I Lost the Race for School Board
My name is Clifton Brown. Some people call be Mr. Jade because my wife and I own a store called Jade's. Some people call me names that are not proper to repeat. Most folks just call me Cliff. I honestly do not care what you call me because, even when I do not agree with you, I will listen to you as long as you are not lying.
In 1999 I felt compelled by forces I cannot explain to run for the state house. I had no clue what I was doing but learned a lot from the loss. Four years later I used what I learned to run for senate and found that I had not yet learned enough. I made my final attempt in 2007 and found that I was not running against a candidate but a network. Unless there are some huge changes I will not bang my head on that wall again. I did however agree to run for an office that may be officially lower but impacts people more directly. I ran for Rankin County school board.
Some people call me a reformer and others call me a trouble maker who must be kept in check. The truth is that I really hate political corruption at all levels. I hate waste at all levels. When working with a group of honest people who really want to do the right thing I am very easy to get along with. I will never rock the boat when we are sailing in the right direction, but I will rock it hard when we get blown off course.
I am not yet a political insider, but I have seen the same strange political phenomenon many times. Very often when there is a reformer out there on the edges, it is the power brokers in his own party who fear him most. It is not that they do not agree with him, but it is that they see their power slipping. If the person they had labeled dangerous radical wins any small office he suddenly has friends from every where saying "I was with you all along." I do not expect to suddenly rocket from the PTA to governor of Alaska to VP candidate, but If I had been elected to school board I would have suddenly been some one with pull. The question now is what would I have done with my new found power. Down in the back of my mind I do want to prove that I could have been a good state senator, but to do that I know that I must prove that I am a great at any thing that the public sees.
I am a graduate of Rankin County public schools. I came up threw the integration struggle. The first black student in a former white school was my class mate. Latter the first white student in a former black school was me. I learned a lot by doing that. Latter I worked in a large California public school system where I saw some things that we should consider here, and I saw some things we must avoid like the plague. Lately I have been working with a church program we call 5th quarter to give kids a sober activity after ball games. My heart really is with education and I did not simply see the school board as a step in the ladder.
I do not know if there is another race in me or not. Unless some one forms a conservative coalition to support grass roots reformers I will not. I will continue to speak out against corruption when ever I see it.
Please keep watching this website because it, just like me, is not finished. There will be updates on every page but especially the "Get Involved" page.