Dennie Quill, Contributor

Yvette Clarke's trouncing of her opponent in Tuesday's mid-term elections will take her from her largely working-class Flatbush neighbourhood in New York, to the seat of power in Washington D.C. as the representative of the 11th Congressional District, come January 2007.

Miss Clarke, 42, is the daughter of Jamaican immigrants. As a child she spent many of her summer holidays in St. Elizabeth - no electricity, no television - but where she gained rich experiences about life and the way people moved and had their being. Her historical rise in American politics is something to celebrate, for all too often the news about our brothers and sisters in the diaspora has been so very negative.

Caribbean people began entering the United States in large numbers in the mid-1960s. They encountered a myriad racial and ethnic difficulties and were socially marginalised for the most part. It is therefore critical for the descendants of immigrants from Jamaica and other Caribbean territories to become a part of the political process. Throughout the U.S. there have been recent campaigns to get out the vote of Caribbean people, many of whom felt their vote did not really matter. It now seems that this voter apathy is changing. Miss Clarke garnered 89 per cent of the vote. Of course, this 11th Congressional District boasts a large Caribbean population with an estimated 60 per cent being black or Caribbean. It was a safe seat for the Democrats.

A rising star

Miss Clarke followed her pioneering mother Una, into office in 2001, to serve as council member in Brooklyn and is being tagged as a rising star in Democratic Party circles. As Miss Clarke takes her seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, we wish her well in her future endeavours. We sincerely hope that her strong voice will lobby members of the U.S. Congress on issues of vital importance to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). These would include debt forgiveness, removing the blockade on Cuba, helping to rehabilitate deportees, helping to stem the flow of guns and ammunition into illegal hands and sharing intelligence to fight crime.

Family values

Recently, I listened to Miss Clarke speak at a luncheon here in Kingston which was staged by Hands Across Jamaica for Righteousness. She used the occasion to reinforce the importance of family and family values. The mother-daughter team exhibited a strong bond and as I listened to Una introducing Yvette, she couldn't mask the pride in her voice. She suggested that her daughter, who is not only beautiful, but also intelligent, would offer much to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Miss Clarke stressed the value lessons she learnt during her Jamaican summers. The way village children were totally integrated, whether their feet were shod or not, and the friendliness of the people, offering a smile (sometimes toothless) no matter what. She spoke of the respect accorded the elderly and bemoaned the fact that some of these values have now evaporated.

Growing up with her Jamaican parents in New York, Miss Clarke said she and her brother were never allowed to forget their Jamaican roots; they ate Jamaican and they understood the significance of the Jamaican culture. As testimony to this, I watched intently as she sang the Jamaican National Anthem.

There are other Jamaicans who have made inroads in local politics in other States of the Union. We hope they will follow Miss Clarke into Congress too. All of these efforts add to the international impact of the contributions made by Caribbean folks to their adopted countries.

Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist who may be reached at denniequill@hotmail.com.