From Global Advocate to Durham Community Builder

Photos by Jared Lazarus

Musu's story

A parent’s scholarship leads the way

Musu Clemens came to Durham with her mother and three sisters when she was just ten years old. In the early 1970s, her mother— recently divorced and raising four daughters— received a scholarship to enroll in Duke University's Physician Assistant (PA) program. At the time, the PA profession was still in its early years. Her mother left Liberia to pursue the opportunity, marking a bold new chapter for her family. Duke's involvement with that opportunity had a lasting effect.

"Duke gave my mother a chance when she was in a low place in her life," stated Clemens. "That education changed our family's economic path."

Following the family's relocation from Durham to Maryland, Clemens pursued her studies and eventually began working in community development internationally, going to Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Clemens returned to Durham in 2004 after decades of operating abroad, at first utilizing the city as a base of operations in between international assignments. When she retired in 2022, Clemens made Lakewood Park her permanent home. She discovered a location that was diverse and rich in history, while also having room to connect with neighbors in a more meaningful way.

"I realized we didn't have a real neighborhood association or a strong sense of who we were," she said. "So, I started knocking on doors."

Working to bring a neighborhood together

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The re-launch of the Lakewood Park Neighborhood Association was encouraged as a result of that door-knocking effort, and Clemens was elected president.

As a leader, Clemens places a high value on inclusivity. She assisted in setting up listening sessions with underserved locals, including families with small children, neurodivergent people, unhoused residents, LGBTQ+ community members, mature residents, and Spanish-speaking neighbors.

These discussions revealed unspoken realities. For instance, a majority of the homeless people who congregated at the neighborhood bus stop had family connections to, or had formerly resided in, Lakewood Park. Residents who speak Spanish, on the other hand, reported feeling socially and linguistically isolated. 

Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership and Doing Good add to Lakewood Park efforts

Lakewood Park is one of 14 neighborhoods participating in the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership. Through a grant from the Duke Doing Good Neighborhood fund, Clemens and her neighbors organized community walks to map the neighborhood's cultural and physical boundaries, started bilingual newsletters, and even commissioned a spoken word performance based on the insights they gained from their listening sessions. Additionally, Clemens established connections with the Southwest Central Durham Quality of Life Project and the West End Family Life and Community Center, which increased her involvement in citywide equity initiatives.

Inviting newcomers and longtime inhabitants

Clemens feels that by uniting both newcomers and longtime inhabitants, Durham may make peace with its past. "It's not perfect," she explained, "but I see efforts to find a sweet spot between people who bring new energy and people who count generations here. The two are essential."

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A current issue concerning her is affordable housing. "Durham has become unaffordable for the very people who make the city work," she said, referring to the gentrification that prices out public service employees, teachers, and firefighters, for example. She wants more to be done by Duke and other universities, especially in the areas of access to healthcare and affordable housing. "Duke has the gravitas and the resources," she added. "It can continue to be a catalyst."

Clemens is still very involved and active in the neighborhood association, even though she recently stepped down as its sole leader. She continues to support inclusive outreach, youth programming, and equitable development in Lakewood Park while volunteering with the Southwest Central Quality of Life Foundation, the West End Community Foundation and other neighborhood initiatives.

"I'm retired now, but I still have a purpose," she said. "This is my community. And I want to help it become the best version of itself."