversation with my representative’s staff person while trying to finish cleaning the dinner dishes. I wanted to just tell him- “thanks ,but actually, no thanks.” I knew it would be hard to get other RESULTS members to attend the meeting, Passover was coming up, we had another family of four staying at my house, and bottom-line- I was just not ready! But, instead, I said that the time he proposed was perfect and we were looking forward to it.
Luckily, my brother had beat me again by already having organized, and extensively prepared for, a meeting with the district director of his congressperson, Representative Nadler. I was lucky enough to attend this event along with many other NYC RESULTS chapter members so I had some idea about the process of going to a congressional district office for a meeting.
For our meeting, I would be accompanied by my brother and my friend and RESULTS member Rachel Casparian- so that was a relief. I relied heavily on Jen Maurer in the D.C. RESULTS legislative office to put together an agenda and supporting materials. Since our meeting was scheduled after appropriation requests were due, we focused mostly on thanking her for her signing of the World Bank letter, the Holt Education for All letter, and on building a relationship with her. We also brought a packet of information about RESULTS and some additional appropriation requests for her to still consider contacting Representative Nita Lowey about. Rachel and I met an hour before the meeting to review these requests so that we could talk specifically and knowledgeably about them.
When Rachel, David, and I arrived at the office we were amazed at its accessibility. There was no security station and we never had to show ID. Most of the other people in the office were local residents asking Ms. Clarke’s staff for help with immigration issues. When we wrote our names on the sign-in sheet, we were the only ones to indicate we were there to meet with Ms. Clarke directly.
Our meeting was scheduled for 3:30. By 3:45 we were summoned into an office by Anita Taylor, the District Director of her Brooklyn office. Ms. Taylor informed us that Ms. Clarke was running late and was on her way. She apologized profusely and asked if we could start the meeting without her. We spent the next hour getting to know each other. We introduced ourselves and the group to Ms. Taylor and spoke about the poor people around the world who have no voice themselves and who we seek to advocate for by coming to this office. While we didn’t share the Mark Kwadwo story or Jorimon Khan video specifically, we did talk generally about mothers forced to send their children out as laborers and the power a loan of 20$ can have on a poor family. In retrospect, I think sharing one or both of the stories of the individual people would have been appropriate and more powerful. Yet, we clearly moved Ms. Taylor and she asked us many questions about micro-credit and the Global fund and thanked us for being (and I quote) “experts” who could open her eyes. But mostly during that hour we listened to Ms. Taylor. We heard about her life as a child in Belize, her transition to the United States, and her extensive history working for and supporting Ms. Clarke. We shared our appropriation requests and she looked at them and said “You will have no problem with this. Your values are Representative Clarke’s values.” She talked about how Ms. Clarke tries to bridge gaps between the rich and the poor in her own district while fighting for the rights of the poor immigrants she represents and the families around the globe they left behind to come to Brooklyn in search of jobs. The conversation was extremely moving and even brought Rachel to tears at one point.
Around 5:00 Ms. Clarke returned to the office and headed straight to our meeting with Ms. Taylor. She greeted us with a huge smile and seemed truly happy to meet with us. We briefly introduced ourselves and then were honored to hear Ms. Taylor sing our praises to Ms. Clarke. We thanked her for signing the letter to the World Bank and the Pomeroy letter for Education for all. I personally thanked her for having such an accessible office and then we showed her our appropriation requests.
She put her glasses on and looked them over. She looked up at us and said that she was “no stranger to these issues” and would be fighting to promote this agenda. She talked about how growing up in Brooklyn as the daughter of parents from Jamaica post-colonial rule development process has made her sensitive to the needs of Africa. She talked about the “deliberative, collaborative, and consultative approach” our new administration needs to take to nation building. As a member of the homeland security committee and Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, Science and Technology she spoke to the connections between poverty and gun-trafficking in the Carribean and the fight for peace in general.
As the time approached 5:30 we realized that WE would have to be the ones that would have to end the meeting as Rachel and I had childcare issues to attend to. I redirected the conversation by asking her how we could effectively continue to work with her in the future. She told us that she “applauded the work” that we were doing and would strive to be an ally for us. Locally, she recommended we get in touch with other district organizations with similar goals like Parents for Peace. She told us to stay in touch with Ms. Taylor and Diana Patteti in her District Office and Jehmal Hudson in her DC office. She even volunteered to sponsor and possibly attend local community events we may be a part of. On a national level, she suggested that we approach other members of the Congressional Black Caucus as many of their goals overlap with that of RESULTS, including work on malaria and AIDS. She mentioned Barbara Lee (D) CA and chair of the caucus, Gregory Meeks (D) NY, Donald Payne (D) NJ, and Maxine Waters (D) CA as particular members to reach out to. Then, she received a message about an important phone call waiting for her. As we wrapped up the meeting with Ms. Clarke and Ms. Taylor we thanked them both profusely. While exchanging hand-shakes and smiles we put in a last request for a picture with her. Not only was she happy to have her picture taken with us, but there was no rushing as we entered her private office and stood with her by her desk and the American flag (“this is the right spot for the picture don’t you think?” she said).
Rachel, Dave, and I walked out of her office after our two hour meeting in a state of elation and shock. Not only was our Representative committed to the same ideals that we were, but she was committed to working with us on them. Now the ball is in our court to continue to develop the relationship we have started between her and RESULTS and to support her as she continues to be a “champion” for the poor. Working towards the end of poverty will probably be a lifetime goal for the three of us. Meanwhile, after less than a year as members of RESULTS, we have already had real breakthroughs in realizing our political power as citizens in this country.
