Kamilah Clark, a third-generation Newark resident and a third-year social-work student at Rutgers-Newark, is getting closer to her goal in life: fighting to change the face of education in the city that she loves and hates at the same time.
“Newark is a tough city to live in,” she says, “and every day I push myself to get to where I want to be. It takes hard work, a lot of hard work.”
Clark, who dresses in loosely fitted jeans, an old T-shirt and a thin jacket, with neatly braided hair, and a pair of oval-shaped glasses, lives on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard with her family. She attends Rutgers-Newark.
She is an outspoken individual. When Cory Booker visited her and her family during a cookout last summer, Clark seized the opportunity to talk with Booker about all the problems that the Newark public school system suffers from. She suggested that all students should learn a new language when they are in elementary school to gain more diversity and help the city rise above its circumstances. She went on to join Booker’s campaign team.
The struggles of Newark’s schools are one part of her family’s history. In her family, only she and her mother’s younger sister have a college education. Her aunt also went to Rutgers University-Newark, and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She further pursued her education by striving for a master’s degree in teaching English and a juris doctor at Rutgers-Newark’s law school. Her aunt is currently teaching fifth-grade English at Warren Street School. Clark herself is proud to announce her plan to open a tutoring center at her home. There, she plans to teach underprivileged children the basic academic knowledge they need to survive and do well in school. That will bring her closer to her goal of improving education conditions. Nothing can hide her enthusiasm and motivation in achieving that goal.
The 1989 movie Lean On Me, starring Morgan Freeman, has a significant meaning to her, simply because the character that the movie was based on—Joe Clark—is her beloved and well-respected uncle. The film was inspired by the changes that Joe Clark imposed on the deteriorating Eastside High School in Paterson, N.J. And he has been the pillar in her academic life and her life in general, convincing her that she can succeed in whatever she wishes. Just as he says in the film, “Don't blame your backgrounds. Don't blame the Establishment. Blame YOURSELVES.”
When it was time to apply for college, Clark applied to Princeton University and Caldwell College. Both accepted her. She turned down Princeton University for Caldwell College before transferring to Rutgers-Newark. “There is more diversity here than there is at Princeton, and that is what I value,” she said. “Besides, the school reputation doesn’t really matter to me.”
Education is not her sole focus. She is also concerned with the lack of police protection in her neighborhood. She was in a convenience store one day and saw a shooting. She was stunned by the ordeal of having to witness such a catastrophic event. “The cops just turned their heads the other way,” she said, “and I could tell that the shooting was a family dispute with drug-related problems.” She once called the police at 7:00 at night and they did not arrive until midnight.
Clark, who has immediate family members who have been arrested on drug charges, wishes that with more people receiving education in Newark, there would be a decrease in crime rates. It all stems from poverty, Clark says. She intends to give back to society and make her family proud, living out the double legacy of her Uncle Joe.
For the fall semester, she anticipates working more than 50 hours in the field of social work to complete her major requirement, on top of other classes that she shall be tackling. She will graduate in May 2007. “Ooh, I really cannot wait,” she exclaims.
In the 2006 mayoral election, she was a strong supporter of Cory Booker. Contemplating his predecessor she says, “Sharpe James has done nothing good for the city. I would have voted for Booker in 2002 if only I was of age.” She now hopes to see the city of Newark and its education system come back to life.
Kathryn Hu is a Rutgers-Newark student. Posted July 2006.
