UNA CLARKE:

Former New York City council woman, Una Clarke, wears very little make-up. Her greying hair is cropped short and has been that way since 1968 when she cut it all off in protest.

“It was over 40 years ago. I was in the beauty parlor watching the funeral (of Martin Luther King) on television. As the tears coursed down my face I said to myself, “What can I do to show my support for the civil rights movement?” she told All Woman in an inspiring interview last week. “Then it came to me and I told my hairdresser — cut it off — cut off all the processed hair. I have had my hair this way since then and that is also why I wear very little make-up. It’s my way of saying to white America — watch out!”

It is clear that this is one outspoken woman — something that she quickly admits. It is this frankness that has led her to participate in her share ‘of demonstrations and protests’ during her lifetime and it has also formed the basis for her foray into politics. Clarke served for 10 years as the representative of the 40th District in Brooklyn to the New York City Council. She vacated the post in January 2001 and her daughter, Yvette, was elected to replace her.

Since then, however, she has been given a special assignment by the Governor of New York, George Pataki, to create employment opportunities for Afro-Caribbean nationals in that state and also the Caribbean.

“I was appointed by the governor of New York to lead economic development in the borough of Brooklyn — specifically for Afro-Caribbean groups,” said Clarke, who was in Jamaica recently to receive an award from the St Elizabeth Homecoming Foundation. “I am also his liaison to the Caribbean. I am working on a trade initiative from New York to here. I am looking at job creation for Caribbean nationals in New York.”

Her vision, she said, would include areas such as construction, design and fashion.

‘I am also targeting tourism — looking specifically at design and fashion. I am targeting leisure wear — the high-end market for tourists in the Caribbean. In many of our resorts I see products made in India, etc, and I think that our Caribbean nationals in New York can do just as well,” she explained.

‘I want to see a new cadre of entrepreneurs in the Caribbean. Many here don’t have the capacity to go into business by themselves but if they can partner with someone in New York it can happen — as long as they have integrity.”

“I am looking at working with St Vincent and the Grenadines to help them build an airport there. I have identified a construction firm in New York that would work in the Caribbean,” said the soft-spoken Clarke. “There is also another company that I have identified that specialises in development of historical sites. I think they could be used for the development of Port Royal, Accompong Town and so on.

“They also own cruise lines and franchises throughout the world. A lot of their tourist market are middle-aged persons with interests in exploring historical sites, not the sand and sea.”

According to Clarke, her time spent in politics had given her a great deal of knowledge and contacts. It had placed her, she said, in a strong position to be a mobiliser for persons in the Caribbean and New York.

‘I already know the trade tariffs and leaders in the Caribbean,” she said. “I have been paying attention to Caribbean businesses in New York and how they have positioned themselves.’

‘This is a good time for Caribbean Americans to help the Caribbean if they are smart.

We are doing this because of what happened on September 11. The New York economy has taken a big hit and we are seeking new markets. But this initiative can create jobs in the Caribbean and in New York.”

The 67 year-old educator and businesswoman said that she had already spent a little over a year making links and was now hoping that some of those contacts would soon bear fruit. She stressed that she has been trying to firm up commitments in New York before approaching more Caribbean leaders.

“I am exploring all the angles where we can make a match, so when I approach the Caribbean government I can give them all the nuts and bolts,” she said.

Of course, the St Elizabeth-born Clarke admitted that Jamaica has a special place in her heart, and in her development plans.

“I would like to make a greater contribution to Jamaica as I have access to resources that could benefit more people,” she said, while joking that maybe in a few years she would retire to Jamaica to spend her time ‘under a coconut tree somewhere’.

One of the issues that would have to be tackled though, Clarke said, would be training local entrepreneurs to have greater long-term vision for their businesses.

“A lot of the difficulty is that we are used to one and two-person businesses but not the expansion, for example, into 15 persons in five years,” she said. ‘So we would have to have training to show how you do business with larger communities of business owners. I met with USAID since I have been here and they are looking at ways to develop community economies. Training is also one of their issues.”

Training is something that she has spent a lot of time emphasising. Proper training, Clarke argued, could make the difference between whether a person’s business loan was approved or not.

“I am in charge of putting finances in place for minorities in New York. I recommend training for them in areas such as putting together business plans, credit-worthiness, looking at their financial needs versus their financial worth to see if they are eligible for credit,” she said. “Then I work through the small business association, or the State, or even a bank — we approach on their behalf but we have to make sure of their eligibility.”

Women, Clarke said, make up most of the minority groups seeking funding and starting their small businesses.

“Women are one of our greatest entrepreneurial classes in New York — they come from all fields,” she said.

But what does this self-described ‘advocate for Caribbean economic wholeness’ do in her free time?

“I read, dance and travel,” she said.

But free time is something she has very little of when a typical day finds her in office at 7:00 am. There are various meetings, community and social functions that she attends and most times, she is not home until 1:00 am.

“My husband is used to it, after 45 years of marriage (their anniversary is December 19). My kids were grown when I went into politics so it does not really have a bad effect on my family,” she said, though she admitted that sometimes her schedule limits the time she has to spend with her three grandsons.

She shared her secret for a lasting marriage and a strong family with All Woman.

“The secret is for better or for worse, in sickness and in health. If you see it as part of a religious culture where you make a commitment and take good days and bad.

Marriage is the lynch-pin on which families are grounded. My parents were married for 60 years before my father passed,” she said. “There were six of us, two boys and four girls. They gave us a love that very few kids get today.”

The commitment to her marriage, she said, was strong even in the earlier days when she and her husband were struggling with further education and raising their two children.

“We were both in school together. He would go on a Tuesday and Thursday and I would go on a Monday and Wednesday. So we saw each other and the kids on Fridays and the weekends. It was tough but we were determined not to send them back home for grandparents to raise them like some of our friends were doing,” she said.

Her maternal pride evident as she talked of daughter, Yvette, who succeeded her.

“It was wonderful for me to see my daughter taking over from me. I feel like a Kennedy or Rockefeller — except poor,” she said with a chuckle. “I am honoured that she saw me as a model, especially in politics, to follow in my footsteps. She is really courageous — it is not easy to deal with the scrutiny by the press, laws to ensure transparency. All of these call for courage, especially as a single woman and a force for good in the community.”

“Most single women her age are looking to get married and have kids but politics takes a lot of time. It is hard to balance personal and political life. She represents people from 78 ethnic communities and you have to pay attention to all. So there is very little time for anything else,” she said.

She credits her achievements to God’s work in her life.

“God has used me — to leave the sugarcane farm in St Elizabeth and now to work for a governor is nothing I could have done on my own. I probably could have become rich but I am not rich — some people sow material things and I sow the spiritual,” she said.

One of the things that she still hopes to do is to help inspire other women. For her postgraduate thesis, which she has not yet completed, she wants to do a map for immigrant women who would want to enter politics.

“I went to the USA as a student in 1958. I did accounting and business management for my first degree and then education for graduate work. I did business and economic development for postgraduate,” she explained. “But I have not completed that. I did not give in my dissertation — but if I do complete my dissertation I would do a road map for immigrant women who want to enter politics.”

“I worked part time as a student but the environment is now different since so much has changed since then and September 11. The map would give ideas, but it is not the same road.”

As the interview was about to end, Clarke gave some strong advice to women.

“I have to remind women that there are no heights that a woman can’t overcome, once we have put our mind to it,” she said. “I am still looking for the first female prime minister of Jamaica and president of the US. Women have to organise themselves… and to stop allowing men to be violent to us. Middle class women have to learn to support poor women, knowing that women are women, and the fortunate have to support the less fortunate.”