Jamaal Williams has been looking out for people all his life.

• Growing up with his cousins, trying to keep them out of trouble.
• Trying to help himself and others not cave in to the pressure on a Naval “pirate ship”.
• Sitting in the dugout at the little league field, knowing someone needs him.
• Serving as Vice Chair of our caucus.

You might call his actions angelic, but would you recognize him as an angel? Probably not.

This unassuming and modest Clovis NM native in his forties grew up on the wrong side of town, as he says, and had his share of trouble when he was young. But he always survived and even thrived under these circumstances. “My grandmother was real impactful to me. She was a real giver. That’s our family culture. My growing up has affected who I am now. I just try to help people out and do what I can. People who need me, find me,” he said softly.

Jamaal worked hard when he was young, when he was in the Navy, and in the 20 or so years after that, but he always has time for someone in need. He has a disarming smile that makes it easy for folks to talk with him.

“My grandfather was posted here (at the Clovis Air Force Base, now Cannon AFB) when he was in the military in the 1950’s. My Grandmother moved the family here from Virginia in 1970. They were among the last people to arrive here on an Amtrak train. They stopped service here not long after that,” Jamaal recalls. Jamaal and his siblings grew up in a strong family, guided by his mother and grandmother. He developed a bond with his cousins that stays strong today. He was the cousin who would always warn the others to leave a situation that could get them in trouble. He mostly followed his own advice, but they rarely did.

He loved playing baseball in the Little League; the league started in the1950’s due to unequal opportunities; a love that continues to feed his adult life. “I was a typical Clovis kid,” he said laughingly. “I told everybody I wanted to be a baseball player.”  He played football in high school until he was old enough to get a part-time job. “I knew military people, but I never aspired to be in the military.  I talked to a Navy recruiter after my two buddies signed up,” he said. A month after graduating from Clovis High School, Jamaal enlisted in the Navy. “I had good test scores. I took nuke test but didn’t pass that. So I became a gas turbine systems technician. I ended up being an engine room operator. It wasn’t what I expected,” he explained. “I sure wish I knew then what I know now.”

“I was on the USS Briscoe, an old destroyer that we dubbed the pirate ship. She had four big LM2500 engines and smaller turbines for electricity. I helped change them out. We did one turbine changeout while underway,” he said. He was good at his job and often did the work that would be assigned to an E-4 or an E-5. His Navy tour took him to the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic, Paris, Rome, Croatia, Jerusalem and other locales.

“I grew up on that pirate ship. There was a lot of wild stuff going on. People were learning, people were doing different things. I was super smart. But I ended up getting in trouble – I had problems with the system, with the good ole’ boys club. Even so, I helped other people get all their certs. One junior officer said I had encyclopedic knowledge of the engine room for which I received a Navy Achievement Medal. I was proud of that. I was the worker bee, definitely; I would take pride in making sure we could fix something,” Jamaal said. “One time I didn’t see the sun for about five days. It was things like that challenged me too.”

“I got out after four years, just after September 11th. We were in port in Norfolk when 9/11 hit. I remember watching the second plane. We had to go out to sea, on a North Atlantic tour after that. I was uneasy about the whole 9/11 thing. I didn’t believe the narrative. There was no way we could have lost track of all those planes,” he recalled. “I had a stressful last year of active duty and the next few years after. But now I can now see what I was going through – PTSD. I was hyper vigilant, always on edge. I remember sometimes not being able to sleep for days. Hyper vigilance is still with me sometimes even now.”

He returned home after his enlistment was done, wizened by his experiences of survival in the Navy and learning from the diverse people he met; and with a pay-it-forward resolve to be there for persons who need some help getting through tough times.

He met his wife in 2003 and got married five years later. He started out in electronics school, first at Clovis Community College, then at Eastern New Mexico. We moved to Amarillo where I earned my instrumentation degree from Amarillo College,” Jamaal said. After his wife started skating, they ran a roller derby there for a few years. They moved back to Clovis in 2012.

Since then, Jamaal has served as an Instrumentation and Controls Technician responsible for testing and ensuring compliance with regulatory equipment at one of the world’s largest cheese manufacturing facilities, located in Clovis. He serves on the City of Clovis Parks and Recreation Board, and is the Chair of the Democratic Party of Curry County. He has also traveled around New Mexico, with plans to see more of the USA. Baseball and Little League remain his passion.

“I got back into youth baseball in 2017, when my cousin asked me to be on the board of the Little League. I’ve been the League President since 2018. That’s where I spend most of my time now.  We have three children; they all play youth sports.  Our youngest son still plays all the time; he got third place at state last year. Our daughter started playing softball two seasons ago and likes it a lot,” he said with pride.

The Little League gives him more than nostalgia and a place to hang out with his family. “Doing Little League, I get to talking to people, both old and young. I have more attachment to the kids than the rowdy spectators. When people ask how I can do it I say, ‘I do this for their little kids and the old people. You see, the parents have baseball memories from their childhood. When I talk to older people, I can feel them going back to feeling like they were 10 years old,’” Jamal shared.

“Little League also gives me an opportunity to erase boundaries with people who are so different from me. I once had a conversation with a former mayor whose son played Little League on the

other side of town when he was young. He told me about the time his son hit his only Little League home run when they played at our field in the City Tournament. I saw his face light up, telling the story as if it were just a few years ago,” Jamaal shared eagerly.

“One time when I was alone at the field, I sat down with a man in the dugout who was dirty and looked down on life. He saw the field lights on and said he wanted to rake the field and reminisce. We talked for a long time and got a bite to eat. Then, when he was comfortable enough, he got up to return to his home. There’s lots of positive stories out there. I know what I do is worthwhile,” Jamaal said about the encounter.

“At my core – we look out for each other. I think it goes back to my grandmother and to being in the Navy. I was never homesick in the Navy; but there were so many people around me who were isolated from the world,” Jamaal shared. “I try to look at the ebb and flow of life. I am insightful; I can feel people. I know when they are ready to talk, to share their story with me,” he reflected.  “But I know that you win some and you lose some.”

When he can, Jamaal takes a moment to look up in the sky for hawks flying high above. When he sees them, they bring him some peace.