"One of the most articulate, thoughtful, intelligent and caring people I know" -Alex C

My Tribute to Vanessa

Boy, this is a tough one. There is so much to say about Vanessa. What I admire most about her though is her tireless advocacy for immigrants. She has done a great deal to not only advocate for them, but to expose the terrible conditions they are faced with. Under great personal risk, she went down to Texas and took pictures of the deplorable conditions there that the immigrants faced.

She is one of the most articulate, thoughtful, intelligent and caring people I know. She mentored many people. Several times I asked her advice on some legal matter and she always took the time out to give me feedback and what my next steps would be. Once when I asked her advice, she sent back a one-page response. On the local front, she has been a District Leader for many years. She would come to the Democratic meetings about 9 often after trying to help immigrants. Almost invariably, after listening to the conversation for about a minute she would make a more intelligent comment than anyone else albeit sometimes not always in lock step with the previous comments. No matter what, she was always opinionated. Among other causes, she has been involved with Concerned Families of Westchester fighting for Truth, Justice and the American Way.

Another thing she was very committed to was election reform. She firmly disagreed with the new voting procedure. When the process was first implemented, she told me how easy it would be to manipulate the results of the elections. She often would close the polls which meant hearing the election results. She strongly insisted that she receive a copy of the election results. About 10 years ago, the County switched its voting machines and the results would be printed out. Technically, she was not allowed to receive a physical copy of the results but was entitled to hear the results and write them down on a sample ballot so I would sneak her a copy.

Furthermore, she has great taste in music! I saw her at a Pleasantville Music Festival and we would talk music sometimes and of course, she was very knowledgeable about that too.

We were the two people in the Democratic Committee who were the longest living residents in town and also the only two Committee members that were graduates of Hastings. We would talk about our memories of town.

She was also highly decorated. She has won numerous awards from Pace where she teaches, Westchester, and Hastings. Oh and two family members were Nobel Prize winners. She gave one of the great keynote speeches at the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast. She tearfully broke down, talking about how there had been an organization formed to keep Black families out of Pinecrest Parkway, some of whom were very prominent, including Drs. Kenneth and Mamie Clark, who did the landmark study on Black and white dolls which led to Brown vs. Board of Education, the most important piece of educational legislature ever which integrated schools.

So thank you Vanessa for all you have done for not only me but our village, our county, our Democratic Committee, for all the students you have mentored through the years, and for the many immigrants you helped.

Alex C