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Building leaders of tomorrow

It was April 1962 and I was sitting in the auditorium at Burguard Vocational High School on Kensington Avenue, Buffalo. The entire school was in the auditorium for and assembly. All of a sudden Peter J. Crotty who was the principal at the time walked on stage and said the following in a loud and stern voice. “SYLVESTER CLEARY REPORT TO MY OFFICE, ONCE AGAIN, SYLVESTER CLEARY REPORT TO MY OFFICE IMMEDIATELY”.

A sudden fear and uneasiness over took my entire body. As I reluctantly got out of my seat, my body felt lifeless like Jell-O. I had absolutely no control. My thought process was all over the place trying to make sense of what just happened. What had I done? What was this about?

As I walked up the aisle I heard the undertones of my classmates, Oh-oh! Ooooh! You’re in trouble now, big time. Continuing on to the principal’s office, I began to rationalize. I’m a good student. I’m one of the top 10 students in our senior class. I’m in eight of the 13 clubs we have in school. I’m a leader in the band. What could this be about? Perhaps this had something to do with gang activity because during that era gang activity was prevalent and students were frequently called into the principal’s office and questioned about gang activity.

Upon entering the principal’s office I immediately saw three well groomed men in dark suits. Once again my thoughts took a sudden nosedive. To have three men in dark suits coming to see and African-American high school student in this time in history was not a good look. This was a time when civil rights were front and center and I was an active participant in the civil rights struggle.

Principal Crotty walked in and asked me to have a seat. He said “These two gentlemen are from Washington and this gentleman is a councilman from city hall, they want to talk to you”.

One of the gentlemen spoke up and said President John F. Kennedy sent out a presidential decree to have more military officers of color serve on foreign shores. He went on to say that they were canvassing high school seniors throughout the country to find candidates that would qualify and that I was selected. He said, you have been appointed to the Coast Guard Naval Academy in New London, Conn., which includes four years college tuition free.

I couldn’t believe it. I felt like the heavens had opened up and was shining her light right on me. My family was very poor and there was no way they could afford to send me to college. This was a blessing of all blessings. For the next few weeks I felt like I was walking on cloud nine. I had a pep in my step, I was excited every morning just to get out of bed. I felt so encouraged about life because I now had a goal and I was excited that here was an opportunity to reach the American dream. All of my hard work in high school had paid off. I felt free.

According to the decree I was supposed to report to City Hall in Buffalo and sign the paperwork on a particular date. Finally that date arrived and I went to City Hall filled with excitement. I entered the councilman’s office and told him I was here to sign the paperwork for the Coast Guard Naval Academy.

The councilman looked at me with a strange look and began shuffling his paperwork. He said with a low voice, “Sylvester Cleary, Sylvester Cleary, according to my paperwork, you left last week. I explained to him I was to report this day at this time and I’m here. He went on to say that there has been a huge mistake and someone left in my place. I asked, how could that be? I was appointed by the office of the president of the United States. He said he was terribly sorry but if I was willing to wait for two more years he could possibly get me reappointed.

This was my first encounter with politics and how some politicians maneuver situations to benefit their concerns even at the expense of killing the hopes and dreams of others they are here to serve. Needless to say I wasn’t about to wait around for two years because of the conditions I was living in. On a daily basis I had to deal with gangs and crime all around me. The Coast Guard Naval Academy was my ticket out. Since that fell through I decided to enlist in the Marine Corps. I figured if I had enough on the ball to be appointed to the Coast Guard Naval Academy by the president of the United States I had enough on the ball to excel in the Marine Corps.

I was meritoriously promoted out of Boot Camp and received the highest conduct and proficiency marks that existed only to get to my first duty station to find other Marines with fewer qualifications being promoted ahead of me. Here again, another great lesson for me to absorb. Even in some of our outstanding organization’s that are based on integrity, tradition, and service to others there exists individuals in many organizations who covertly operate on their individual prejudices and not others performances.

In my working career, I have experienced many stories similar to these, where like Martin Luther King said, I have been judged by the color of my skin, and not by the content of my character. When you find yourself in these kinds of situations, you have one of two choices. You can throw your hands up in the air, and try to convince yourself that’s just the way it is, it will never change or you can roll up your sleeves and go to work to help change the injustice. I chose the latter. I have learned to make my mess my message. From that day to the present I have dedicated myself to encourage young people, and students to identify and develop the greatness that lives within them. I reflect to students that other people’s opinion of them does not have to be the student’s reality.

Recently, I attended the New York State School Board Association 98th convention in Lake Placid where nearly 2500 school board members and administrators came to address issues such as opioid abuse, teacher shortages, student civil rights, mental health, testing, and other issues facing New York state schools. History was made at this convention and I was fortunate enough to be a part of it.

In my position as the area three director of the New York State Caucus of Black school Board Members, we have been trying for years to have one of our Directors have a seat on the board of directors of the New York State School Board Association.

The resolution finally passed with a vote of 178 to 80 in favor of our position. This was a very positive step forward for public education in New York State. The NYSCBSM not only represents African Americans but all people of color throughout New York State with issues such as diversity, inclusion, and equity. Both the NYSSBA and the NSBA recently have been putting more emphasis on these issues.

State organizations are very similar to local organizations in that when we come together build our relationships, share our resources, and fine-tune our vision for progress collectively, all students benefit which strengthens our democracy.

For me, serving our students by helping to provide the best education possible is the way forward in ensuring our democracy stay strong. We as parents and community members must step up and do our part to make this happen. We must be constantly involved in our student’s activities, and progress. Home is where students should learn basic values of truth, justice, and respect for others. These principles in addition to a sound basic public education will provide the foundation for forward thinking students to develop themselves into the leaders of tomorrow.

Sylvester Cleary is a member of the Forestville Board of Education, the Erie 2 Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES board, president of Chautauqua County School Board Association and Area 3 Director of New York State Caucus of Black School Board Members.

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