Lockett-Todd
BUFFALO — When we caught Dasie Lockett-Todd for this interview, she had just returned from ‘making a difference’ working with troubled youth at a local community center.
“The kids are hilarious!” she said. “These teenagers have me laughing all the time. The teenage years are the worst for parents and kids. There are just so many things nowadays that can lead them down the wrong path.”
Just as Lockett-Todd is making a difference with local youth, she is making a difference in our union. As the CSEA/VOICE Erie-Niagara Chapter Representative and a Western Region activist, Lockett-Todd was honored with CSEA’s Private Sector Mission Achievement Award last fall for her work in building our union.
She has not only helped lead Erie County to improve its child care subsidy system to better serve families and providers, but has played an active role in helping secure improvements for child care providers and other working people across the state.
Community activism grows unionism
Lockett-Todd sees her commitment to her union as no different from her work with troubled youth— it’s making a difference.
“I thought it was such a good idea for providers to be in a union, so I jumped on it,” she said. “I’ve always been community minded, and my parents taught me to be community minded. My mother was on the board of St Augustine’s Center way back when it started under Father Carmichael on Humboldt Parkway and Ferry Street in [Buffalo]. She got involved and had her hands in making it grow and it became the premier center in the city, offering programs for children and families.”
Lockett-Todd credits her parents for teaching her the importance of collective action and how involvement works in strengthening our communities.
She began her relationship with CSEA by first attending meetings. She later helped others get involved in also attending meetings and she moved on to helping organize new members, sat on the negotiating team, the ‘DSS team,’ became the CSEA/VOICE Erie-Niagara Chapter Representative and now serves on several Western Region committees.
So, how does she do it all?
“I like to stay busy; I’m not one to sit idle, so I just do it,” Lockett-Todd said. “You make up your mind to do it and you do it. I have been juggling raising my four children by myself plus all my responsibilities, so work does not scare me. The other thing is that I would not know as many child care providers that I know now and people know me in CSEA, too. It’s great to connect with people who have common issues and who you can learn from. The support and network is awesome. So many things about my union have helped me grow.”
Becoming active in CSEA nearly 10 years ago, she sees an enormous difference between then, not having a union at all and now, having CSEA.
Lockett-Todd said that as members, we should always be working toward organizing new members and making sure our voice is heard by elected officials and our communities.
“I believe ‘it’s the squeaky wheel that gets the grease’ and we need to all be on the same page,” she said. “We get on the same page at meetings where we learn to be consistent and speak as one voice. There is immense power in numbers and we need to use it.”
Lockett-Todd recalled fondly the CSEA Mission Achievement Award she received last October.
“It all happened so quickly. I attended the [Annual Delegates Meeting] in Washington D.C. and it was so nice; a wonderful experience to be honored,” she said. “Being active in CSEA wasn’t a hard decision to make. It was instilled in me to get out there and make a difference. That’s one of my mottos. Each day when I get up, I think to myself go ‘get up and make a difference.’”
— Jill Asencio
