house of representatives presents the history of african americans to serve in congress. he is joined by former congressman ron dellums, a founding member of the congressional black caucus at the rayburn house office building here in washington. this is about two hours. ..

ocean to african-americans in congress and the impact of shipping democracy in america. web site www. avoiceonline.org of the ultimate public discourse and college about african-american leadership and representative government and promote civic engagement among youth. i am honored to be your moderator for today's event. today we will hear from the house historian matt wasniewski and lead editor of the book "black americans in congress, 1870-2007," another fantastic resources. later we will hear from former congressman ronald dellums will be introduced by representative barbara lee. please welcome the sponsor of our briefing, congressman frederica wilson who represents florida's seventeenth district. a lifelong educator congresswoman wilson before

coming to congress served as a principal, school board member, florida state house representative and florida state senator. this is her freshman term in congress. [applause] >> thank you so much and thank you for being here with us today and thanks to all of you for coming out to share this with us. history is so important and this is the beginning of black history month and in florida i served as the coordinator for african-american history in the entire state and was responsible for placing in the text books of history, black history. congresswomen carry meek, congress woman brown and congressman al hastings in the fourth grade textbook of

florida. i would be very happy to say also as the chairman of black history about miami dade public schools. i have a whole segment of the community that was interested in making sure everyone learns. the african-american history task force and make sure that goal is mad. we continue that legacy. i want tk al the intern's at my office. especially -- making c's and for covering us today. we expect more people to come. they just called votes. i am going to vote.

i will be back to enjoy this wonderful rich session. our great honoree is here this morning. let's give them a hand. [applause] >> we are so pleased this is a great day in washington. a great day on capitol hill and a great day for our nation. thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you very much. please welcome matt wasniewski. >> thank you very much for arranging this opportunity to discuss black history month and in particular the history of african-americans in congress. so many changes have occurred in

this story line in the recent past by historical standards. is an amazing amount of change. in the lifetime of those in the room there has been tremendous change in the story. i want to point at two statistics. the first is there have been 126 african-americans who have served in our institution, the house of representatives. there have been six other individuals who serve in that other body on the north side, the senate. no african-american individual has ever served in both chambers. if you add them up there are 132 people. as a portion of congress, all the members of congress going back to 1789 to the first federal congress, that account for 1% of all the people who ever served in the house and senate.

to demonstrate how this change has occurred very quickly in recent years consider this. as african-americans, as many african-americans have been elected to congress since 1990 as were elected in the entire period between 1870 and 1990. in 1970 the first african-american, senator from mississippi joseph rainy from south carolina, member of the house. that is a tremendous amount of change. what i would like to do is better understand the earlier context of this story. representative belem is an authority what happens in the modern era. i want to prepare you for this talk by talking about the pioneers. the early representatives and senators who came along and made the changes that happened in our lifetime possible. to do that i want to refer to a

publication which we published in 2008, black americans in congress. we're going to use our web site to illustrate that. this book was published in 2008. the web site features things not available in the book. lesson plans for teachers. a gallery of art and artifacts that weren't in the book and it is updated regularly. i recommend it to anyone who would like to learn more about the history. i am going to be skimming the surface today. e a i c.house.gov. it is for matted in chronological matter where we break african-american history on capitol hill into four long generations. we do that to provide context so people can understand the elections in which these members came in to congress and also the environment in which they legislated in the house and

senate. let me move to the first generation of african-americans who served during the reconstruction period. after the civil war up until late '87. reconstruction as you are familiar with was the no. effort to reform the seceded southern governments and former confederate states and integrate the south back into the union. historians typically base this between 1863, 1865 and 1877. the former end of reconstruction. during most of reconstruction in the house and senate, very influential group of individuals known as radical republicans really ran the legislative agenda in both chambers. radicals tended to the former abolitionists who wanted to impose a much harsher version of reconstruction on the southern states than did presidents lincoln or johnson.

radical leaders like thaddeus stevens of pennsylvania who was truly the leader of the house, chairman of ways and means committee and the appropriations committee and then charles sumner of massachusetts, the great radical leader in the senate. wanted this program of reconstruction to in the end create a multiracial society wherein newly freed african-americans would be integrated fully into the political process. very first african-american was high rebel who toured the nation after his term as a senator after the mississippi legislature had appointed him in 1870 and when he took a long national speaking for newspapers referred to him as the fifteenth amendment in flesh and blood. this north carolina born preacher personified african-american emancipation enfranchisement in the civil war period. the occupied a senate seat that

had been held by albert brown who left the chamber in 1861 when the state seceded and it was a very powerful symbolic appointments. he was a former slave owner and here he was taking his seat the decade earlier. as senator henry wilson in massachusetts escorted rebels to the front of the chamber to take his oath on february 25th, the atlanta constitution had a reporter in the galleries who wrote the crowded galleries rose almost on mass and each natwest stretched to its better most to get a view. a curious crowd covered in white rushed into the senate chamber and gave the senator some of them congratulating them, very respectable looking well-dressed company of colored men and women then came up, took rebels captive and bore him off in lee and triumph. rebels triumph was short-lived because after his short

appointment expired the following year a leading white republican in the state, former confederate general james albert was appointed to the full six year term and took his seat in the senate and in many respects, his service foreshadowed that of other african american members during this period. during reconstruction in the decades after. there were 17 african-american congressmen who served between 1870, and 1877 and they had a lot in common. they came from reconstructed republican governments in the south. most were born in the south. eight of them had been born into slavery. those who hadn't been born into slavery, the majority of them were born in the relatively large mixed race communities in urban areas in the south such as charleston, south carolina and their professional backgrounds were diverse.

their rig teachers, cleared the, hotel managers, merchants and one profession a number of them shared in common. it was a time honored nineteenth century vehicle for advancing one's political career. a lot of them came from journalist backgrounds with start up new republican newspapers in the south. there was a lot to unite this group and with stories of personal triumph and individual moments of heroism, they offered a powerful collective symbol of the victory of african-american citizenship and voting rights in those years after the civil war but it is important to remember too that during this period these african-american members never really achieved the level of power that was wielded by their white colleagues in the house and senate. in a sense they served at the margins of institutional power. they were in a sense tolerated

but not embraced on capitol hill. and a couple things to point that out. none of these figures really held influential committee positions. no power committees, ways and means or later rules. they didn't serve in the leadership. nor did they serve in sufficiently large numbers to drive a legislative agenda. largest group of african-americans who served in the nineteenth century was eight. 7 representatives and senator blanche bruce from mississippi. that was in the thirty-fourth congress, eighteen 75-1877. these were all republicans and at that point were serving in a congress that was under democratic control. lacking qualitative institutional power these african-americans were for the most part relegated to passive roles to support legislation that was being introduced and shaped by their colleagues but

they provided firsthand accounts of civil-rights abuses against their constituents in the south and often against themselves. they got a lot of press attention. probably the most noteworthy debate in which these african-americans participated related to the civil rights act of 1875. the civil-rights act of 1875 was forward-looking piece of legislation. it was introduced by charles sumner in the senate and had it been enacted in its entirety it would have done everything the 1964 civil rights act did in terms of outlying racial discrimination in public transportation, schools, juries and accommodations. one fellow in the debate was robert elliott from south carolina. he is truly one of the more interesting people we profiled. he was much younger than his

colleagues. he had a photographic memory and he was a great orator. when he came to the house for the national press and galleries took note. he is also a character because he is essentially -- much of his early personal history. probably to make himself more suitable for political office but i will let you read the profile in the book. he offered in early 1870 for a very eloquent rebuttal to the former confederate vice president alexander stephens of georgia who had been elected to the house and who came to the house floor in opposition to speak in opposition to the civil rights bill. i want to read you a quote that elliott gave on the floor. i regret that the dark hue of my skin may amend, to the implication that i am controlled by motives personal to myself in my advocacy of this great measure of national justice. the motive that impels me is restricted to no such boundary but is as broad as the constitution and i advocate it

because it is right. the chicago tribune reported watching mr. elliott give this great speech and watching the elderly alexander stephens deliver a very dry speech from his wheelchair in the will of the house. they reported that elliott had a harmony of delivery that resonated with the entire chamber. mr. elliott has demonstrated a real force of a new order of things. elliott left the 40 third congress for greater political opportunity. he became speaker of the south carolina state legislature. state house of representatives. like so many african-americans believe it would very soon struggle later in life with the opportunity to participate in politics at the state level. he died in obscurity in 1884 after jim crow laws and segregation have defended in the

house. with very little public notice. i want to move to the second-generation we profiled in the book. this generation of african-americans, this is a story that really is one. we dated between 1887 and 1989 and it is one of contraction and exclusion as african-americans are pushed out of the political process in the south and it is unique from the narrative of women and hispanic americans and other groups we studied newly admitted to the political process because once women or hispanic americans were on the political scene on capitol hill they were a presence but african-americans for many years were completely excluded from participating on capitol hill. there were only five black

members who served from 1887-1901 and beginning after 1901 there was a three decade gap in african-americans service in the house and senate. following reconstruction this is a well-known part of the narrative as part of the compromise of 1877 which put rutherford hayes in the white house. deal was struck that ended formal reconstruction in the house and pull northern troops out of the south. the political rights of all free blacks were the casualties of this deal and jim crow and the underpinnings of a system of segregation came in to place in the 1880s and 1890'ss. southern freedmen were excluded from the political process. poll taxes, grandfather clauses, literacy tests, white primaries and so on and beyond these devices were repeated efforts to challenge the elections of

african-americans. were collected from southern district. eight african-american members in the nineteenth century had their elections challenge. in fact, the very first african-american who ever spoke on the house for while it was in session was a man by the name of john willis menard from louisiana and in 1868 in a special election he was elected with 64% of the votes to a district that encompasses greater new orleans. that the election was contested by his opponents and when it came before the house elections committee the elections committee decided to see neither of the gentlemen. so he could have become the first african-american in congress by a full year, lost that. didn't take his seat. african-american representatives in the 1890s, the few is relegated to on the shaped districts.

as political scientists say, to dilute and disperse black votes in 2 other districts and conversely pact to contain most african-american votes in one district to open up more districts for white candidates on the state delegations. where law and legal challenges failed, there was the imagery, fraud and violence that marred a lot of these elections in which these individuals were involved. going back to the district was an adventure to put it mildly. one man who served in those of the shaped districts which was a salamander shaped district that wound its way along the eastern coast of north carolina and it was known as the black second district represented by a string of african-american men. this man was named george white and he was born into slavery in 1852. he cut his teeth in local

politics in the reconstruction era and practiced law. 89 before he made a bid to be elected to congress and challenge his brother-in-law, the district's former black congressman henry shethem. white loft but split the vote and that's to prevent his reelection. you can imagine what the family gatherings must of been like after that. but wait persisted and won election in 1896 to the first of two terms and he was the only african-american in congress during that period from 1897 to 1901. when he stood for reelection in 1908 there was a very violent race riot in wilmington north carolina on the coast in his district. 11 african-american men were killed. 25 were wounded. in congress, despite serving

under republican majority, had his legislative initiatives constantly rebuffed. one of the big bills he tried to bring to the floor was an anti lynching bill. just weeks before he announced his retirement from the house, president william mckinley refused to pledge aid for the and time lynching legislation. white in frustration came to the house floor and delivered a speech in which he said this, mr. chairman is the negro's temporary farewell to the american congress. let me say phoenix let people rise up and come again sunday. during the 28 year absence of african-americans from congress, civil-rights legislation for african-americans in the south and the north was all but ignored. washington was a segregated city. the federal government was segregated by custom if not by statute. there were a few white members of congress who carry the mantle

of racial justice confronting their colleagues on issues that were important to black americans. the naacp which was founded in 1909 and its executive secretary, james johnson, worked closely with a few members in the house to secure passage of an anti binging bill in the 1920s but that bill died in the senate. this gentleman behind me was one of the advocates for african-americans and a true character. george white from north carolina had introduced legislation originally that would have punished southern state for disenfranchising blacks. this derived from the fourteenth amendment. is required congress to penalize states to disqualify eligible voters to subtract the number of people who were disenfranchised from the totals that were used to determine how many seats each state would have for the

delegation. this effort became known as reduction. it got started up after each census as you might expect. this man behind me, goerge income of massachusetts advocated reduction in the 1920s. he was one of the most colorful characters in the house. and avid game hunter who would line is office walls with trophies that he often named after political opponents. he became known as the conscience of the house. during this protracted fight he brought the issue of african-american voting rights and reduction to the house floor and challenge the house leadership to address it. i want to move on to the third part of the book and that begins in 1929 as african-americans regain a place on capitol hill. this is in the form of off her priest who was elected from a

chicago district. this marked the beginning of a third long wave of a generation of black americans in congress up until 1970. individuals elected in this period with the mirror opposites of nineteenth century predecessors. they were all more others. they were elected from black majority, urban districts and with the exception of senator edward bob brooks of massachusetts who was elected in the 1916s these men and a woman at the end, shirley chisholm were all democrats. there was a shift in party loyalty that occurred that code itself to larger forces beyond capitol hill. one of them was the lily white movement in the south in which southern republicans began to freeze out african-americans

from the political process from local politics from nominating conventions. another even larger force at play is the great migration of tens of thousands of african-americans beginning in the early part of the 20th century and lasting in number of decades. these are folks coming from rural poverty in the south and looking for northern industrial jobs and the opportunity to participate more fully in politics. also by promising african-americans cooler participation in the political process in the 1930s the new deal coalition also help reactivate black political participation and brought greater numbers into the democratic party over a number of decades. but looking at these individuals from an institutional perspective, african-americans who serve in this era we describe as embarking on a long

apprenticeship in the house and senate. they attained more desirable committee assignments. representing relatively safe majority black district. won reelection and accrued the time of seniority they need to advance themselves slowly into the leadership. while they shared a identical goals about advancing civil-rights of their constituents they often disagreed over tactics and legislative style and one such legislative style was that of william dawson of illinois which was elected to the house in 1942. he was one of these members who served a very long time, preferred to work behind-the-scenes. he did not make a lot of war speeches but eventually became the first african-american to chair a full congressional committee. the other style which we will highlight here is this fellow everyone no doubt knows, very charismatic preacher, adam

clayton powell who served from 1945 to 1971. he was an unapologetic civil-rights activist. he was known as mr. civil-rights. we titled the chapter covering this period keeping the faith after his often used quotation keep the faith, baby. spread it gently and walked together. in 1944 mr. powell won election to a new district that encompassed harlem and served a total of 12 congresses. eventually in nearly 1960s he rose to chair the education and labor committee and helped oversee the enactment of some major portions of the great society legislation. when powell first came to congress speaker sam rayburn of texas anticipating his confrontational style encouraged him to play the part of a good freshman member to be seen but not heard. he called into his office and

told him listen to what your colleagues say. trinket in and get reelected a few more times and then start moving but for god's sake don't throw those bombs. he replied mr. speaker, i have a bomb in both hands and i am going to throw them right away. rayburn burst into laughter and powell recalled this was the beginning of a good friendship between the two men. throughout his career powell put something, anti-discrimination writer known as the powell amendment and tacked to the sound to as many pieces of legislation as he could. eventually included in the 1964 civil rights act and aims to prohibit the use of federal funds by institutions or businesses that practice discrimination. he also routinely encountered segregation on capitol hill. a very senior member of the mississippi delegation who called powell's election to the

house in disgrace. he published his intention to avoid an african-american man on the house floor. if you know anything about adam clayton powell this only prompted him to act. the southern politician on the house floor. at one point he followed a senior chairman around the democratic side of the chamber. baptize the man or drown him. this era marked a period of challenging institutional -- not just for powell but other representatives. in this regard i want to briefly highlight oscar the priest who was elected in 1929. on opening day in 1929, nicholas wamuworth of a higher change the

long-term practice of swearing in members on the house for by state delegations, members from the illinois delegation which he was part of include congresswoman martha mccormick came to longworth and told him they fear some southerners who were flown in might object to his seating. he opted for what persists to this day in practice on opening day. which was to swear in the whole membership. when the staff were discriminated against and segregated, house restaurant. he came to the house floor, as part of a speech. if we allow segregation and denial of constitutional rights under the dome of the capital, where in god's name will we get them?

he shamed the house into a special investigatory committee but said the majority of its members defeated the wishes of racial conservatives. recommend reforms to the whole house. despite the bravery and resilience in this period, they had to overcome overwhelming institutional inertia. there are a lot of stories to tell. things are moving across the surface. the primary example of this inertia in the 1950s was as you know structures bill on to the floor for consideration. chaired by an arch segregationist, this hugely influential panel routinely watered down a long parade of civil-rights bills. often times smith would shutter committee operations. close the committee down and go

back to his farm in northern virginia. excused himself to inspect a burned down barn on his property. to which leo allen of leaders and ranking republican on this committee. he told the press i knew the judge was opposed to the civil-rights bill but didn't think he would commit arson to be it. in 1961 speaker sam rayburn, a bruising fight that expand the membership of the committee to break the hold of those who were blocking the reform legislation. and the voting rights act, as so often happens in american history changed the political level often driven by social movements happening far away from capitol hill and certainly it was the post world war ii

civil-rights movement that forced congress and the president to act with that civil-rights act in 57, and 64 in the voting rights act in 65. in many respects this movement in the country overshadow what was going on in washington. it did create the conditions that affected change on capitol hill in the post 1970 period. within a decade the number of african-americans in congress--and as their numbers increase the momentum for organizing overtime strengthened. very briefly i would like to talk about the final time period here which we cover in the book and that is supposed 1970 era. this is the most recent generation of african-american members and it is marked by a post civil-rights group. the act in the 1960s, voting rights act and the extension in

the 1970 and '75 and early 80s, court order redistricting opened new avenues of political participation for millions of african-americans. consequently during this period many more african-americans were elected to state and local political office and congress, in fact, 97 of those 132 individuals who i mentioned at the start work elected after 1970. many of these members were elected from a southern states for the first time in seven or eight decades. in 1973 barbara jordan of texas and andrew young of georgia became the first african-americans elected from the south in the nineteenth century. growing ranks mark a time for formal organization and coordination of black efforts and what occurred then in early 1971 was 13 african-american members of congress led by

charles digs of michigan created the congressional black caucus. image of the early caucus on the far right. the mandate was to address, quote, permanent interests that were important to black americans. to advance african-americans within the institution of the house and senate to get them better committee assignments and get them into leadership. the cdc also forged a legislative agenda and a cohesive voting bloc. representative louis stokes who was a cdc co-founder once noted black never could rely on somebody in congress to speak on racial questions that they can with the caucus. among the notable early achievements were passage of the humphrey-hawkins act in 1978 to promote employment in a balanced budget. in 1983, passage of the federal

holiday commemorating martin luther king jr. and in 1986 for the very first time passing legislation that imposed sanctions on south africa for its practice of apartheid. these were all victories. within congress this cbc use its influence as a growing unit within the democratic caucus to push party leaders to appoint african-americans to better committees and more leadership positions and this generation of african-americans in congress held positions on a full cross-section of committees for the first time. including some of the most coveted committees. appropriations, ways and means, shirley chisholm went on to rule and she was the first african-american on rules. another influential panel like judiciary and the armed service and i know mr. dellum has an interesting story about getting on to that committee which i will let him tell. mr. dellum chair that committee and it made him one of 16

african-americans who served -- chaired a congressional committee in the post 1971 period. to give you a little perspect e perspective, between 1870 and 1971 there were three african-americans who chaired panels and for the first time black members in congress rose party leadership ranks during this visible your. bill gray bleached will democratic majority whip in the 80s, j.c. watts who became a republican conference chairman in the 90s and most recently james cliburn of south carolina served as democratic whip. part of this story is there were more african-american women elected to congress. surely chisholm of new york was the first, elected in 1968 from a district that encompassed brooklyn. made her the first african-american in congress. 30 other women followed her since 1969. particularly in the post 1990

period women have accounted for a major part of their story. women account for 40% of all african-americans who have been elected after 1990. so this is a multifaceted histories faust's that we're still learning about appestat level. i have enjoyed the chance to share some of this with you. i believe we have time for a question or two. okay. [applause] >> thank you. i want to take a moment to recognize someone who just stepped into the room. congressman hank johnson from georgia. [applause] >> good morning. it is good to be here with one

of the lions. it is good to be here this morning with one of the lions of congressional history, ron dellums, a man who always said what he meant and meant what he said and stood by his principles and is still standing. goes to show you that you can have some principles and you can be successful. you may not be as rich as some of the others who left congress but that is only in the pocketbook. you can feel real good about the work that you did and the legacy that you left. this is the legacy ron dellums has left for us to continue.

i can tell you that the work you were involved in as an african-american in congress making a difference is on going. many barriers remain to be busted up and demolished. never-ending battle, should not get angry, course at about having to fight because fighting makes you strong. we will go ahead and continue to fight but be responsible in doing so and hopefully our efforts can make you proud, mr.

chairman. so with that, i thank wilson and the african american voices in congress. they bring an opportunity to learn about history. thank you. [applause] >> at this time i will take any questions for matt wasniewski. >> i have one question. you broach the topic of learning more new history every day in terms of staffers and different things. if you could tell one story about that, that would be interesting. >> the handout you received at the front door, we have a historical highlights that we discovered a few years ago. one of the interesting things about these electronic data

bases we have access to be personal historical newspapers, the p d f version of the congressional record and the globe and its predecessors going all the way back. we are able to do searches we previously couldn't. the story of african-american pioneers during reconstruction has come in to focus. these are individuals who are not really covered and the staff are not covered in the public record and so we have been able to search the databases and then cover interesting individuals one of whom is highlighted in that hand out. william smith who was appointed librarian of the house of representatives in 1881 and he had originally been appointed to the house staff in 1864 and charles sumner on the senate side was his sponsor and he worked for what law read in the house library and he was the later editor of the new york

tribune and vice-presidential candidate. mr. smith rose through the ranks and was appointed what was then a very prominent and prestigious position, house librarian and served until the 1890s. one of the few african-american staff we know about in that time period. one of the others we have discovered very recently is in fact a man -- he young man, even a teenager by the name of alfred howell who we have discovered recently was the first african-american page appointed to the house in 1871. previously the story line was the first black page was appointed in 1965 on the 100th anniversary of abraham lincoln's assassination appointed by congressman paul finley from springfield, illinois. we did an oral history with this gentleman. wonderful story. he remembered being on the house

floor, 1965 voting rights act was being debated. wonderful memories. but it turns out during reconstruction there was an african-american page appointed from the house from the richmond area. we learn more history every day and the senate actually had appointed a page in the reconstruction era too, someone championed by charles sumner, the great radical republican senator from massachusetts. that was two years earlier in 1869. that is a story we are still learning and as we find these stories we will put them on our web page and it is exciting. it is multilayered and we're always learning something new. [applause] >> at this time i would like to introduce congressman barbara lee. yew's u.s. representative from

california's ninth congressional district serving in 1998. she is the first to represent that district. his former chair of the congressional black caucus and the former co-chair of the congressional progressive caucus. and former oakland mayor as well. eventually she became chief of staff. before being elected to congress she is talking state assembly and the california state senate. [applause] >> thank you and good morning. let me first thank matt for his presentation today. also and rena and a voice, congresswoman frederica wilson

for your vision and your tenacity and for organizing this very important forum. and my former boss to capitol hill. if you don't know, to meet and greet but listen and learn about. this man -- i served as an intern when i was in college. of capital in turn during the watergate summer of 1973. you can imagine what an amazing summer that was for me. i came back in 75 and continued to work until 1986 i tell you everything i learned about progressive politics and political acumen, practical

nature of progressive politics and how to keep one's principles and bottom line in the context of this institution i learned from this great human being. i have to tell a few stories, struggle with some of the issues we're dealing with right as we speak. he would talk to his staff and how important if any of your staff and interns how important you are to our work because ron always asked us what do you think? give me your best thinking, and it was quite interesting for me because why would he want to know what i thought or what i believe in? he is unbelievably great statesman and is asking me but later i came to realize he always wanted new ideas, fresh ideas, creativity so that he could make the best possible decision not only for his

constituents but for the country and for the world and it took pushing the envelope a little bit. it took no link young people and old people and the rainbow coalition of people and ron is the father of a rainbow coalition from berkeley, california in the late 16s putting together coalitions to be elected to city council. he always wanted the best thinking of all of us into his decision. he naturally made the decision, let me tell you i learned quickly why he was asking for our input. and the other thing i remember about ron is how do we do this especially as it relates to constituent casework and helping people. the only thing you need to ask yourself is is this the right thing to do? is this the right thing to do? don't make -- don't think about the politics of it.

don't think about an election. don't think about who wins or loses. is this the right thing to do? you don't have to talk to me about it. is this the right thing to do? just do it. i saw around here of course he worked with congresswoman shirley chisholm and barbara jordan and charlie digs and blessed and privileged and fortunate to have a chance to meet them and to see them work and to see how they interacted and how he lead in terms of his input into these other great founders of the congressional black caucus and using his expertise and perspective to bring people together. it was quite an amazing moment for me because he is quite an amazing and brilliant man. brian move forward in this institution coming from congress. and anti-war candidate during

the vietnam war. into the armed services committee. i never saw him waver as he moved up the ranks of the armed services committee and also became chair of the armed services committee in the 90s. can you imagine sharing the armed services committee coming from berkeley, setting a standard where he said we got to have a rational leader still sane defense policy which means looking at where we can cut the military budgets of weekend invest in our domestic priority. now that argument and that debate is beginning among democrats and republicans and the white house in this current context. ron was a visionary and a man way ahead of his time. every time i have to make a decision and i always think about comments and moments that are embedded in my psyche.

you just stand on the corner and if you do the right thing you stand on the corner and the rest of the world will walk up to you and there you will be and everybody else will be with you and that is so true and you do the right thing and stand by your principles. will do what is best for your constituents and your country and the world. sooner or later everyone will see that and they will be there with you. i have to thank him for his leadership with hiv and aids. he served on the advisory committee on hiv and aids under the clinton and george bush administration. he lead the charge on capitol hill in terms of establishing the framework for what is known as the global fund to fight aids and tuberculosis and malaria. ron always stake out the turf way ahead of everyone else.

it is really an honor to be able to bring him forward now. he served as oakland's 45mayor and third african-american mayor of the city of oakland in 2006. i would like you to give him a round of applause. as i make one final comment i could go on and on but he introduced south african sanctions bill was it 12 or 13 times? he kept reintroducing that bill. he knew one day the united states had to get on the right side of history in terms of sanctions against the apartheid regime in south africa. finally did it. congress overrode reagan's veto and put the united states on the right side of history and helped the people of south america put down the apartheid regime.

welcome to the former mayor, former military marine office, city councilman and my friend. [applause] >> good morning to all of you sisters and brothers. i have been asked to introduce my former colleague smith, representative smith. take a stand. [talking over each other] [inaudible] >> the ranking member of house armed services committee. i never imagined 1997 that i would one day be in that position but you set a very high

standard with your honesty, intelligence and fall approach to all of those issues. the armed services committee can have a little bit of a bias. nice to have folks with a balanced perspective on what will our military needs to play. and nobody on that committee has ever done a better job than you. i am honored to be here today to hear you speak. thank you for your service not just a congress that the country. great to be here. >> deeply appreciate that. thank you. [applause] >> let me thank all of you who are instrumental in are ranging for this opportunity. very pleased to be here. i want to thank barbara lee for generous and kind and humbling introduction. i am honored to call her friend and privilege to call her my

representative. i remember when in the middle of my fourteenth term for personal reasons it was time to leave. i can't do that. i talk with my hands. >> first thing i learned. when i got ready to leave people said who would you like to see represent this district in your departure and i said in 1970 this district elected a man who was a feminist. life is a progression so i think the progression should be toy a woman who is a feminist and that district did and and i am honored -- she has done a spectacular job. when you get my age you tell a

few stories. you need to know i never wanted to be in politics. i wanted to be the black sigmund freud. of america. i have a master's degree from uc-berkeley and psychiatric social work. the first member of the family born out of the south and the first to go to college. i had no idea i would never get a master's degree. i promised my mother wouldn't end up in san quentin. one item b a degree everything was really cool. just to back up i joined the marine corps because everything was going really well. i was supposed to get a scholarship to uc-berkeley when i graduated from high school. at a certain point hormones kicked in and are went crazy as teenagers tend to do and lost the scholarship. in order to try to keep a promise to my mother that i

would eventually go to school i joined the marine corps. in basic training you have to take the barrier of exams so i took all these exams and i had a black drill instructor, staff sergeant allen who talked like this. call me in his office one day and said there are two men who are here to interview you for officers candidate school. this was 1954. i had never seen a black officer. i had read about them but never seen one. and he said they will interview you for o c f. oh my god! wow! black officers! and he said why interview me? you score the highest score of all the people in the training battalions so they came here to interview your other candidate. i am thinking i will make something of myself and keep my promise to my mother and run

down to quote said hunt and bang on the door. private dellums reporting as ordered! come in. i stepped up smartly, stood at attention. private dellums reporting and ordered. stand at ease. one of the guys was looking at a piece of paper and looked at the paper and looked at me and looked at the paper and gave it to the other guy and he looked at the paper and looked at me. what race are you, glad? 1954. stood at attention. sir, i am a negro, sir. that is what i thought. get back to your out fit. summarily dismissed. in a split-second those hopes and dreams and aspirations racing through my mind just went away. i took a step back and smiled about based -- about face and went back to my outfit totally

bewildered. what was this all about? eventually staff sergeant allen called me and i told him what happened. he checked out and called me back and said guess what? here is the problem. when you first go in the service in the marine corps the first day they cut your hair balls. so you are in these endless lines. some clerk was typing a form. ..

for me it was an incredible thing, brandeis university. brother from 1014 wood street in west oakland, i'm going across country to an ivy league school and told the brothers and the sisters in the movement, i'll be back but i'm going to train my mind. i wanted to be the guy in the back room when the people said, what's the program? i wanted to be the guy writing the program. had no idea of ever being out front. ranged for me to have $33,000 worth of scholarships to brandeis university. ry be back in the movement but i'll be well trained, okay? i get a call one night in january 19 of -- 1967. they wanted me to go to a

meeting of lack bleeders in berkeley, california, were deciding on who would be the, quote, black unity candidate for the berkeley city council. they had had one black person on the berkeley city council, and everybody was saying, one african-american is tokenism, we need to movearound one. so my friendses called me up and said, your name has been kicked around as a possible candidate. i side i'm going brandeis university, i've got $33,000 worth of scholarships. i'll be back later. you know your friends. no, man. put your coat on, you're going to the meeting. so they drug me to the meeting. make a long story short, 2:30 in the morning, and i didn't tell anybody about school. i just said, i'm not interested in politics. i have a very strong views about things. i'm not ready for politics. politics not ready for me.

we were the activist of the 60s. we called ourselves the jeremiah -- nobody in here that old. so, they brought out a blackboard that was six other fellas who came there who really wanted to be the candidate. so they had seven names on the blackboard. one of them, ronald dellums. they said, take ron's name off because he is not interested. so they got ready to take my name off and a woman stood up and said, hold it. wait a minute. before you take his name off, let me ask the young man a question. well, in '67 i was a young man. imagine that. said, i heard what you said. but if the community asked you to run, one you run? run on your own terms? and i thought about that question a zillion times but

that changed my life and i stood up and i was very polite and i said, ma'am, that's the only way anybody ought to be in politics, on their own terms. and she said, well, keep the young man's name on the list because he's going to get one vote, and i'm standing there going, in my mind, please don't do this to me. i want to go to brandeis university. i'm not interested in politics. don't trust politicians. we're from berkeley in the 60s. one of my friends. bob hopkins, my field director, literally grabbed me by the jacket and said, shut up and sit down, man, we're going to win this damn thing. that moment passed, and i became the candidate. i get home 3:00 in the morning. i tell my wife, she said, i thought -- 3:00 in the morning. i said, wasn't that kind of party. trust me. i'm a candidate for the berkeley city council. >> what about brandeis?

>> i'll figure it out later. so several days litter i win to my friends and said, you guys got me in this, you have to get me out of this. i'm not interested in politics. please, get me the hell out of this. man, it's too late. it's done. i wanted to fight. i'm from missouri. what do you many, too late? get me out of this. i want want to be a politician. man, it's too late. anyway, time passed. i won the election. so i became a member of the berkeley city council. didn't get to brandeis. 1970, people in the community, peace community, the left community, et cetera, et cetera, came to me and said, we want you to run for congress. oh, my god. must have figured out i didn't know how to say no. and anyway, i said, well, if i run, i have to run on my own terms. fine. so i become a candidate for the berkeley city council -- i mean

for the united states congress. jeff was the representative. he had been in congress for 12 years. this is 1970, against a backdrop of the civil rights movement, the vietnam war. the district was 71% white. 29% total nonwhite. african-americans, latino americans, asian americans in that voter. seven to eighth eight voters were white. when we called the press conference, one of the press said, councilman dellums, what makes you think as a black man you can win against a white person in a predominantly white congressional district. it was 1970. right? so i thought for a moment and i said, sir, your question assumes

that there is a month monolith known as the white community. it is a monolith that i reject. when i look out there i don't see the white community. i see peace activists and if i speak to peaces, they will vote. i see union people. speak to the problems and plights of workers, they'll vote for us. i look out there and i see students. if you speak to their concerns, i look out there i see senior citizens. i look out there i see -- et cetera, et cetera. so i don't see the white community. i see people who have their own interests, their concerns, and if i speak intelligently and strongly and passionately and powerfulfully to those issues we'll get the vote. i said my prediction is when the smoke clears and the dust settles, that i will defeat jeff cohalen by margin of 55%. i don't know where that came

from. but it ended up, it actually became that. so, i win the primary. to everyone's shock and amazement. we put together this incredible coalition, and we won the primary. against everybody. thought, no way that's guy can win. but we put this incredible coalition together, of people of color, senior citizens, et cetera, et cetera. one night the phone rings, ron, you have been attacked by vice president agnew. for those young people, when i was elected, richard nixon was president, spiro agnew was vice president. and i said, don't make a joke. i've been campaigning 18 hours. i'm tired. he said, no, you've been attacked by the vice president. i said, really? i said, how did the vice president know me? i'm just a black -- young black guy, way out here in california. no. in little rock, arkansas, you were attacked by the vice

president. so i said, well, call a press conference 10:00 tomorrow morning, at the campaign office and i'll be there. so about 10 minutes to 10:00, i'm standing at the street corner, getting ready to cross the street. there are cameras and press from all over the world, from the soviet union, from china, from other parts of asia, from europe, everywhere. any severe -- from berkley, we're known to see press. never seen that many press people everywhere. and i think they came not to see who ron dellums more but more what is a ron dellums. what is this ron dellums that the vice president picked out? to my right out of the corner of my eye i see this woman walking, she happened to be caucasian. elderly wok walking very slowly. and i heard her say, sir, are

you ron dellums? and i said, yes, ma'am, i am. she said, i just walked ten blocks to give you this, and she pulled out a check for about five dollars. and she said, if i had more i'd give it to you, but anybody that agnew attacks, i've got to support. and she gave me this check, and to this small skinny black guy, this little is standing on the corner and she is crying and we hugged each other, and she turned slowly to return to her home, and i walked across the street into my future. i walk into the campaign office, cameras everywhere. i'm nervous. and my campaign director said, here's the statement that we wrote. i said, what statement? man, we've been up all night writing this statement for you. this is the big lee, man. you've been attacked by the vice president. i said i'm not going to read any statement. i have nothing to hide.

why should i stand behind a statement? >> are you sure? >> yeah. well, at least read what he said so you know what he said. so, i'm so nervous, my hand was trembling, i didn't want the press to know that i was frightened to death, so i acted as if i was speed reading to account for my hand moving like this. so i went like this. [laughter] >> i didn't see a word, and i said, tell me what he said. he said, there is a young black man from berkeley, california, on his way to washington, that i consider the most dangerous radical to be elected to congress since mark antonio of the 1920s. okay. so i sit down, cameras, lights, action, so the press was waiting

for me to read very carefully scripted comment. predictable. well, i'm really not a radical. i'm really a liberal democrat. and that kind of thing. and i said, i have no opening statement. pregnant pause because that wasn't the script. right? they didn't know what to do. i said, i'm prepared to answer any questions. they didn't know what to do. finally somebody said, vice president agnew charges that you're a dangerous radical. how do you respond to that charge? well, if it's radical to oppose the insanity and cruelty of the vietnam war, if it's radical to oppose the danger of nuclear weapons. if it's radical to oppose the cruelty and the pain and the oppression of race simple and sexism and ageism and classism and other forms of shove system, if it's radical to want to eradicate poverty and hunger and

disease and inadequate education and housing in this country, then, sir i'm very proud to be called a radical. my campaign people applauded. the press was like, whoa, not part of the script. well, so then there was another pregnant pause, and then someone said, vice president agnew charges that you advocate bringing the walls down. how do you respond to this charges? this is 1970. burn, baby, burn, et cetera. so, but you advocate bringing the walls down. how do you respond? well, if vice president agnew had taken the time out of his very busy schedule as vice president, he would have learned i said we have built walls very high and thick in this country, among the classes, the sexes, the races, the generations and even the religion, and i we bring down those walls, what we will find is that there are millions of people all shapes, all colors, all nationalities

from different background, leading verdes separate lives in this country, and if we organize them we can change america and change the world, so, yes, sir, do advocate bringing the walls down, the walls of race simple, sexism, ageism, the walls ofisms that stands in the way of people being able to recognize we have more in common than we have difference. that was the last question. no more questions. so i win the election. berkeley radical, elected to congress. i remember i walked in the door the first day the democratic caucus, and to my right there was a trupp of my colleagues, and they didn't know i could hear them. and somebody said, have you -- where is that radical s.o.b., have you seen him? and guy, oh, my god. if that's the way the democrats

see me, how do the republicans see me? he said you were on the berkeley city council. yes, sir. you now about cities? some i'm going to put you on the district of columbia committee. the one committee i went on. foreign affairs committee i went on. interesting thing about the district of columbia committee, after the difficulty or charlie biggs, i became the chair of the district of columbia committee with the least amount of seniority than anybody in the history of the country. but it was fascinating. when i became chair of the district of columbia committee, nobody called me mr. chairman. but when i became subcommittee chairman on armed services, good morning, mr. chairman. good morning, mr. chairman. you know, so something very different.

right? fast forward. i have to tell you howe i got on armed services because this is important because it's important to the evolution of the congressional black caucus. part of our concern was that we would spread out across all the committees so our voice and our perspective and the perspective of our people, the perspective of the movement, would emerge in all of these different committees. but ron dellums, i'm the first africa e -- african-american elected to congress from a majority white district. to go back for a moment, people said, well, should the brother be in the black caucus and he represents a majority of white folks. people, what about all this? it was interesting. they said, supposed to interview me and he was fascinated.

lou stone became my friend because he was sort of my lawyer. lou stone came and we talked a long time and he went back to the cdc members and said the guy is really a cool guy. not some crazy wild-eyed crazy guy. intelligent person, blah, blah, blah. so that calmed everybody down. so i'm now a member -- i'm the radical guy. but remember, berkeley, oakland, and in the 60s, i maintain, was perhaps different from any other place in the entire country. in some places it was the civil right movement. in some places it was peace movement. but in berkeley, oakland, every moment of the '60s asked emerged simultaneously and in close proximity. so we head to hear each other's pain, sense each other's rage, embrace each other's politics.

so black panthers and brown berets and the peace movement, the environmental movement, the feminist movement, all of these movements emerged simultaneously. so this young, tall, skinny black guy, came to washington to represent all of that. so in my second term i said, to be true to all of this, the voice of peace and arms control and changing our priorities need to go on the armed services committee. so i go to my cdc colleagues and say i want you back my play to go on the armed services committee. yeah, right. ron. ron dellums, the radical dude from berkeley on the armed services committee. okay, we'll do it. and i think they -- i don't think they thought we could do it. but they sent the letter. the day comes when they're choosing people. i get this phone call. ron, you have been denied

membership on the armed services committee. so i went to phil burton, a leader in the house at the time, from san francisco. phil burton, brilliant guy. i said, phil, i'm still an outsider. i don't know how to fight inside. i just have been denied membership on the house armed services committee. how die fight back? he thought for a moment and said, who is the chair of the congressional black caution? i said, lou stokes. he said he's a wonderful guy, nice gentleman, but find lou stokes and also find bill clay. bill clay. aggressive. take both of them with you to the meeting to fight to put you on armeds services. so i went -- bill clay, and lou are very good friends and i found them at lunch and said i've been denied membership on the armeds services commitee. i need you to pick up the phone

and get in touch with karl albert and let them know this is not going to go. how do you deny me membership when i sought membership? on what grounds? so lou stokes called up. they said come over. we walked in the room and carl albert said we got you guys, the committee assignments but we couldn't do anything for ron dellums. well dwight you mean? well, the chairman of the armed services commitee got in touch with the members on the committee on commitees, and said, don't want this guy on the armed services committee. so then i give lou stokes a nudge. lou stokes goes, but mr. speaker, this is a matter of principle. and i give bill clay a little kick, and bill clay says, and if you don't but the brother on the armed services committee we're

going to call a press con conference and denounce this that's a racial play. so it went back and forth. and lou stokes, matter of principle. bill clay, militant. then at a certain point the speaker looked around and said, i tell you what. we're going to go back and ask them to reconsider. at that point i knew it was over. so i thanked them and said, don't worry about it. it's done. an hour later i get the call. you've been paint possessed the -- appointed to armeds services committee. later on, when i became chair, it was quite fascinating because the day that they voted me to become the chair, the number of my crusty old colleagues came up to me, literally with tears in their eyes, and they said, ron, we don't agree on very much, but i voted for you to sit as chair

of the armeds services committee because i respect your interesting brit -- integrity and your work ethic and that's how i became chair of the house armedded services committee. there's one other quick story i want to tell and then let's talk. the other night -- this is true. a few nights ago, my wife left the television on, and i awakened hearing my voice. and sure enough there i was, darker hair, on the floor of congress in the '80s, speaking , challenging apartheid in south africa. so i listened the whole story. nobody has ever gotten it quite right. i want to tell you the real story without going way back in history. the foreign affairs committee finally reports out that i introduced a disinvestment bill

in 1971 or '72. that polaroid workers had come in from new england because -- the polaroid was the camera they used to they can those photos of south africans they have to carry around so the polaroid workers came down here to meet with the congressional black caucus, and they came down the day of the caucus meeting. they were very militant folks for the black caucus looked around and said, ron, you go meet with them. yeah. okay. because i was the radical guy. right? so john conyers says, i'll go with you. so he goes with me and we meet with the polaroid workers. and at the end of the meeting said, we'll work with you to introduce a's of legislation to bring sanctions against south africa. that was the very first bill that was introduced to brink sanctions in 1971, 1972, and

there are only two sponsors, ron dellums and john conyers initially. fast forward the 80s. the foreign affairs committee is bringing out -- reported out of bill. now, i believe that there are two factors over which every one of us have absolute control. everything else you don't really have control. two factors over which i think you do have control. your fidelity, your faithfulness to what you believe in, and your willingness to show up every day for the fight. you have control over that. all right? so, with that in mind, i, keeping fidelity with the movement and based on the idea that part of our responsibility as members of the cbc, the progressive voice here, was to take the struggle, the pain, the anguish, the screens from the street, put them in legislative form. what people in the movement were saying was, disinvestment.

take the economic strength. withdraw economically from south africa. everybody thought that was very radical idea. but the second principle i believe in is that the center of american politics is not a static place. people think there is such a thing as the center. no. no. the center is defined by who shows up. so, if you show up over here, then the center may be here. if you don't show up, then the center may be the left. you see what i'm saying? so, the foreign affairs committee, when they got ready to bring out the sanction bill, that was going to be the liberal left alternative, and i remember sometimes my southern colleagues used to say, ron, are you going to introduce one of those radical berkeley amendments? and i say why do you say that? that would allow me to vote

against your amendment so i can vote for this amendment, and when i go home to my district i can say to people, if you think what voted for was liberal you should have seen that thing that dellums guy brought in. so, i learned that i had a role to play. stay faithful. show up. redefine the debate. so i introduced this disinvestment bill. go to rules committee. the rules committee gives me one hour of debate. evenly divided. half hour for, half hour against. the dellums amendment is the nature of a substitute. so here's the bill on the left. all right? so the time comes on the floor, we figured that we would have one-our debate, vote on it. if we got 150 votes we wouldtake it as a moral victory and they would get on with 11 hours of debate on the committee bill. hopefully they pass the

committee and i will we would be out there. so, comes to the end of the debate. all time has expired on the amendment offered by the gentleman from california, mr. dellums. all in favor, signify by saying aye, and i stood as call is a could, 6'4" vote with me on this. they said, don't worry, we're going to give you at least a momentary victory. aye! all opposed, there were two or three republicans, no. in the opinion of the chair, the aye's have it. no problem, because the chair knew somebody was going to get up and say, on this i -- you know, observe that a lack of quorum, make a point of order, ask for the yea's and nay's. that was going to be the deal. my colleague from michigan, the

republican colleague from michigan, mr. sojander, was in control of the time on the opposition. he was supposed to get up, but my colleagues on the democratic side voted for me in a voice vote so nobody was going to ask for a voice vote on my side but they knew the republicans were going to do it. but a drama starts unfolding. sojander doesn't rise. so the chairman goes like, the aye's have it. like, wake up, somebody. this is not the script. they're looking around. sojander didn't move. the ayes have it. the aye's have it. the amount carries. binge! in the nature of a subconstitute. so now we have to go to final passage. everybody goes, ron, you won. i almost fainted.

most incredible moment. mark sojander walked into the well of the house and said, ron, i made your a hero for a moment. and i said, what do you mean? and he said, i respect you. you didn't take the well of the house and tell us that you guaranteed that disinvestment is going to bring an end to apartheid but you said that was the option you felt had the greatest chance of bringing significant change. so i respect you for that. he said, but never going to go anywhere. it's going to die. it's over. my party controls the senate. and your bill is too radical. it's going to die. never see the light of day. that's the end of it. and he start to walk away and i

said, mark, hold it. tomorrow morning, every newspaper in america, front page, house passes bill to challenge apartheid in south africa. every television station is going to lead with this story. there's a movement out there on the ground. in the colleges and universities, labor halls and churches and other places. movement is strengthened by victory. people will be boy buoyed by this, they will bring greater pressure, and while you think it will end in the senate, i maintain that the senate will go beyond where they even thought they would go based on this bill passing and based on the strength that will occur from the statement that would be made in the streets on the part of the movement. i said so my good friend, i may have the last laugh.

but he looked at me, oh, that's what happened. all right? so, the senate passes a senate version of the bill. now, for the first time we can go to conference on the radical idea, this is going to be awesome. but then a group of people put together a meeting to meet with me. and it was senator kennedy and senator lugar, who was chair of the senate foreign affairs committee, randall robinson. a lot of people from the movement and everything. bottom line was, reagan is going to veto this bill. lugar said, i don't want to be ham-fisted bought all of us are

here to tell you one story, on. if you demand to go to conference on the dellums and i will we negotiate anything that is different from the senate bill, we cannot guarantee an override of of the president's veto. we can guarantee this bill will be overridden. so i understand they were asking me to back off. and at a certain point, my heart was crying. but i stood up and i said, i understand what's being asked of me here. and i respect every one in this room. and i understand what it is you're saying. and while i would desat somely like -- desperately like to go to congress and fight for the strongest measure to challenge the cruelty of apartheid in south africa, i understand the

practical realities of what you're saying is that it would never outlive the president's veto and that would send the wrong message. i therefore out of respect for you in this room, and out of the desire to advance the cause of our sisters and brothers in south africa, i will step back. and allow the senate version of the boil -- of the bill to become the house version of the bill. reagan vetoed it. they overrode the veto. fast forward, chair of the armeds services committee, a german journalist came to visit us, and he said he had done a tremendous amount of research, and based on hi reese search that he had learned that the clerk of south africa got in touch with margaret thatcher, who was then the prime minister of england and said, that would you think i should do? because i'd reintroduced the bill even after the 1986

sanctions bill that was the republican senate version. again, stay faithful, show up for the fight. i reintroduceeded the dellums bill, and eventually it kent to eight committees and came back stronger, so two years later the del dellums bill was a committee bill and we passed it on a record vote. and then by that time the democrats were in control of the senate, and the senate said we'll take up the bill. and the senate was going to pass it. with that as a backdrop, he said that he asked margaret thatcher. her response was, look, the disin. bill introduced by dellums is soon to become law, and once it becomes law, you will have no negotiating room. you will be powerless. he said what do you think i should do? the journalist said, and i

quote, free mandela and began to negotiate a new south africa while you till have the ability to negotiate. so tell mr. dellums that while his bill never became law, it hung over south africa like the sword of dam close. -- damaclese. [applause] >> a couple quick things and then i'll conclude. going back to the night that the house passed the amendment on a voice vote, first time, i remember i was so overwhelmed it was late that night, and i went home and i put on my running shoes, and i ran and i ran and i ran and i ran, until i couldn't run any further. and then i just sat down on the street corner somewhere in washington and i just cried. and i cried for our people.

i cried out of joy for the moment. i played only one very minor, almost insignificant role. there were millions of people who came together to see south africa free. but i was heartened by the day i finally met man deli la, -- mandela. when he was freed from south africa, win to sam bea, where he went to meet the anc. i was placed on the delegation with bill gray, heading the delegation. and our job was to go to see if this is now time to lift the sanctions, and i remember, i'm going to meet nelson mandela, and i had spent so many years saying "free man della.

" free my brothers and sisters in south africa. never met man della. suddenly that morning i'm standing in the line and then i'm right there. and bill gray said, sir, i would like you to meet congressman ron dellums from california. and you know, this did my impression of man del lamp he did this double take and he goes, ronald dellums. we have heard much of you. you gave us hope. you kept us alive. and we hugged each other, and if i were to live to be 1,000 i would never forget the incredible joy and warmth i felt in that moment. a lot of jokes about politics and politicians but i want you to know this. i deemed it a high honor and great privilege to serve in the house of representatives, and to serve the people of california to serve the people of this

country, and to serve the people of the world. it was an incredible thing. thank you for this opportunity. [applause] >> i'm sorry, i lost track of time. >> that's okay. [inaudible conversations] >> i guess the part i'd be most interested about -- your entire story is amazing but as a young man, you're officially getting into politics and initially disinterested. with what moment did you know -- once you were elected, still

doubts after you were involved or at what moment were you -- you seemed like for most of your career you were on a mission. when did that come to you, carry over from your childhood or what was really your motivation and the driving force behind that? >> you know, as i said, i was a -- in the book i wrote, i said, i'm trained as a social worker, and i've always felt, whether it was one-to-one, one-to-group, one-to-community, i never ceased being a social worker. i always wanted to enhance and improve the quality of life of our people. i was inspired by martin luther king, jr. like many other people. the most amazing and brilliant guy. i remember one night -- this will in part answer your question. every city has its own -- they said martin luther king is going to give a speech in a couple of

minutes. whenever i knew that martin luther king was going to speak, i'm a young guy, would literally go get a pad and a pencil because i just thought he was so brilliant. in this one speech martin luther king said, and i quote, the most revolutionary act that our people can engage in is to assert the full measure of their citizenship. and i wrote that down. the most revolutionary thing we can do is to assert the full measure of our citizenship. i went to the dictionary because i wanted to understand that. revolutionary means significant change to assert means to step forward boldly. ed? ship brings your rights and prerogatives and duties as a person. so when i put all that together, what martin luther king was saying was if you seek significant change, then step forward boldly and assert your

rights and prerogatives and assume your duties as a citizen. i am somebody is a powerful statement but it's a psychological statement. i am a citizen is an awesome political statement. so, martin luther king said to me, earlier in the '60s, you're a citizen. and if you really want to be radical, don't let anybody else define that except you. okay? quick aside. i'm mayor of oakland. all hell is breaking loose. the young man was killed by the b.a.r.t. guy, and the meeting of a lot of people were meeting, young brothers were meeting in city hall, and i happened to be passing by. one young brother said to me, you know how we kind of get on each other, he said, look here, brother mayor. i'm going to be on 14th and broadway this evening protesting, and i want to know if you're going to be there to'll val dade my right to be on 14th and broadway.

and everybody got quiet to see what i have to say. and i said, no. i said, we fought that fight 50 years ago. the only persons that can validate your right to be on the corn over 14th and broadway is you. you are a citizen. and as a citizen, you have -- you of cloaked in constitutional rights and prerogatives. your freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. if you're asking for somebody to validate your rights, are we wasted our lives. you go down to 14th and broadway and express your citizenship. my responsibility as mayor is to make sure you can do that in an environment of peace. okay? now, the point being is that people like me were motivated by martin luther king. never had any idea i would express that as an elected official. because we never thought about

it that way. but then when people said, no, we need your voice, it opened up a whole nuther venue, because then i said, wait a minute. i understand. we can take the struggle to the floor of congress. the first night that i came here, i sat up on the steps. capitol hill. and i looked out and i'm thinking, a long way from the hood. i'm a member of the united states congress. i'm here with- -- i've been watching this on tv, where our struggles fall on deaf ears. why did they send me here? i was pretty good activist in the bay area. didn't have to leave my family or my friends. why did they send me 2,500 miles, was it to change the venue of my activism? i carried a damn good sunshine

berkly and oakland. or was it to put down the sign and walk inside the building and take my rightful place and assume the burden and risks and responsibility to try to govern. i said, i'm going to opt for the latter. that's why they sent me here. and so i said to my colleagues, if there were 200 others -- 17 other people from berkeley, here, in the congress, it would be my way or the highway. but the reality is that they're not. so i have to deal with you from mississippi tennessee, illinois, new york wherever. we'll work. so, got -- okay. so the point is, we were inspired by people that stepped up. i happened to do it in the electoral politics and my sense of it is, so we came -- those of white house came here in the late 60s and 70s, we came here because we saw ourselves as an extension of movement. we saw ourselves as taking from

the streets to the halls of congress, and to put that perspective out there. all right? so that's how we saw ourselves, and that's how i tried to continue to operate. but a -- along the way i realized i had a job to govern, i had to try to figure out what ultimately is the in the best interests of the american people. can i say one other quick thing? on the side, this is just my political perspective. if you look at what is going on now, i think that too many people never sat on the steps and had that conversation with themselves. that they're still carrying the sign and never decided to take the responsibility to walk inside the building and assume the burden and the risk and the responsibility to try to govern, to work with sister wilson and lee and others to try to change the nature of the country. they're still protesting, and the country has been doing this as a result of that. any other questions?

yes, sir. >> you mentioned about how honored you were to serve as a member of congress and it's a profession. like congresswoman gabrielle giffords, and the death of the staff person so you know that person. i want to get -- see what you would propose to keep members of congress from being portrayed as a cartoon and caricature, and a few brief words about your colleague and brother mickey leyland. >> mickey leyland was a good friend of mine from texas. he can do barbara jordan's placider well-nobody takes her mess. when she left, he sat in the seat, and big part of my roots are from texas so when mickey and i met up, there was an

affinity we had for each other, and his family deposited me. so mickey and i became like blood brothers. he had been delivering food in africa and he was an incredible guy, and i love mickey leeland because he had no sacred cows. i remember we went in the house dining room and there were a number of my more conservative colleagues at one of the tables in the dining room, and mickie said, ron, come with me. p we walked up to the table and said, how you guys in the sheet caucus? how would you like to have a couple of colored fellows and have breakfast with you? oh, my god. but mickey had a way of cutting through. they laughed and cried but we sat down and had breakfast. i love mickey leyland. mickey was on his way to ethiopia, and i said, mickey,

don't go to africa again alone. next time you go, i'm going with you. ron, i'm leaving on monday. i'm going to ethiopia to deliver some food to children in ethiopia. i said, i've go to go to a funeral on monday. let's good on tuesday. just wait for me, mickey. i fly all night, come back, meet you pack, so i won't even go home. i will meet you out there. he said no, man, i got to go. young woman on my staff, on the district of columbia committee staff, came up to me and said, mr. dellums, i know you'd want to good with mick yes. i'm getting ready to celebrate a birthday and i was going to the care beep but i can't -- caribbean but i can't think of a better place to go but to go help congressman leyland help the children of ethiopia. can i go and take your place? and she went and took my place,

and they both died in a plane crash in ethiopia. and i lost, um, a friend beyond my ability to describe. mickey was an incredible, wonderful, wonderful, spontaneous, just extraordinary human being. and i loved him. the first part of your question was? [inaudible] >> i got you. you know, i will pine for a moment, but one of the things that bothers me as i step back and look, and i think that there's no one fault but i think we as a society have back to

jaded, so cynical, that everything is viewed through a cynical lens. so it's very difficult for people to see other people as being genuine. we attribute motive. i always say the one beautiful thing i learned in the congress was one of the rules that says, on the floor of congress, you cannot challenge the assumptions of another person. or your word gets taken down. that's a beautiful think. if you take that outside so that you're not involved in challenging motives, if you challenge a member's motives, your words can be taken down. so take that off the floor of congress. if you don't challenge people's motives then you're forced to deal with the credibility, the integrity, of the substance or the lack thereof of a person's argument.

you downtime to their motives. ow go the substance of their argument. we have become so cynical that we are always challenging each other's motives and in very few instances do we engage in an intelligent discussion of the substance of one's argument. well, you running for office. you trying to be political. or you -- you see what i'm saying? so, rather than engage at the level of ideas -- one thing about democracy is at some point you have to engage at the level of serious conversation. you have to be able to talk with each other. we have become so cynical we don't talk. we don't communicate. we're very, very cynical. when i can just write an e-mail and don't have to look you in the eye, the way you're looking at me, i'm compelled to deal with you. i'm compelled to respect your humanity. your attentiveness. my able to communicate with you. but if i'm in a room all by

myself, i can say whatever i want to say. because i am not tempered by my ability to see you as a total human being. and i think that has something to do with it. thirdly, we rev have become very impatient. first got elect mayor, this guy walked up to me and said, hey, what you done for me lately? i hadn't even been in office eight weeks. you know, give me a break, man. the last guy was here eight years. did you confront him that way? he went, oh -- you know what i mean? so we're very much in a hurry. you been president for six months? you haven't changed the world? congressional black caucus went, there's 40 some of you and you haven't changed the world? not understanding how all this comes together. so we have been impatient. very cynical, we have become

extremely disrespectful of each other, and finally as i said, i think many of us have become -- we have simply changed the venue of our activism. and like a speech that resonate at home. i've always maintained once you come here and you exposed to all this information, sometimes the speech that got great applause back home is not a speech that gets applause here because they're people who listen differently, who have -- who understand differently. because i used to love to wait for some of my colleagues to give that home-spun speech, when i was chair of armed services. i remember one guy got up to give this incredible -- and i'm thinking to myself, now, i know he got thunderous applause when he gave the speech at home but there were a zillion holes in the speech so i said, would the gentleman yield? and apparently summon --

somebody told him, under no circumstances yield to this brother because he going to stay up all night doing his homework, and if you're not ready. so he looked at his colleagues and his colleagues looked at him like, we can't help you, man. and i said, would the gentleman yield? and he froze. and at some point he just walked off. walked off the floor of congress. so, you know, sometimes -- last point, i believe very strongly that the greatest respect that you can pay to your adversary is to give them your undivided attention. and we're not listening to each other. and i think it's out of that that respect and willingness to listen to each other, to hear each other, and sometimes our colleague will say, ron, you

listen to all that crazy stave? you have to listen, but if you want them to hear you, you have to be able to hear them. and we're not hearing each other anymore. we're not listen to each other. so you add that up and then we become late-night talk show host jokes, and so we have caricatures and jokes. but i maintain that those who are in elective office, whenever the opportunity presents itself to allow people to understand your sense of dignity and pride that you have, not only in what you do and responsibilities you have, and for the democracy, you have to keep doing that. you cannot allow the media and the internet and others to intimidate you from standing up for ultimately who you are. at the end of the day two factors over which you have control and i'll end on this. your faithfulness to what you believe in and your willingness

to show up for the fight. thank you very much. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> we also want to recognize another esteemed member of congress, from the great state of texas. any comments you would like to make? [applause] >> thank my colleague, the honorable fredricka wilson, for having the genius to make sure we did not leave this week without having commemoration to our members of congress. it is particularly special for me because ron dellums, i believe, at least knew and

shared in the lives of the honorable barbara jordan, at least as she lived out her tenure and in the united states congress, and to my brother, the honorable mickey leyland, when i'm in schools i always say he died on the side of an ethopian mountain, refusing to give up on those who could not help themselves. and then on a predecessor and brother, the honorable craig washington. this is an appropriate honoring of our dear and special members of congress. ron dellums captured the concept of listening, and, oh, how much i wish we could bottle that now in this time, in this century. i would listen to the stories of mickey. i was blessed by the support of the honorable barbara jordan but mickey told the humorous stories

and the friendship stories that generated an opportunity to leadership as the congressional black caucus was so uknee. small in size, but willing, if you will, to traverse roads that have not been traversed. let me leave you with two or three action item0ss of the congressional black caucus that are not noted. we are noted for legislation and seen here on the hill but i think it's important in quiet times to recognize that there had to be some toughness going on. members of the congressional black caucus organized and marched to the libyan embassy and were the first voices to ask for the change in government, albeit there had been long standing interaction with our africa brothers and sisters in libya, we saw that the crisis called out for our response. and it was that first statement

that embold ended the imburse, that was heard round the world that libyan americans and other libyans were willing to say, someone cares. with african-americans, and congressional black caucus members, who in the upheaval of haiti on held on the hand of the haiti people, and the white house and administration prior to president obama's administration, when we were in a room, tussling about the calamity in haiti. the upheaval in the government, and we wanted to speak to then-president bush. and a number of emissaries came into the room to, if you will, congressman dellums to human -- hum your us,