13588: Craig-Article: Haitian American girds for legislative challenge (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dan Craig <dgcraig@att.net>

Posted on Thu, Nov. 07, 2002
Haitian American girds for legislative challenge
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@herald.com

Florida's newest Haitian-American legislator is a media-shy political neophyte
who candidly admits to having mixed emotions about her historic election win
Tuesday night.

''I am excited, but very well aware of the road that lies ahead of me,'' said
Yolly Roberson, 47, less than 24 hours after becoming the first
Haitian-American woman elected to the Florida Legislature.

It's a path that Roberson has been navigating from the time she arrived in
Boston, 30 years ago, from Port-au-Prince as a high-school student unable to
speak English and unschooled in the ways of the country that she would
eventually call home.

Roberson's mother died when she was 2, and she was raised by her
now-99-year-old grandmother.

Roberson moved to Miami-Dade County 12 years ago. At one point, she pulled
double duty working as a registered nurse on weekends and defending Haitian
refugees during the week as a lawyer for the Haitian Refugee Center.

Now she heads to the Florida House as the representative for District 104,
knowing that she faces the challenge of bringing her community's issues to the
forefront while still learning about state government.

''I've been here so many times before. It's a battle, a war I'm always
fighting,'' said Roberson, a divorced mother who holds law and nursing degrees.
``You know you are different. You know you must succeed.''

On Tuesday, Roberson won a commanding victory over Republican Arlington Sands
Jr., making her only the second Haitian American in the Legislature, following
her ex-husband, incumbent state Rep. Phillip Brutus.

Supporters say the real race was won during the primary, when Roberson, who
originally was a candidate for the judicial bench, beat several Democratic
candidates, including another Haitian American.

''This was the icing on the cake,'' said Robert Levy, a Tallahassee lobbyist
who helped Roberson with her campaign.

Levy, a lobbyist for the Florida Nursing Association who helped Roberson get
that group's endorsement, said she has a unique opportunity to have a strong
presence in Tallahassee -- to be a Democrat, but to work with Republicans on
some issues.

While Florida nurses hope Roberson's experience will help them win legislation
on issues such as nursing shortages in hospitals and public schools, voters in
the heavily Democratic, newly redrawn District 104 are looking for her to get
their concerns heard in Tallahassee as well.

The district stretches from the center of Miami-Dade to Opa-locka in the north
and North Miami and North Miami Beach in the east.

A majority of its 41,000 voters are black, with many from Haiti, Jamaica and
elsewhere in the West Indies.

Groups disagree even within the Haitian community. Despite her win Tuesday,
Roberson says her candidacy was not fully embraced by South Florida's Haitian
leaders.

Some community leaders, including Brutus, say the reason is that Roberson was
originally a candidate for Miami-Dade County judge but switched races half an
hour before the filing deadline. By then, many had already pledged support to
Haitian-American schoolteacher Ronald Brise or black candidate Jacqui Colyer in
the primary.

Nevertheless, Brutus said his ex-wife's win is positive news for the Haitian
community.

''It shows this community has come of age,'' he said. ``Ethnicity is not what
really drives this election. It give Haitians another positive exposure to show
we are more than what the TV camera shows what happens at sea. We are more than
the violence in Little Haiti or the wretched poverty in Little Haiti. We are
also a viable segment of the community.''

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/4461156.htm