The Hon. Kay Palacios delivered the keynote address at the 10th Anniversary of New Jersey Conference on Dominican Affairs held on Sunday, February 21, 2010 at Rutgers School of Law in Newark, NJ.  Palacios made history as one of the first two Dominicans ever elected to office in the United States of America.  She was elected Councilwoman in Englewood Cliffs, NJ on November 4, 1991. Following is a transcript of her speech:

Hon. Kay Palacios

Councilman Segura, Maria Teresa Feliciano, Members and friends of the Dominican Community of New Jersey, distinguished guests: I am deeply honored for the invitation to join you for the 10th Anniversary of The New Jersey Conference on Dominican Affairs.  However, I want to take a moment to recognize the 17 elected officials and over 30 appointed officials of Dominican descent currently serving in New Jersey.  This is a major achievement and I congratulate them and all who helped make it possible.   

I would like, also, to acknowledge, as did Lucilo, the election of a Dominican-born American, Guillermo Linares, who was elected to the City Council in New York in November of 1991, the same year I was elected.

[[To watch a video clip of the Hon. Kay Palacios when delivering her keynote address, click here  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1xb0-wFy1I]]

Please join me in a round of applause for their impressive record of achievement.  

I am very proud of my Dominican heritage and I appreciate the opportunity to share my story with you today.  But first, I want to tell you about my father because he was the inspiration for my journey to elected office. 

My father, Juan Maria Diaz, spoke often to my brother, my sister and me of the country of his birth and instilled in us an admiration for its history and culture.   My parents were born in Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic. 

My father immigrated to the United States in 1923 when he was 19 years old and settled in New York City.   My mother arrived a year later when she was 17 years old. 

They met and married in New York City and had two children, my brother John Diaz, a retired Mechanical Engineering Designer, and a World War II veteran. 

My brother is here today with his wife, Angie. 

There were few Dominicans in New York City in the 1920s but we did our best to increase the numbers!  One of my father’s sisters, and a brother and his wife joined my parents in New York City a few years later. 

My mother did not live long enough to enjoy this small family circle because she died of pneumonia shortly after I was born.  Consequently, my family consisted of my father, my brother, an uncle and his wife and an aunt during my early years. 

I have very fond memories of my aunts and uncle and I regret deeply that I did not think to ask them to share with me memories of their homeland.  

My father re-married a few years later and had another daughter, my sister Melba, who is the Administrative Assistant to the Professor of Military Science, Army ROTC, at Fordham University.  My sister could not be here today.     

I always admired my parents for their courage to leave their country and the love and support of family and friends to seek new opportunities in the United States.  Fortunately, my father was well prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that awaited him in New York City.  He spoke English and French in addition to Spanish as well some Italian which served him well.   Despite the Depression, he was always open to new ideas and enthusiastically embraced new challenges.  His engaging personality also contributed to his success.        

Owing to an interest in New York City politics, my father became an active member of the Democratic Party early on.  His political affiliations in New York City included political and union leaders, Mayors, and many other local and federal elected officials.  During World War II, he also served in the National Guard.

My father maintained close ties with his family in the Dominican Republic after his arrival in the United States.  However, all communication between them ceased early in the 1930s due to my father’s concern for the safety of his family in light of his role as the leader of the anti-Trujillo movement in New York City and the United States.  Two of his brothers were jailed in the Dominican Republic by the Trujillo regime in retaliation for my father’s political activities and for his efforts to secure an end to the Trujillo dictatorship.  

During his reign, Trujillo ordered the assassination of several Dominican exiles living in the United States and other countries.  In October 1952, Mr. Andres Requena, co-publisher with my father of the anti-Trujillo newspaper, “Patria”, was assassinated in New York City by Trujillo’s agents.  My father also received assassination threats and was assigned around-the-clock protection by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).   

During the 1930s and early 1940s, a steady stream of Dominican professionals and intellectuals arrived in New York City and were granted asylum in the United States as a result of my father’s efforts.  These newly arrived Dominican exiles were very active in the effort to end the dictatorship and helped to raise  awareness to the plight of Dominicans living under the Trujillo dictatorship.

The exile movement led by my father in the United States and by other Dominican exiles in various countries throughout Latin America made several attempts during the 30 year struggle to secure the end of the Trujillo dictatorship.   In 1934, Dominican exiles organized an invasion that was preparing to leave from Florida to overthrow Trujillo but the revolutionaries were captured in Florida and temporarily detained.  My uncle, Juan Isidro Diaz, was one of the participants in that planned invasion.  

Nevertheless, my father was instrumental in securing support for the anti-Trujillo opposition from various members of the United States Congress, including Senator J. William Fulbright, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and various Latin American leaders. During those years, my father was often quoted in the press on issues concerning the Dominican Republic and the opposition to Trujillo.  

In 1947, Dominican anti-Trujillo leaders established a training camp on Cayo Confite, an island off Cuba, in preparation for an invasion of the Dominican Republic.  My father and other Dominican leaders organized revolutionaries from the United States, Latin America and Europe and arranged to transport them to the training camp.  My brother, who had just come home after serving in the United States Army, and my Cuban-born future husband, Joaquin Palacios, who could not be here today, were among the revolutionaries who joined the expeditionary forces on Cayo Confite.

One of my father’s major contributions for that planned invasion was in securing the approval of President Estime of Haiti for the revolutionary troops to cross into the Dominican Republic from Haiti.  However, the invasion was betrayed by Cuban army officers who were bribed by Trujillo to disband the training camp and arrest the revolutionaries.  In June 1949 and again in June 1959 two invasions to overthrow the Trujillo dictatorship were carried out by Dominican revolutionaries. They succeeded in landing in the Dominican Republic but were captured and most of them were killed on Trujillo’s orders.  

My father, one of the founders of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), did not return to the Dominican Republic until February 27, 1963, when he attended the inauguration of Professor Juan Bosch who was elected in the first free elections in the Dominican Republic in thirty years following the assassination of Trujillo on May 30, 1961.   

You can see that I was raised in a highly political environment which made me keenly aware of the lack of freedom and well being of Dominicans under the dictatorship of Trujillo.  Our apartment in New York City was the meeting place for Dominican exiles who worked tirelessly to end the Trujillo dictatorship.  Strategy sessions and meetings often extended into the early hours of the morning.  I remember vividly that there were always three or four extra persons at the dinner table many evenings and the conversation was always lively.  The pace of life was hectic but exciting as these Dominican exiles worked to keep alive their dream of returning to their homeland.  I also remember that Juan Bosch and his wife and Dr. Juan Isidro Jimenez Grullon and his parents lived with us for about two years on separate occasions.    Although I was fortunate to meet many fascinating political personalities, at times it became difficult to find a quiet place to do my homework!  

Later, when I was in college, I developed an interest in reading about and collecting books on the history of the Dominican Republic and the writings of Dominican authors which continues today.  I was particularly fascinated by the fact that the foundations for organized society in the Western Hemisphere, such as, the First Town Hall, First Hospital, First Royal Tribunal and First University, among the many “Primacias de America”, that is, “The Firsts of America” were first established in Santo Domingo.      

Having read books by contemporary Dominican authors in the United States as well as publications by noted universities on Dominicans in the United States, I am pleased to note that a number of universities have established disciplines in Dominican studies and have also published works depicting the Dominican experience in the United States.  As far as I know, however, little has been written about the Dominicans who lived in the United States during the 1920s to the early 1960s and were part of the struggle to end the dictatorship of Trujillo.  That story should be told and I intend to write my father’s story because it is a part of Dominican history that should be preserved.  With this in mind, I have been working for more than eight months organizing my father’s papers and historical documents.  I am also in contact with Mr. Bernardo Vega, a well-known Dominican historian and author of 30 books on Dominican history, who first suggested to me that I consider giving my father’s papers to the Dominican Government for preservation in the national archives.    

These experiences instilled in me a deep appreciation for the liberties, political freedom and, civil rights that I enjoy as a citizen of the United States.  Early in my life, I recognized that as an American citizen, I also have certain responsibilities, among which is to exercise my right to vote my conscience in all elections.  

I became interested in local politics when I was in my early 20s and later in running for elected office.  However, as a United Nations staff member, I was prevented from engaging in the affairs of a political party.  Nevertheless, I always kept up-to-date on the local, state and national issues.  On retiring from the United Nations in January of 1990, I became an active member of the Democratic Party of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey and began my journey to elected office.       

My journey to elected office began as an enthusiastic volunteer in the Party and I was soon appointed to numerous Bergen County Boards and Committees.  I attended all Council meetings in Englewood Cliffs and voiced my opinion on matters that I believed concerned the voters of Englewood Cliffs.  On one occasion, however, I took the opportunity to draw the attention of the Council Members that there were no women on the Council and I challenged the Council Members to correct this without delay.  I don’t think that they appreciated my statement!  

My first elected office was Committee Woman for my district.  Soon after, I was elected candidate for the City Council in the Primary.   We campaigned every weekend and visited every household to meet with the residents and distribute campaign literature.  We also took advantage of the opportunity to register new voters.   Two weeks prior to the election, we set up a telephone bank staffed by volunteers who called every voter in Englewood Cliffs.   In November 1991, I was elected a member of the City Council of Englewood Cliffs.  

My political activities increased early in 1992, as I joined the Clinton/Gore Presidential-campaign.  I served as Co-Chairperson of the Campaign in Bergen County and also worked closely with latino groups throughout New Jersey to generate support for the campaign.  On June 13, 1992, I was one of 14 public leaders in the State of New Jersey who were chosen at the State Democratic Convention to be a delegate to the 1992 Democratic Convention.         

Of course, it was exciting to attend the Inauguration of the President in January 1993 and meetings to promote the Hispanic Agenda in the United States.  President Clinton also appointed me to the Presidential Delegation to the Inauguration of His Excellency Ernesto Perez Balladares, President of Panama, on September 1, 1994.

In 1995, I ran for Freeholder in Bergen County during a very tough year for Democrats.  The most important issue to me in that campaign was that Freeholders were elected county-wide and not by district.  As a result of this, a few towns with large populations in northern Bergen County determined the outcome of the election.  While I did not win the election I did receive an impressive number of votes and I am happy to say that today both political parties are represented on the Board of Freeholders of Bergen County.  

One of my biggest concerns is the lack of quality education due to inequalities in the distribution of tax dollars for public school education.  I believe strongly that quality education should not depend on whether a student lives in a wealthy community with a level of property taxes that can support quality public school education. When my running mate and I ran for the New Jersey State Assembly in 1996, we focused on drawing attention to several states in the nation that had successful models for alternate sources of funding for public school education while still managing to balance their budgets.  We did not win that election and this remains an important issue I didn’t get to achieve.  With this in mind, I challenge you to take on this issue which is so important to the Latino community.   

There is someone here today that I want to recognize for his help, support and hard work during these two campaigns.   He organized a group of Dominicans from Hackensack, Newark and Passaic who worked tirelessly putting up our posters and distributing campaign literature.  Most important, he introduced me to the Dominican community of New Jersey.  That person is Lucilo Santos and he deserves a round of applause for all he has done and continues to do for Dominican candidates for elected office.    

My political history in New Jersey ended in January 1997 when my husband, a retired Chemist, and I moved to Houston, Texas to be near our daughter, a physician, and granddaughter.   However, my family’s involvement in public life has not ended.  My son, Alex, an attorney, who lives in Washington D.C., and is here today, was appointed to the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development(USAID) following Bill Clinton’s election in 1992.  Following a career with UNICEF, he is now a Special Representative for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), a public-private global health partnership created by Bill Gates in 2000.       

Although I am retired from political life, I embarked on a new career which keeps me very busy.  My husband, daughter, granddaughter and I have a vineyard in Texas.  We are planning to establish a winery and name it “Las Damas Estate Winery” because we like the history behind the street named “Calle las Damas” in Santo Domingo which dates from the colonial era.

My father inspired me to seek elected office.  He was my mentor and I urge those of you who are young and still searching for your path to think about who inspires you and ask that person to be your mentor.   And ten or twenty years from now become a mentor to help others.   

Antes de concluir, quiero aprovechar esta oportunidad para felicitar la directiva de La Conferencia Para Asuntos Dominicanos por sus esfuerzos en sacar a relucir los alcances de la communidad Dominicana en New Jersey.  El gran numero de personas que se ha unido a este evento demuestra la labor extraordinaria de la directiva.  Yo recuerdo que en la epoca en que mi padre luchaba por el fin de la dictadura de Trujillo, no se contaba con una poblacion Dominicana tan numerosa como existe hoy en New York y New Jersey.  Es impresionante como ha aumentado la poblacion Dominicana en los Estados Unidos .  Debido a esto, espero que al cabo de los proximo diez anos, nos reunamos de nuevo para celebrar el gran aumento en el numero de Dominicanos elegidos a nivel local, estatal y federal en New Jersey.  

Les deseo a todos Uds. mucho exito en todos sus actividades.    

Muchas gracias!

Hon. Kay Palacios