Nolita Clark

     My beautiful daughter is caring, energetic and a delight to be with. She loves me very much, and looks up to me to provide her with the love and guidance she needs to be successful in life. I realize that I owe my daughter the best I can provide and want to be a successful mother. The life I had growing up was full of hardships and struggles, and the fear that my daughter might have to experience the things I did at her age motivates me to get up every morning and continue on the pathway I began a few years ago. When I was two years old, I was introduced to the world of violence, abuse, alcoholism and drug addiction of my parents. My first memory of my mother was that she was drunk and broke my arm; the second was when I was beaten so badly that I was knocked unconscious. As I went to sleep, I wondered how long I would be able to survive in this world. Would there ever be any escape? When I did eventually fall asleep, I was usually awakened by my parents’ fighting or by my mother pulling me up by my hair to get her more beer from the refrigerator. My older brother and I were eventually removed from my parents’ home after years of torment. My other two siblings went back to the reservation with my mother. My father just disappeared, and to this day, I have no clue as to his whereabouts.
     When my mother and I were reunited after many years, I realized that she was an alcoholic and that she would probably always be. I left home for a life of my own, but soon began to have my own difficulties. In May of 2000 I was told that I was pregnant, which changed me in very important ways. I did not want to turn out like my own mother, who was a young parent which I believe contributed to her problems of raising four children. I wanted to protect my own child from abuse and foster care and knew I needed to get my life together and complete my education. I enrolled in a Native American GED program that also helped me find a job. I chose a Native American school because my mother is Native American and when I was around other natives I felt a closeness to them, as if we were fighting many of the same struggles in life. In January of 2001 I gave birth to a healthy baby girl and received my GED. Everything from that point on became increasingly better for my daughter and me.
     After settling into my apartment, I received a brochure about The ACCESS Project at Hamilton College. I wanted to go to college but also needed to address the issues of childcare, transportation, food and shelter, and tuition and books. I needed to work and didn’t see how I could do both. ACCESS provided me with the supports I needed and tuition as well. I applied and was accepted into the program. I completed the first year with passing grades and matriculated into Hamilton College the following year. Today I am a junior at Hamilton College, majoring in philosophy. I have maintained a respectable average and have begun to prepare for law school, specializing in Native American tribal law.

Photo Exhibit

A nationally touring exhibit of 50 framed, museum quality, color photographs coupled with narratives created by students who are welfare eligible, single parents changing their lives through the pathway of higher education.  The installation presents a unique view of poverty from insiders’ perspectives and reframes the cultural (de)valuations of poor single parents vis-à-vis family, work and higher education in the United States today. View the Gallery Guide.