The Greater Good
Representation matters to Mayor DeBeatham-Brown
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loomfield Mayor Suzette DeBeatham-Brown, one of the speakers participating in our two-day workshop, “Representation Matters,” came on to the Municipal Voice, CCM’s co-production with WNHH 103.5 FM to promote the event and speak about her experiences as one of only a handful of minority municipal leaders in Connecticut. “You’re saying that I don’t represent you, you don’t like the way that I look, you don’t like the way that I sound, you don’t like my hair,” DeBeatham-Brown recounted of her early interactions after deciding to run. “It was fuel for me actually.” The mayor’s journey was not an easy one, even in a town whose demographics are majority-minority, but one that she describes as crucial. Amidst conversations about the murder of Tamir Rice, a young boy of 12 who was murdered by a police officer, DeBeatham-Brown decided that she wanted her community to be represented. “At the time, the council that we had previously was there forever, and I think some of the decisions that they made the town wasn’t too happy with. The town was ready for change. […] It was time for us to have a new people with a renewed vision of what the town could be and could look like.” Not knowing if she was ready to run, she had “that long conversation” with her family, but an even longer one with herself. Despite the voices that were telling her that she didn’t look right or sound right to become a leader, she said they didn’t become louder until she was in a quiet moment: “Is this the right thing to do, and when you have those thoughts, and you remember the reason why you’re actually doing this, it kind of drowns them out, that’s why I said you have to do it scared. Get yourself a group of people that support you, and do it anyway.” She won, becoming Bloomfield’s first Black Female Mayor. And for her, the representation mattered when it comes to governance – when it comes to funding projects or services, she believes that you need to be able to see past what’s happening out your own window, to be a part of a community that puts the greater good first, something that crosses political divisions in Bloomfield. “I served with Republicans and Democrats, but when it comes time to do for our community, we hunker down and we definitely put our community first.” “Representation Matters: Are You Ready To Run For Local Office” aims to give people of color those tools
22 | CONNECTICUT TOWN & CITY | SPECIAL ISSUE 2021
Bloomfield Mayor Suzette DeBeatham-Brown promoting participation in last year’s census.
to make the tough decisions like DeBeatham-Brown did to run for office and represent her community. The Mayor said that even though she was asked to speak on the second day, she would still be attending both days to get some of the knowledge presented by the various experts brought in by CCM and the Campaign School at Yale. “Your town committee or the library or the Board of Education, whatever it is, you have to see it as a stepping stone to helping to make your town better,” she said. “I believe that change really happens at the local level.” For more information about “Representation Matters: Are You Ready To Run For Local Office,” a free, virtual two-day educational event held by CCM and the Campaign School at Yale, visit CCMCARES.COM.
