Judith Bateman has gone far and beyond the call of duty in her community and abroad. She is a civil right activist,a humanist, womanist, leader,mother, sister, daughter and a women of GOD. In the turbulent 60's and 70's, as an activist, Ms. Bateman was hired to work for the HUD program in a predominately white Newark, New Jersey. During her time at HUD, Judith challenged the city's government officials and made them live up to the constitution of the US. Her job was to find houses for primarily Puerto Ricans, African American, and poor white families and that's what she did! Many families benefited from the HUD programs and received houses. In Newark, NJ this was unheard of back then because housing discrimination was very high against Blacks and Latinos and poor whites. But Ms. Bateman broke through those barriers with her integrity, strong will and color. Judith took her job serously and she was there to make a difference. Judith let her bosses know "Just because I speak Spanish and I'm black and occupying this position doesn't mean I am here to be a puppet!. I came here to do a job and to do it to the best of my capability!" Now on the other hand, Judith would advise each family who benefited from the program " This is an opportunity to live with pride and decency. Now that you have a House, Here is the opportunity to live better than your parents, strive to build a better life for you and your family especially your children." In fact, Ms. Bateman would have some of their children stay with her and her family until their family would move into their new house. Judith valued her job and the privilege it allowed her to help others. Ms. Bateman also was a strong advocate for Mayor GIBSON and helped him get into office especially with the Puerto Rican votes. Mayor Gibson as you might not know was the first black Mayor of Newark. That was a huge feat during this 70's and he remained the mayor for over 14years. During his second term, Ms. Bateman also took on another full time job, unpaid, she became President of The Tenants association of Zion Towers. Judith and her family lived in Zion Towers for over 10 years. During her presidency, Judith fought hard for rent stablization and improved the living conditions for the seniors and tenants of the building and surrounding buildings around Weequahic Park. Judith took on the Presidency because she cared about the quality of life for the tenants who were comprised of mostly jewish seniors and black families. The tenants believed in her so much that they sent Ms. Bateman to speak on their behalf in Washington CD; Where she spoke at the White House for tenants' rights everywhere!!!I I was not there but from what I understand, her speech was so moving: it had received a thunderous standing ovation by a full house!!!! What really touched my heart about Ms. Bateman was her love and community action for her motherland, Tela, Honduras; which back in the mid 70's, was devasted by a hurrricane. Many communities were destroyed and many people were left homeless; The news about Honduras affected the world and of course, it affected Judith greatly. After all, it was the place of her birth and she still had family there. After speaking to her mother in Honduras and listening to the how the hurricane affected people emotionally, Ms. Bateman had prayed to GOD and decided to take action.. Judith and her friends had organized a food and clothes drive. It was a great idea! Support had come from everywhere; friends, coworkers, city officials, neighbors, and extended families; The Supermarket, Pathmark, allowed Ms. Bateman and support to stand outside their doors and collect canned foods and monies from their customers. And it was moving to see how people who needed Financial assistance themselves, unselfishly gave what they had in order to help the people in Honduras. Their attitudes were overwhelmingly compassionate and warm towards people they didn't even know. Newarkers felt a comradarie with those people in Honduras and understood their plight. I remember people just hugging Ms. Bateman and expressing to her their support because they knew it was her homeland. Some people were pleasantly surprised to know that there were people of African descent in Honduras. Tears of gratefulness welled up in Ms. Bateman's eyes. It was really a touching moment. The beauty of Ms. Bateman's actions were felt everywhere. Even the Governor of NJ had supported Ms. Bateman's cause by graciously donated a plane to fly the provisions to Tela. The people of Honduras were just grateful! It was this selfless act by Newarkers and the Governor that shed a positive light on Newark that day. And it also put a smile on Ms. Bateman's face, as she stood with the Govenor taking pictures right outside the plane before it took off. In the photograph, I can see that Judith was humbled by the support from everyone and she felt proud to be a citizen of the Untied States!! Judith Bateman's service to her community goes beyond words and nominating her for the IWD's Outstanding Service Award is well deserved!