Daddy, Tell Me A Story: The Life and Legacy of Activist and Attorney John M. Clark

By Nefertara Clark

One's wisdom, family traditions, and life contributions help to create a legacy. It's our relationship with God and what we do for others that makes life worth living. While many hope to have a positive impact on the world, John M. Clark is one such man who has left this gift to both his family and community

• Language: English
• Publisher: New Degree Press
• Release date: Dec 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9781637309735

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Daddy, Tell Me a Story

Daddy, Tell Me a Story

The Life and Legacy of Activist and Attorney John M. Clark

Nefertara Clark, Esq.

New Degree Press

Copyright © 2021 Nefertara Clark, Esq.

All rights reserved.

Daddy, Tell Me a Story

The Life and Legacy of Activist and Attorney John M. Clark

Unless otherwise indicated, Bible verses are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

ISBN

978-1-63730-815-8 Paperback

978-1-63730-877-6 Kindle Ebook

978-1-63730-973-5 Ebook

My paternal grandparents, circa 1945.

I dedicate this book to the next generation of change agents and to the memory of my paternal grandparents:

Otis Clark, Sr. & Freddie Mae Johnson Clark.

Contents

A Letter from My Father

A Note from the Author

Introduction

Part 1.

Sowing

Chapter 1.

Death

Chapter 2.

The Farm

Chapter 3.

Unspoken

Chapter 4.

Discipline

Part 2.

Growing

Chapter 5.

Center Stage

Chapter 6.

Divinely Guided

Chapter 7.

Transitions

Chapter 8.

Black Lives. Voting.

Chapter 9.

The Death Threat

Part 3.

Reaping

Chapter 10.

Perspective

Chapter 11.

Steadfast

Chapter 12.

Choosing a Successor

Chapter 13.

Conclusion

Book Club Discussion Guide

A Letter to My Father

Gratitude

Prostate Cancer Support & Resources

Appendix

This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you.

—Jeremiah 30:2 (NIV)

Thank you for purchasing this book! Your support is appreciated. The sales proceeds will benefit students attending Savannah State University & Southern University Law Center, my father’s and my alma maters, through our foundation JMN C.A.R.E.S.

The Clark Family Matriarch, Siblings and Firstborn Grandchild, Maurice, circa 1978.

A Letter from My Father

My father, November 2021.

My life was predestined by the will of God. As a young man, I knew that my life was different from that of my siblings, and I knew that I was driven to do things that would really cause me to be a loner in a lot of respects. Despite that, I had a desire to help my fellow man. And as I grew, I began to understand that. Even in school, I always had a yearning to help other students. In third grade, Mrs. Howard, our teacher, selected me as a tutor to help other students who had a difficult time mastering the schoolwork. Throughout school, students always looked to me for assistance. They recognized something in me before I fully realized it in myself.

Having my life story shared has always been a dream. The fact that my daughter chose to write this book is a dream realized. I must thank God for the life He gave me and the path he set before me. I am forever grateful for my father Otis Clark, Sr., because of the high expectations he always had of me, and all of his children, really. He always insisted that I work hard. As a result, I learned the correlation between diligence and success. My mother, Freddie Mae Johnson Clark, kept my secret of wanting to be a lawyer, and she believed in me and supported me as I traveled the path that God set before me. My dearly departed sister, Doris M. Clark, supported me in every way she could from allowing me to use her car to go see my wife while we were dating to serving as our co-signer when we purchased our home. My graceful, patient, and loving wife of forty-seven years, Mary Morrison Clark, gave me a degree of freedom and space to do the work God had predestined for me. Finally, my thanks go to my stunning, intelligent, and God-fearing daughter, Attorney Nefertara Clark, for doing what God would have her to do and what I have prayed for her to do. I truly thank her for putting pen to paper about my journey through this world. My life is about listening to God’s directives, following my conscience, acting on what He guides me to do, and completing the tasks that I have been directed to undertake.

As the winter of my life has arrived, I pray that God has been glorified in what I have done and that my fellow man has been edified.

I remain immensely humbled,

John M. Clark

A Note from the Author

Nefertara Clark, November 2021.

This book begins with one simple question: How far will you go for what you believe in? At a point in his life, my father decided to keep going, not to seek refuge in the comfort of an easy, mundane, routine life. Daddy, Tell Me A Story is a compilation of stories of self-definition. I am honored to share these stories—stories of a life of impact, impact which is measured by my father’s love for humanity, his desire to give to others, and the seeds he has sown along life’s path.

In college, I played fast-pitch softball. We were not a winning team, but we definitely had heart and a great work ethic. Because of our location in the southeastern corner of the state of Georgia, we often had to travel long distances for games. On days we weren’t up early traveling, we were up running the entire campus at 6:00 a.m. each morning. The time was early so that this conditioning practice wouldn’t interfere with any player’s early class schedule. At that time, I think I may have been the only team member who still thought early classes were a good idea. But, at 6:00 a.m. each morning, we ran … for miles. And in the afternoons, we had actual practice. But mornings: those were reserved for conditioning our bodies—our legs, our hearts, and our lungs. The same conditioning that I was doing back in 2002 through 2004 is tantamount to the emotional and spiritual conditioning my father has done his entire life.

As a proud daughter and an only child, I have always known it would be placed upon me to make sure that my parents’ legacies were memorialized. You see, my father has always emphasized the importance of legacy. On his side of the family, we have a genealogy and history book compiled by my father’s first cousin. Approximately two months into the pandemic, I started to really contemplate this idea more.

My father’s life, even as a child, has always been about justice. Little did he know that his quest for justice and fairness would be the basis for his life’s work. As a daughter who has chosen to follow in her father’s footsteps, this book is an opportunity for me to make a dream come true for my father.

Popular opinion—mostly utopian in nature, not rooted in actuality or reality—would have you believe that working with a parent in the family business provides a handout or hand-up, making your career and life easy, or at least easier. Sometimes, it is just the opposite.

There are dynamics in which you are called to work for what you get. Following in a parent’s footsteps can be a heavy load to shoulder.

To summarize Billie Holiday, God blesses the child who has their own. In 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (NIV), Paul wrote, For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.’ The person who is able-bodied but isn’t willing to work isn’t entitled to the fruits of anyone else’s labor. These phrases have resonated with me all of my adult life, not because my parents impressed them upon me but because I’ve always wanted to accomplish things on my own and be successful in my own right.

But during my career, I’ve had to set limits. I continue to do that even to this day. The limits were set because I didn’t want people calling for and plotting my death. It wasn’t until the writing of this book that I really understood that my observations of my father’s life have been both an inspiration and a deterrent as it relates to my place in the practice of law. I wanted to help people, but always with a lens toward what was safest for me. So, being a public defender was the way I helped people but stayed safe. To hold press conferences, write editorials, and call people out for their bad behavior leads to problems—retaliation and revenge. And problems are things we all try to avoid.

My father speaks openly about injustice, celebrates blackness, criticizes racism, and unequivocally fights for freedom. Race relations have played a critical role in my father’s life, and while things have changed, there are still serious race issues facing black and brown America.

Everything about my father emanates humility and pride in his culture and his choices. From him, I’ve learned that it’s not just what you say, but how you say it that makes a difference. My daddy speaks truth to power in a raw, emotional way. I am my father’s daughter and his business partner. As such, I am uniquely positioned to share his stories with the world.

~~~~

In my youth, I liked to be entertained … constantly. Due to this need for excitement, I was an avid book reader. I sometimes tired of reading, or more often, I’d read until nightfall as we drove around the state of Georgia. At those times, I’d turn to my father and ask him to tell me a story. Most times, he was ready and willing. But sometimes, he’d need coaxing.

He’d say, I’ve told you all the stories, or You know all the stories, or even, Tell ME a story. Back then, I’d beg and beg until he’d give in. And today, perhaps now that I look back on it, maybe he didn’t want to tell me a story because he was tired or stressed or just contemplating the events of the day.

I enjoyed reading, but these stories were better than any book I had ever read because they were true, real-life stories of adventure, heroism, and love. When I was a child, our nighttime ritual wasn’t complete until at least one book had been read aloud. I’ve had books on my bookshelves for as long as I can remember. When my daddy wasn’t telling me a story, I made sure that he or my mother read me stories from my bookshelf. During the summers, I participated in the local library’s summer reading program and wrote book reports assigned by my father, and during the school year, I participated in Accelerated Reader and Book It! So, in addition to the love of hearing stories, my father also created a legacy of reading and learning. Being a reader is an incredible gift, being a writer even more so.

My belief is that we, human beings, should be intentional about honoring legacy and capturing it in narrative form. Because of that belief, I was compelled to make space in my life to write the stories of my father’s life that include painful stories of the past but also offer proof of the ability for good to triumph over evil. This book is his lasting legacy. And, what a legacy it is—a legacy not measured by his accolades or countless leadership positions but by the immeasurable number of people he has encouraged and assisted. His is a life of true significance.

In the writing of this book, not only did I recall stories and lessons that my father shared with me but I also became acquainted with the son, brother, mentor, and friend he has been to countless others.

The purposes of this book are to share my father’s life experiences with the world and inspire future generations of leaders to get into good trouble, in the words of late Congressman John Lewis. This book also provides an honest look at the South—Georgia, specifically.

You will read about my daddy not passing the bar the first time—not an uncommon thing, but something that remains with you.

There are narratives of how my father volunteered to go to Vietnam and later had his life threatened as the result of legal victories, the latter being one of the most traumatic experiences in my life.

The stories found here explore courage, perseverance, love, good, and evil. There are stories about the ability to follow your path against all odds because of love for family and people. There are stories about my father growing up on a farm without electricity and cutting pulpwood, which is used to make paper.

The book also shares stories of perseverance, faith, and love of family. It is poignant and thoughtful, with episodes of humor and the frightening truth of reality.

Ultimately, Daddy, Tell Me A Story encourages and teaches. It encourages those who face adversity and provides an example of tenacity and resilience, especially for those with untapped potential. This book illuminates human failings and shares concrete examples of God’s grace, mercy, and favor.

In recognizing the value of leaving behind his stories for our family and future generations, I wrote the stories of the man for whom I have the greatest reverence.

I leave you with Daddy, Tell Me A Story.

Introduction

Daddy and Me (1989).

The relationship between father and daughter is precious. A father (or father figure) is usually a young girl’s first experience with unconditional love from the opposite sex, playing a vital role in her journey to adulthood. You will often hear father’s say, I treat my daughter like a queen so she will expect her romantic partner to do the same or some similar phrase. This leads to the age-old phrase daddy’s girl. That’s me—always has been, always will be.

So many daughters say they are daddy’s girls and their daddy is the best in the world. But my daddy really is the best. He and my mother made sure I stayed active, physically and mentally. I was enrolled and registered in everything—dance, baton, softball, basketball, and Girl Scouts, and let’s not forget a local gospel choir named Teen Ministry! Involved fathers have a significant and positive impact on their children. Fathers provide protection, guidance, and emotional and economic support.

Outside of activities, there were reading and summer book reports. Yes, you read