19 receive‘Women Celebrating Women’ Awards
Dionne Crichton-Bailey (center) receives award from Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (left) and Dr. Una Clarke
(2nd from right), fl anked by other offi cials. Dionne Crichton-Bailey
Caribbean Life, A BQ pril 12–18, 2019 3
By Nelson A. King
As the May 14 special election to
replace Jumaane Williams as representative
for the 45th Council District
in Brooklyn draws nears, Haitian
American Farah Louis is exuding
confidence in winning the poll that
has already generated at least 10 candidates.
“I am confident that the unwavering
and growing support, our campaign
efforts and our momentum will
lead us to victory on May 14,” Louis,
Williams’s former deputy chief-of-staff
and budget director, told Caribbean
Life, in an exclusive interview Monday
night.
Williams was recently elected public
advocate of New York City.
“New York City, in particular the
45th Council District, is currently facing
crucial changes that will affect the
overall landscape of our community,”
added Louis, the daughter of Haitian
immigrants.
“We need a staunch advocate who
will fight against systemic inequality
affecting our housing, education,
businesses and healthcare. I believe I
am the best person to lead my district
in the right direction,” she continued.
“I am seeking to ensure progressive
leadership for the city that has come
from central Brooklyn remains.”
The candidates contesting the May
poll include a significant number of
Caribbean-born and Caribbean Americans,
who all claimed that they are
best suited to represent the district
that comprises East Flatbush, Flatbush,
Flatlands, Marine Park and Midwood.
More than 188,000 people live in
the district, of which about 61 percent
are either Caribbean American or African
American, according to reports.
Besides Louis, the candidates are:
Jamaican-born Rickie Tulloch; Trinidad
and Tobago-born Anthony Alexis;
Monique Chandler-Waterman, the
daughter of Jamaican and Barbadian
immigrants; Jovia Radix, the daughter
of Barbadian and Grenadian immigrants;
Louis Cespedes Fernadez, the
son of Cuban immigrants; Anthony
Beckford; Xamayla Rose; and Adina
Sash.
In September 2018, Louis said she
ran for Judicial Delegate in the 42nd
Assembly District and won with over
8,000 votes.
Another Haitian-American, Rodneyse
Bichotte, is the incumbent State
Assembly Member for the 42nd Assembly
District. Bichotte is wholeheartedly
supporting Louis in her current
campaign.
By Nelson A. King
The Brooklyn-based Progressive
Democrats Political Association (PDPA)
on Sunday, April 7 honored 19 outstanding
women during its 27th Annual
Women Celebrating Women (WCW)
gala at Tropical Paradise Ballroom on
Utica Avenue in Brooklyn.
The event — headed by the trailblazing
former New York City Council Member,
Jamaican Dr. Una S.T. Clarke —
bestowed the honor on the remarkable
women, whose professions range from
nursing to entrepreneurship and business
to law to child and family advocacy
to community activism.
The honorees were: Irma Gibb,
Naeemah Senghor, Danielle Jones,
Rhonda Binda, Gisselle Rice, Cynthia
Smith, Dionne Bailey, Vaughan Danvers,
Elka E. Roberts-Riley, Julia James
and Pamela Roberts-Griffin.
The others were: Coleen Babb,
Annmarie Adamson, Jennifer Jones Austin,
Michelle Randall Williams, Stephanie
Myers, Dorensa Roberts, Joan Alexander
Bakiriddin and Ella Frederick.
“For the women honored for their
contributions, they come with many
gifts and many talents that are benefiting
us,” Dr. Clarke told Caribbean
Life afterwards. “We should keep on
forefront of our minds that we, too, are
contributors.”
Clarke’s daughter, Congresswoman
Yvette D. Clarke, representative for the
9th Congressional District in Brooklyn,
said each honoree “earned” the PDPA
recognition.
“As representative of the community,
I am honored to join you in celebration
of this important milestone,” she said in
her remarks in the souvenir journal.
Mayor Bill de Blasio also said in his
remarks in the journal that the honorees
are “committed to serving our
city and, through their leadership, have
inspired others to do the same.”
Roberts-Griffin, a Vincentian-born
registered nurse, told Caribbean Life
afterwards that she “felt very honored”
to receive the award among so many
other great women doing amazing
things in their community.
“In this political climate, where
women’s voices are finally being heard,
it makes me proud that this organization
has been ahead of the curve for
many years recognizing and celebrating
woman,” said the president of the Bronx,
Manhattan, Westchester Chapter of the
New York Caribbean American Nurses
Association, Inc. (MMW-CANA).
“It brings me great joy to help others
and to be recognized for doing what I
love to do,” Roberts-Griffin added. “It
is humbling, and it encourages me to
do more.”
Her compatriot and nursing colleague,
Registered Nurse Dionne Crichton
Bailey, president of the Brooklynbased
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Nurses Association of New York, Inc.,
said, when she was approached about
being honored at the WCW event, she
was “a bit taken aback.
“I asked what it was all about, and
was told it was for women who have
made outstanding contributions in various
ways to their communities, etc.,”
Crichton-Bailey told Caribbean Life. “I
questioned myself, ‘what have I done
to deserve this?’ I then reflected on the
various community and other activities
in which I had been involved as a nurse,
and thought I was just doing what I
loved doing, which is helping others.
“Little did I know that I would be
honored for this,” she added. “It is,
indeed, a great feeling and an honor to
know that what I do is appreciated and
has an impact on other people’s lives in
one way or another.
“So, in a nut shell, I must say I feel
very honored to be honored,” Crichton-
Bailey added.
Haitian-American Farah Louis confident of victory
Continued on Page 22