Barbara Lee
Black Women in Politics Kick off Oakland East Bay Democratic Club’s Black History Month Event
Congresswoman Barbara Lee kicked off the Club’s celebration by sharing her memories and reflections about Hon. Shirley Chisholm who died in January of 2005. Since Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to Congress, there have only been 20 Black women elected to Congress in the history of this country. According to Lee, Chisholm had deep ties to the Bay Area and had also attended Lee’s victory party when she won her election in 1996.
By Post Staff
On Feb. 5, 2022, the Oakland East Bay Democratic Club kicked off Black History Month with presentations by a trio of Black women.
The meeting started with greetings from Congresswoman Barbara Lee, followed by Assemblywoman Mia Bonta and ended with a report from civil rights attorney Pamela Price on the upcoming Alameda County District Attorney election.
Lee kicked off the Club’s celebration by sharing her memories and reflections about Hon. Shirley Chisholm who died in January of 2005.
Since Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to Congress, there have only been 20 Black women elected to Congress in the history of this country. According to Lee, Chisholm had deep ties to the Bay Area and had also attended Lee’s victory party when she won her election in 1996.
Lee also shared information about a video project she has been working on to celebrate the accomplishments of Dr. Ralph Bunche who was the first Black person to earn a PhD in political science from an American university in 1934. He became an internationally recognized diplomat who served at the United Nations for decades, successfully handling difficult diplomatic assignments around the world. Bunche was the first Black person or person of African descent to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950.
A committed sponsor of House Resolution 40 (H.R.40), Lee talked about the bill to establish a commission to study and consider a national apology and proposal for reparations for the effects of slavery and subsequent racial and economic discrimination against African‑Americans, the impact of these forces on living African‑Americans and make recommendations to the Congress on appropriate remedies.
District 19 State Assemblywoman Mia Bonta. Facebook photo.
California Assemblywoman Mia Bonta followed Lee with a report on the crisis facing the Oakland Unified School District and her efforts to help resolve it. She shared her efforts to pass legislation for re-entry services to help reduce the numbers of people returning to prison. She is also working on legislation to change the California Penal Code to allow public access to police records in civilian review boards.
Alameda County D.A. candidate Pamela Price. Facebook photo.
Civil rights attorney Pamela Price updated the Club on the Alameda County District Attorney election coming up in June 2022. Price noted that the Alameda County Santa Rita Jail is the fifth-largest county jail in the United States, and that a Black person here is 20 times more likely to be incarcerated than a white person. She shared the racial statistics and the explosive increase in the number of Black women incarcerated in California. She also shared statistical data from the Alameda County D.A.’s 2019-2020 budget report.
Price shared the colorful history of civil rights attorney Bob Treuhaft, who ran for District Attorney against J. Francis Coakley in 1966. That race for was the last time prior to Price’s run in 2018 that voters had more than one choice for D.A. In Price’ recounting, she described the close relationships Treuhaft had with the late Supervisor John George and Dr. Maya Angelou.
In fact, his law partner, Doris Brin Walker, worked on the defense team to free Angela Davis in 1972.
As a candidate for D.A. in the June 7 primary, Price also shared some of her proposed solutions to address the racial, gender and economic disparities in the Alameda County criminal justice system, the corruption in the D.A.’s office, and her vision to increase accountability and public safety.
The Oakland East Bay Democratic Club (OEBDC) was founded in the 1940s to establish Black political self‑determination by organizing grassroots coalitions of African Americans.
Today’s Club leaders remain committed to the original vision while maintaining a vibrant multi‑cultural identity and advocating for political engagement of every resident of East Oakland. The Club is one of several legacy clubs chartered by the Alameda County Democratic Party.
