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Biography

The child of government officials in the Bahamas, Ms Bees experienced Jim Crow segregation every time she went shopping for school clothes in Florida. She passed the required test to be able to attend high school. She is a math teacher with thirty years of experience, advancing to principal of Central Alternative High in Dubuque. She was the first black teacher at Heapstead High and is the first black principal at Central. Her ultimate desire is to unite black professional women in her community into an organization to help all black women moving into Dubuque.

Transcript

Date of Interview: 15 May 2009

Kwejuan: Hello Mrs. Bees here are the questions we will be asking you. If there is questions you want me to ask or remove to the list please let me know. Thanks for doing this for us. Please state your name and spell it.

Claudette Bees: My name is Claudette Bees. C-L-A-U-D-E-T-T-E, last name is Bees just like a bumble bee. B as in boy-E-E-S.

Kwejuan: Where were you born and raised?

Claudette Bees: I was born in Nassau in the Bahamas. Just off the east coast of Florida. And I went to school there so I was basically raised there. However I spent a lot of time in the United States as well. That’s where I went to college.

Kwejuan: OK. Where did you go to school?

Claudette Bees: As I stated being born in Nassau, I went to grade schools in Nassau. And then, it’s different in the Bahamas as it is the United States. To go to high school you actually have to take a test. Only certain people are allowed to go to high school in the Bahamas. You have to have a certain percent of that test. So I was able to go to government high school. And after that, and High school in the Bahamas is actually five years as opposed to four years. And after that if you what to, you can go to high school for two more years which is exactly what I did. After that I decided to work for a while, before I actually came to the United States to go to college.

Kwejuan: How long have you lived in Iowa?

Claudette Bees: I’ve been in Iowa, I think I’m going on into my eighth, ninth year. Yeah. I’ve been here in Dubuque the entire time.

Kwejuan: You talked about your family. Do you have family in Dubuque?

Claudette Bees: Yes I do. The reason why I came here to Dubuque is because church here in Dubuque wanted my husband to be their pastor. And he needed to come and as a supportive wife I came along with him. We have two children, our children are grown. My daughter, Wanda, is almost 30 and my son, James, is in his mid 20s.

Kwejuan: What is your impression of Iowa?

Claudette Bees: Iowa as a whole. Well, I’ve traveled around Iowa somewhat. It is a beautiful area. Sometimes they say that we have some, oh, my entire impression is it’s rather rural. Different from Chicago, that’s where I lived before I came here, a lot different than the Bahamas. So my impression of Iowa as a whole is it’s a very nice place to raise children, because it’s quiet. There’s not a lot of pressure. I don’t think. Dubuque in particular, I think is a very beautiful place. It doesn’t offer a lot of things that I would personally like, like museums. We do have the River Museum now and that’s developing, but like big plays, I love to shop. It’s somewhat limited here. So Dubuque is growing. I just, I think in about five to ten years it’s going to be completely different than what we see right now.

Kwejuan: What did you do for entertainment when you were young?

Claudette Bees: Well because I was born in the Bahamas at, those are groups of islands, of course we have the ocean and so we would spend a lot of time around the ocean, on the sea. My parents didn’t allow us to go all the time. So we spent a lot of time in the streets. We didn’t have parks. We’re just now, the Bahamas is somewhat developing. And so we didn’t have parks. So a lot of our games were, like, in the street, like hoops. And when I say hoops it’s not what you think of hoops. You think of hoops as basketball but we think of hoops as you know the rim from the bicycle. Then you had a stick and then you would run in the street and you would hit the rim to make sure it kept going. Lots of hop-scotch. Yes, it’s different isn’t it? Lots of Hop-scotch. For me personally, I played with my dolls a lot. I wanted to be a teacher from the time I was about three or four and so I spent a lot of time with my dolls teaching them their times tables and teaching them how to add and stuff. Actually also as I grew older, I still had a love affair with my dolls. I would make clothes for my dolls. That’s how I learned to sew, just by watching other people sew. Then I made clothes for my dolls.

Kwejuan: What professional experiences have you had? Were you the first African American in that position?

Claudette Bees: In most places, yes I was the first. When I came here to Dubuque, as I said my husband came here to be a pastor but I was also a professional. And at the same time he was offered a position at his church, I was offered a position at Hempstead High School, as a math teacher. And I was the first African American teacher at that school and of course the first math teacher, black math teacher, in the department. So yes, that was a first. In the position that I hold right now, which is called Special Needs Facilitator, and come first of July will be called the Principal of Central Alternative High School, I will be the first black principal that that school has ever had.

Kwejuan: How has the Civil Rights Movement affected you?

Claudette Bees: Well it’s interesting. I remember watching a lot of the Civil Rights Movement, because at the time I was still in the Bahamas. However, we, you know how most people go and shop before school opens? We would go over to Florida to shop. Get our new clothes for school. And that’s when I would experience Civil Rights. We had to stand at the counter, a lunch counter, even though there was space there to sit. We were told we had to stand at a lunch counter. I saw water fountains that were designated black and white, washrooms designated black and white. And my mother didn’t drive when we went to Florida, so we did have to go on, to the back of a bus. So how has Civil Rights made a difference in my life? It’s continuing to make a difference. I think we’re mistaken if we think that we have complete rights. On paper we may have complete rights. But I personally feel that until in our minds, and when I say our, black people and white people and other people of different races, until we have a real change in the way we think, we will always experience some civil quote unquote “rights”. I am not sure we totally have civil rights.

Kwejuan: What was segregation like for you?

Claudette Bees: Well just like I said, in the Bahamas we didn’t have this problem. So I was used to black people being in power. In fact, my family members were politicians. They held high government office in the Bahamas. But the United States is different. And I think now as we have a black President, and think about it. Our black president is actually a mixed race president. We all know that if you are mixed race by the time you are 18 you, you are black. I don’t care what your race is. You are defined as being black at that point. Now President Obama, of course I voted for him. I think he’s going to do a wonderful job. But did you know he was at the top of his class at the most prestigious college in this United States, Harvard? He was running against people who didn’t have near the grade point average that he had. Sarah Palin went to several different schools, yet he still had to really prove himself. And that’s going to continue to happen. We’re going to see that, in my opinion until we get this real paradigm shift in our head, black people are going to have to always be better. Even if you want to become a teacher, no matter what you want to become, you’re going to see this education thing is going be a must, because you’re going to have to be better than anyone else applying for that job. Which is almost unfair. You can’t be equal. You’re going to have to be better to get that position. So there’s still a long way to go.

Kwejuan: Have you been involved in any Civil Rights organizations?

Claudette Bees: On the maybe, parameters, I’ve attended a lot, supported a lot, of the NAACP events. Here in Dubuque it’s a little different. It’s, I don’t know. You go to some of these things at the NAACP and the room is mostly white people. So you have to almost have to work behind the scenes. Yesterday I attended the Faces and Voices which is supposed to be a group in Dubuque that is representing diversity groups. But I was the only person of color in the room yesterday. So we, here in Dubuque we have a lot of work to do. I believe we have to start behind the scenes. We have to start by letting people know that we are even here. There’s so, I’m not sure they are always recognizing that we’re here. I’m not sure how much invitation that we’re, people of color are being given to become a part of some of the diverse groups that are developing. A number of years ago several black women had a group called African American Women United for Success. One of the things that we were focusing on was just trying to get other black women involved in things here in Dubuque, just trying to get them comfortable of being here in Dubuque. We understood that coming to a place like Dubuque, a place where there are very few people of color, that you feel isolated. You feel like you’re the only one. And so one of our goals was to just say at least once a month let’s get together and let’s just have lunch together. Let’s talk about where you can go to get your hair done. Let’s just be a support for one another. We’re trying to do that again. In fact, Saturday we’ll have another luncheon, where we just kind of wrap arms around our African American Sisters. And we’re trying to build that up. However this time, our focus is going to be a little different once we have a core group of women buying into this. We’re realizing that one of the things that’s happening now is we’re having a lot of maybe not professional black women move into Dubuque, and some of the women are having some struggles. One of the focus is for us to become mentors with women that are moving in that may not be professionals. For those of us that are professionals, one of the things we want to do is lock arms with these women. And show them that we can be there for them. We can help them with interviews. We can help them with whatever it is that they’re not sure about. Those of us who have been here longer, that are professionals, this isn’t about we’re here and someone else is there. We are black women, we are equal, and we want to reach out to our sisters. So, again working behind the scenes I sent out a lot of e-mails, I made phone calls to try to encourage, black, professional women to become a part of this so that we have a core group of women, to reach out to these, to the new women that are coming into Dubuque. ’Cause we realize that’s an area where no one is helping and we want to be there; we want to be their safety net.

Kwejuan: What jobs or positions have you had?

Claudette Bees: I am in my 50s. I have taught math for more than 30 years in various schools. This past year I was the Student Needs Facilitator at Central Alternative High School and next year I will be the Principal at that high school. …Teaching is one thing, being a principal is one thing. But working one on one with a woman of color and knowing I’m making a difference in her life, that’s where it’s at. I mean, I’ve taught for years; I love it. I love it. But, I know I can lock arms with this one woman, and I can do that with other women and that’s the passion that I have for this organization, this, African American women who are the professionals. We have something to offer the new group of women that are coming into Dubuque. And that’s where I’m at right now. That’s a long answer to your question, but that’s the passion, that’s one of the passions that I have in my life right now.

Kwejuan: What was the happiest or saddest memories you have?

Claudette Bees: Well, when my parents died was pretty sad. But, as I work with, as I interact with women that are coming that are into Dubuque, coming from abusive situations, coming for new hope, that’s something that is, it makes me happy. My friend is Silvia. That’s her first name. I just enjoy the time that she and I can just go out and have lunch together. Do whatever together. Just being her support makes me happy, makes me feel as though God has put me here for a purpose because I know I’m making a difference in her life. I know I’ve made a difference in a lot of lives as I’ve taught. I’ve got ties of, from some of my students that are in their 30s and they still call. That makes me happy because I know I’ve touched their lives. Yeah, just working with people and seeing them change makes me happy. So it’s not one event, that’s the event that makes me sad was when my parents died, but working in conjunction with young lives and women of color who need help, wow.

Kwejuan: If you could change your ______ in the community what would it be?

Claudette Bees: If I can get all of the black professional women in this community to lock arms around the new women of color that are coming into the community, and help them that would be absolutely fantastic.

Kwejuan: In twenty years when people talk about Ms. Bees, what is the one thing you want people to remember you about?

Claudette Bees: Probably that I was, I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives, in the student’s lives that I taught. And as I said some of my students that I’ve had, from a number of years ago, I want them to say that Ms. Bess wasn’t in it for the money; Ms. Bees was in it to make a difference in my life. Making a difference in someone’s life is. just, that’s what I want people to say. She made a difference in my life.

Kwejuan: What advice would you give the African American people in this community?

Claudette Bees: Study! - Study! - Study! Stay out of drama. We don’t need to puff our chest. We don’t need to be, to think we’re better than anyone else. We don’t need to show people we’re, you know, on the outside, I’m bigger and I’m badder. You know, I can show them by having that education. I can’t stress this enough. Remember earlier I said about Obama? He had to fight. He’s number, he’s top of his class. He’s a lawyer, he, but he still had to prove himself, right? But, he had the credentials. No one, no one, could go back and say; but look at you. You only have a, study, study, study. That’s your number one goal right now. Stay out of drama and get those grades. There are people out there that can help. I know sometime in your science class or whatever class, you know, people don’t like math, I don’t know why, I love it, it’s such a wonderful subject. Right? Most people don’t like it. But if you’re having problems, find someone to help you. Don’t just sit back and say “I can’t do it.” There are people out there that will help you. Don’t give up. Education is the key. It unlocks every door. Study!

You’ve done a wonderful job and I want to thank you so much for inviting me to your group. This has been great, thank you.

Kwejuan: Thank you.