Week of June 17, 2024

Hi Clovis Fam,

To all the fathers and to all of you who have fathers I hope you all had a wonderful Father’s Day weekend. To those of you who spent this Father’s Day without your fathers, I hope that although there may have been tears as you felt your loss, you also were able to smile and laugh as you remember your times together. This was the first year that my daughters were without their dad. He passed away on June 21, 2023, in the Philippines, which makes it June 20th here in the United States (he actually passed away while in the Philippines which is 12 hours ahead of us.) They are both celebrating his life in different ways. My youngest is kayaking, hiking, and camping out and is off the grid for the remainder of the month. My oldest just finished a screenplay in honor of her dad and went to the lake to release a balloon and a 6-page letter to him. The balloon was not strong enough to take the letter up so she released the balloon and attempted to sink the letter in the lake but the 6-page letter that was too heavy to float was too light to sink. So she watched it float away.

I had the honor of reading her screenplay right after the Juneteenth Celebration that we had on campus. It brought tears to my eyes and she hasn’t written a screenplay since 2017 (she’s an editor but she really can write). Like many of our students, she uses her gift of prose, poetry, and the visual arts to express her deepest feelings and I am so very proud that she has and uses that outlet for healing. There is power in the voice whether spoken or not.

I had the honor of surprising my parents on Saturday. I did not tell them about my conference in New Orleans or that I planned to drive over (west) to Baker. I got there and called from the garage and my mom answered the phone. I told her I was outside. When she got to the door, she was crying, and I had to pry her hand off the doorknob while I hugged her as she continued to cry. She, through her tears, said, “We are old, you should not do that to us.” After she regained herself, we started walking to the kitchen. By then my dad, who is almost 89 and on a walker made it to where we were. As I hugged him, he said to me, “Do you still have a job?” I had to pause for a second. Oh my goodness, he was serious. The question took me aback. They have been retired for over 20 years, the day of the week (it was Saturday is irrelevant to retired people), and it is illogical that I would just show up at their door all the way from California. I hugged his neck tightly and said, “Yes Daddy, I still have a job.” 😊 I brought Mom roses and Daddy freshly made butter pecan fudge from a confectionary in New Orleans. Note, Dad is diabetic and so is Mom, so he was very happy to have something sweet to eat. I know I should not have done it, but hey, the man is almost 90, and as a believer in quality of life at that age, what the heck. My sister the M.D., I’m sure was mad. She wasn’t there when I arrived bearing gifts and surprising old people. As you can imagine, whether you are from the south or country or are just from a tight-knit family, the surprise arrival was broadcast all over Louisiana, Alabama, and down at Camphor United Methodist Church. Y’all there was no need for social media with these senior citizens. I was happy to have them be the talk of the town and to give them something to talk about.

Sunday, I left Baton Rouge to come back. I left my folks and headed to Dallas to make my connecting flight. All was wonderful and smooth. No weather issues and we left on time. I get to my gate with plenty of time. And then…the gate attendant comes on the intercom and announces that they don’t have a pilot to fly the plane!!!!!! What, I have all the tires, cause I checked, but I don’t have a pilot!!!!! The 737 is full; the plane is sitting at the gate; it’s 10:20 pm. The gate attendant comes on and apologizes and says that the next available flight to Fresno would be at 6 p.m. on Monday!!!!! I start looking for other airlines (at 10:30 p.m.) I’m even looking for flights out of the other smaller airport in Dallas. Nothing! And, then I see this man in a white shirt and black shoulder stripes with a captain's cap in his hand running towards us. I literally yelled out loud and pointed, “It’s the pilot!!!!!” They boarded us quickly, calling group numbers every 15-20 seconds. I made it to Fresno at 2:30 a.m. on Monday.

So, I was glad I took Monday off. I went to the Chiro, and had a Swedish massage, foot massage, and facial. Every part of my very being hurt.

On Tuesday, I went to a special SCCCD Foundation Board meeting where they approved to allocate of funds for providing marketing materials for bond measures if the SCCCD Board approves going after a bond in one of the upcoming elections.

I ended my day by attending and speaking at the Clovis Community College Juneteenth celebration. Clark – Lauren, Caryss, Sasha, and Akyia did an amazing job organizing the program. They had food, vendors, and Will the violinist played for the event. They gave a historical presentation on the past, present, and future of Juneteenth and the continuing needs and issues facing black people and they gave away raffle prizes. People stayed after the formal program ended and talked and ate. I was glad to see so many community members in attendance. Members from my advisory groups came out in support as did the ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc. Nice job ladies, I was proud to see my next generation of black women take up the torch and educate others on black history. Looking forward to seeing this grow and take on a more institutional celebration as with all our affinity group celebrations demonstrating our commitment to DEIA as a College and District.

Wednesday was Juneteenth. I spent my day down at the Fresno City Building where there was a raising of the flag ceremony. Mayor Dyer gave the greeting, Pastor DJ Criner was the Emcee, and my pastor Chester McGensy gave an address on the national significance of Juneteenth. Trustee Kimberly Tapscott-Munson, Fresno County Board of Education, Trustee Keisha Thomas, Fresno Unified School District, and Honorable Cynthia Sterling, President of BWOPA and former Fresno City Council Member also spoke. City Council Member Nelson Esparza read the proclamation naming the Day Juneteenth in the City of Fresno, then presented the proclamation to Cynthia Sterling on behalf of the City. The raising of the flag was beautiful and about 100 people were in attendance.

Thursday, I met with Blake Zante, Executive Director for the Maddy Institute, regarding partnerships and how we can provide more opportunities for our students interested in public policy. I had several other meetings throughout the day. These meetings were primarily for me to catch up due to being gone last week. I met with Caryss and Tyler to continue the discussion on process improvement for the Classified Professional/Manager Priority Process.

Friday, I spent mainly doing paperwork, filing, and cleaning my office. I also worked on the Opening Day program and August Board agenda with Bonnie.

Saturday, I attended a Soroptimist International meeting and on Sunday, I left for Los Angeles to attend a retreat with the Black CEOs of California. This time I’m taking Amtrak. Wish me luck! I’ll see you on Wednesday.

I hope that all of you have a great weekend and that you stay cool for real as it will exceed 100 degrees this weekend. As always stay safe and hug someone you love.

Take care of yourselves and each other.

Proud to be in service, 

Kim E. Armstrong, Ph.D.