[ In a city where grown men shoot little boys eating ice cream
cones and where meanness is the norm - Ron Clark was a kind and
honorable man and that made him special. Clark died in May 2019, and
our city is the poorer for it.] [[link removed]]

RON CLARK MADE D.C. A BETTER PLACE  
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Maurice Jackson
May 1, 2020
The Washington Informer
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_ In a city where grown men shoot little boys eating ice cream cones
and where meanness is the norm - Ron Clark was a kind and honorable
man and that made him special. Clark died in May 2019, and our city is
the poorer for it. _

Ron Clark, The Washington Informer

 

In a city where self-promotion is the rule of law and of survival, Ron
Clark stood different. In a city where grown men shoot little boys
eating ice cream cones and where meanness is the norm — Ron Clark
was a kind and honorable man and that made him special. Clark died in
May 2019, and our city is the poorer for it.

Clark was a quiet giant. He preferred to let actions speak louder than
words. Such are those with supreme confidence in themselves and in
their mission. And his mission was to aid others. His mission was RAP,
Inc. — Regional Addiction Prevention.

In this city, people brag a lot about what they are going to do. Clark
did not brag. He just got things done. He did not live in the past. He
lived in the present and for the future.

I met Clark more than 40 years ago when RAP was at 19th and T streets
NW. I volunteered at the Cabral Tubman Center and Bookstore on 18th
Street NW. The center had been the Black Panther headquarters, and the
building was in a bit of disarray. In the backroom was a humongous
printing machine. I had no idea how to use it, but RAP did. So workers
from RAP dismantled and took it. It was a massive task — knocking
down walls and putting them back up — but it gave RAP one of the
best movement printing presses in the city. Soon after, RAP started
making T-shirts with political slogans; selling them helped it
survive. It provided organizations T-shirts with their logos at
demonstrations. In those days, we all demonstrated.

For a good while after that I would go to RAP to lead a workshop on
something, or go with a speaker for some evening class. It was such a
learning experience. I would take books for the library, thousands
over the years. It was my way of giving back because Clark knew that
knowledge was power.

My children worked with Clark at RAP. My daughter Lena did her senior
film thesis at Georgetown University on RAP. My son Miles volunteered
with RAP, riding there on his skateboard. I am a professor in the
history department at Georgetown and took some of the school’s
athletes there for service projects. And Clark engaged with students
in my jazz and social progress seminar.

Clark took the stain out of people wanting to rid themselves of drugs.
He made it a badge of honor to overcome the scourge. He took his
message to city officials, and they heard him. He made RAP an
institution.

Clark also helped start WPFW, the District’s community-supported,
public radio station that bills itself as being “dedicated to jazz
and justice.” He and I were members of the Listening Group, a
fraternity of African American men founded more than 30 years ago.
Egos were supposed to be checked at the door. All that mattered was
how you perceived and dug the music. Clark knew a lot of jazz cats.
His dad, Roy, was a tenor man. He grew up with Billy Higgins and Don
Cherry, played music with Lawrence Marable and Joe Pass. He lived with
Scott LaFaro and got clean with Charlie Haden. But he never bragged
about knowing them; he spoke only of his pride in them.

To paraphrase Khalil Gibran, Clark’s kindness “touched our silent
hearts and made them sing.” He made our hearts sing with joy and
happiness. He taught us that kindness is a strength, not a weakness.
Washington was made a better city because of Ron Clark. By his
example, maybe, we will learn more about the people who may just
“need a little help to get by.” If we follow his dignified, kind
and quiet example we, too, can make a difference.

_[Maurice Jackson is a professor at Georgetown University and a former
chairman of the D.C. Commission on African American Affairs.]_
 

_Thanks to the author for sending this to xxxxxx._

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