Cause they told me when I was younger
“Boy you’re gonna be president”
But just like everything else those crazy
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old dreams
Just kinda came and went
—“Pink Houses” by John Mellencamp
That was a piece of the introduction to my final exam in a history class I took at the University of Rhode Island about 15 years ago. As I recall, the essay question was framed something like this: “Is it possible to realize the American Dream?”
I must have been in a cynical mood at the time, because I remember answering that while there may be exceptions, as a rule, the American Dream was out of reach – especially for people of modest economic means, or certainly for those who had just arrived here from another country.
Given the chance, I would answer the question differently today.
It’s not easy. It takes hard work. It takes sacrifice. But the American Dream, the picket fence wrapped around that nice house, is very much within reach. And it doesn’t matter what language you speak or what color your skin may be.
On Wednesday evening, Jan. 22, I attended a dinner culminating the U.S. Small Business Administration’s “Rhode Island Minority Enterprise Development Week” at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet in Cranston.
Several hundred people showed up to honor members of the minority community who have realized their own versions of the American Dream. The SBA honored Sussy DeLeon as its “Minority Small Business Person of the Year.” DeLeon came to America from Guatemala in 1992. A couple of years ago, having earned her real estate broker license, she purchased the RE/MAX New Horizons office in Providence.
Betty Goyette, president of Allmark International, Inc., was given the SBA’s “Award for Manufacturing Excellence.” Goyette started her sign business in 1988 and now employs nine people full-time. Over the past decade it has grown by approximately 30 percent each year.
Jorge Sanchez received the “Hispanic Small Business of the Year.” A native of Bolivia, Sanchez arrived in the United States in 1980. In 1990, having taught himself graphic design and other aspects of publishing, he put out the first “Hispanic Yellow Pages of Rhode Island.” For 12 years, it has grown in popularity.
Sharon Conard-Wells, executive director of the West Elmwood Housing Development Corp., was honored as “Outstanding Business Practitioner.” Conard-Wells has facilitated the planning and implementation of the real estate development program that resulted in $11 million in investments in construction and infrastructure. She also created a $1.4 million neighborhood-based lending program.
Joseph Caffey received an “Affirmative Action Award” for his work as executive director of OMNI Development Corporation, a non-profit housing agency. Harry Eng, president of Blueline Construction Corporation received the “Minority Business Enterprise of the Year Award.” The company has doubled its employees in recent years. And James Vincent, manager of constituent advocacy at Rhode Island Housing received a “Special Achievement Award.” Vincent provides outreach and technical assistance to under-served communities.
Seated at my table during dinner was Sen. Juan M. Pichardo. He’s another example of an American Dream realized.
A Providence Democrat, Pichardo grew up in the Dominican Republic. His campaign literature describes his childhood as one poor monetarily, but so rich in other ways. Pichardo’s family was always tight-knit, as he describes.
“My grandfather would rise at 5:30 every morning to work the land, for it was our only source of income and food. My grandmother would wake up before him to prepare the desayuno (breakfast) and coffee. I too learned to get up with my grandfather and help him work the land. My grandparents were well respected in their pueblo. We were poor, but rich in love. When my grandfather said he would do something, he meant it.”
Pichardo came to New York in 1975, moving to Providence four years later. He works as an advocate for patients at Rhode Island Hospital. This past November he was elected to the state legislature for the first time.
The word in political circles is that Pichardo is going places. He is bright. He is charismatic. And he cares about people.
We spoke the other night about the minority community – about what a critically important component it represents for the Rhode Island economy.
Pichardo’s district – which includes Elmwood Avenue and Broad Street – is not the section of Providence you hear about when a discussion turns to the “renaissance.” But it just might hold one of the keys to any economic turnaround that Rhode Island hopes to enjoy.
“The neighborhoods are diverse,” said Pichardo. “That’s what makes the district strong.”
And that’s what makes people like Pichardo special. He looks at South Providence and sees more opportunity than grief.
“Broad Street has been transformed by small businesses,” he said.
Pichardo is right. He is also right when he points out that in so many immigrant families, young people are learning first-hand how a business operates. They represent the future. They represent real economic development.
“The state needs to recognize that – and open its doors so that they succeed,” said Pichardo. “Once they succeed, the whole state succeeds.”
So that’s my revised essay.
Yes, the American Dream can be realized. Just take a look at Rhode Island’s minority business community.
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