Game Changers: The Conscious Culture Volume 2 Issue 7 | Page 18

Commissioner Dometrice Dee Clemmons : A Force for Change in South Atlanta

Past : The Foundation of a powerful woman is the powerful woman and tribe who raised her . Ashonté : Where are you from ? Tell us about what it was like growing up with your family .
Commissioner Clemmons : I was born in Atlanta and raised in Dekalb . I was raised primarily by my mother and a very great Stepdad . I grew up like a typical kid who was expected to go to school and get good grades .
( On Facebook Dee paid tribute to her father saying “ Wishing you were still here with me . He was a man that loved me unconditionally . I ’ m thankful you were here to show me that love for 39 years of my life . # daddysgirl ”)
Ashonté : When did you first get the call to service and what did it mean to you ?
Commissioner Clemmons : The call for me came very early in life at the age of 13 , when I worked the whole summer for $ 50 , as a youth counselor in training . My responsibility was to be a mentor to other younger girls in the camp .
Ashonté : So , when you got that call you did not shrink from it , you rose to the challenge ?
Commissioner Clemmons : I rose to it . The camp was for young boys and girls ages 8 to 12 and I had gone all 5 years . When I turned 12 years of age it being my last year of camp , not only was I sad but the whole staff was sad . So , they created the position of counselor in training so I could come back . Since then I have not missed a summer of running a camp . That is one reason I am here ( the Broadway Performing Arts studio ) at 0645 in the morning , because I just
put 16 girls on a van to Warner Robbins and I am waiting for 40 more to come in .
Ashonté : You were a middle school teacher . Would you agree the transition from childhood to adolescence makes that the toughest group to teach ? What subjects did you teach ?
Commissioner Clemmons : I ’ d agree , but teaching students in this age range was somewhat less challenging for me , I was well prepared by the 4 years I spent while in college ( at Spelman University ) serving as the Learning Center Director for the then Boys Clubs of Atlanta . I was responsible for getting the boys to come in from playing basketball and settle down in the learning center environment . That was a bigger challenge than teaching was later . I created programs that would make it motivating for them to come in and study . I was a Language Arts and Literature major , so I taught Reading , Writing , and Grammar .
Ashonté : What were some of your experiences as a teacher or learning center director ?
Commissioner Clemmons : As a learning center director , I often engaged the students at Spelman to create community service projects for the boys at the center . I started a fun run against drug and alcohol abuse to bring awareness to these young boys about the troubles that could arise from substance abuse ; which was a rapidly growing epidemic . Also , while at Spelman , I became this External Affairs Board President , which is a community service post . That made it easy to merge the service opportunities that I needed to create for Spelman students with the students I served at the Boys Club . With so many
students at my disposal we were able to provide public service to the community for women ’ s shelters , the boys and girls clubs , and many other entities . This led to me being selected as the only student on the Points of Light Foundation Board , which was the White House ’ s foundation . In this role , I traveled all over the US talking to college students about being engaged in public service .
( Points of Light , founded by President George H . W . Bush , today transcends politics and borders to inspire millions of volunteers worldwide . Their mission is to inspire , equip and mobilize people to take action that changes the world . http :// www . pointsoflight . org / facts )
Ashonté : As a business woman and community leader , what things did you do to affect change before becoming the first African American woman elected to the Henry County Board of Commissioners ( BOC )?
Commissioner Clemmons : I consider myself a Social Entrepreneur which means that I created businesses that would meet the needs of communities . I saw that in living in Henry County
, that there were no programs that were gender based . None to provide guidance or empower young girls , and being the mother of two daughters and going to college at an all-women ’ s school this was very important to me .
I believe that a girl ’ s future , her struggle or thriving , depends on the women that are mentors in her life . I started the only all girls gender program in Henry County that would become an academic and behavioral intervention program .
Ashonté : What ’ s happening with those programs today ?
Commissioner Clemmons : I am known to start a program , be the catalyst and then step back and act as a consultant . These programs still exist ; however , my role has now changed to outreach and partnership director . I look for partnerships and try to create funding for the programs . This led me to the nonprofit part of it because it has always been
17 - Game Changers Magazine Jul / Aug 2017