Barbara Lee

Seven High Schoolers to Join Rep. Barbara Lee In Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage to Alabama

Published

4 years ago

February 27, 2020

Seven high school youth leaders from Oakland’s Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center will attend the 2020 Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage to Alabama March 6- March 8 with Congresswoman Barbara Lee.
The nearly annual Pilgrimage was started in 1998 by Congressman John Lewis and is a program of the Faith in Politics Institute. The pilgrimage welcomes dozens of bi-cameral, bi-partisan members of Congress, who travel together to Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma, Alabama, visiting pivotal sites in the nation’s Civil Rights history.

The Freedom Center’s seven high school-age delegates will make speeches, present on panels, and orchestrate reflection circles with members of Congress and other attendees throughout the pilgrimage. The Freedom Center delegates’ roles are particularly timely this year as the theme of the 2020 Pilgrimage focuses on youth voices. This year represents the 10th year the Freedom Center has been invited to send youth leaders.

“Freedom Center students and staff are participating in the Pilgrimage fully prepared to listen and learn, and to speak up and connect with others who are prepared to own the common responsibility to confront racism, poverty and violence in ways that create an interracial, pluralistic democracy where love and friendship become our basic strategy for living,” said Dr. Roy D. Wilson, Freedom Center executive director.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), who as a regular participant on the Civil Rights Pilgrimages, is the only U.S. member of Congress who consistently takes young people from her district on the pilgrimage. This year’s youth delegates, led by Dr. Karen Bohlke, Freedom Center director of Government and External Relations, include:

Jaylin Brown, San Leandro High School, 9th grade, from San Leandro; Ayanna Boateng, Sacramento Charter High, 12th grade, from Sacramento; Jayda Gray, Oakland Technical High School, 10th grade, from Richmond; Ursa Kaiser, Oakland Technical High School, 10th grade, from Oakland; Ellie Lee, Alameda Science and Technology Institute, 12th grade, from Alameda; Fayth Njenga, Kentwood High School, 12th grade, from Kent, WA; and Jennifer Hernandez, Lincoln High School, 9th grade, from Tacoma, WA.

This year’s delegation includes students from congressional districts of Congressmembers Ami Bera (CA 7th district), Derek Kilmer (WA 6th District), and Adam Smith (WA 9th District). The delegates are representing Freedom Center West Coast initiatives. Bera and Kilmer join Lee and colleagues on the 2020 Pilgrimage.

According to the Faith in Politics Institute, which produces the annual pilgrimages, “Since 1998, Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) has led close to 300 members of the U.S. House and Senate, as well as presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, through Alabama on this pilgrimage. In Montgomery, Birmingham and Selma, the pilgrimages have explored the events that dramatically challenged racial discrimination and turned the course of American democracy. Political leaders have universally described the pilgrimage as a transformative moment.”

The Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage aims to expose members of Congress to epochs shaping national polity, where luminaries, historians and Civil Rights veterans offer an environment for calling forth courage, conscience and compassion. The theme of the pilgrimage uplifts intergenerational reflections on community, respect, personal commitment and nonviolence.

The 2020 Pilgrimage will visit Birmingham’s Civil Rights Institute and 16th Street Baptist Church. In Montgomery, the Pilgrimage will visit the Legacy Museum, National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and the Edmund Pettus Bridge. In Selma, the delegation visits Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, Southern Poverty Law Center Civil Rights Memorial, Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church and other historical sites.
For more information on the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center visit www.mlkfreedomcenter.org.

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza 

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

Published

3 weeks ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee

By California Black Media

“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.

“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.

The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.

Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.

“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.

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Rep. Barbara Lee, CBC Members, Raise Concerns Over Layoffs of Black Tech Workersi2s

In 2015, the CBC launched Tech 2020 to ensure that Black Americans would be better represented in the industry by 2020. However, Lee says those tech companies that pledged to be more inclusive are falling short of their promise.

Published

4 months ago

December 26, 2023

Oakland Post

Rep. Barbara Lee

By Post Staff

Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee and several other Congressional Black Caucus members have written a letter to Julie Su, the acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, addressing the disproportionate layoffs of Black tech employees.

“We write to express our concerns with recent reports highlighting the impacts of widespread layoffs within the tech industry and its disproportionate impacts on the African American community and women,” the letter stated.

“Tech companies who previously agreed to address bias and discrimination and create greater opportunities in the workforce are now quietly defunding diversity pledges,” the letter continued.

Lee told the Grio, “We’ve been fighting for justice and for economic parity and security as part of the mission of the CBC,” she said, “and so when we established Tech 2020, it was about equity and inclusion.”

“Now with all the Supreme Court decisions and with all of the backsliding, especially by Republicans, it’s very important that we be very assertive in our fight for equity and justice within the private sector and public sector,” she said.

According to the letter, since the beginning of 2023, more than 240,000 tech workers have been laid off, more than 50% increase from 2022.

Lee found that minorities and women make up most of the tech layoffs that have occurred this year.

“If you don’t have African Americans developing content,” Lee said, “then we’re going to have Black people, Brown people [and] women disproportionately impacted.”

“This country is supposed to be a representative democracy where you include people, and you don’t discriminate against them,” she added. “When you see the disproportionate numbers of people being laid off, then that is a red flag that it could be discrimination occurring against these workers and employees.”

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Congresswoman Lee Releases Statement on Vandalism of Lake Merritt Menorah

Published

5 months ago

December 15, 2023

Oakland Post

Chabad of Oakland’s menorah at Lake Merritt on Dec. 10, before it was vandalized (right) and graffiti left where the menorah stood before it was pulled down. (Photos/Courtesy Chabad of Oakland)

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-12) released the following statement on the destruction of the large Menorah on display at Lake Merritt in Oakland:

“I’m deeply saddened and disheartened that the Lake Merritt Menorah was destroyed earlier this week. My heart and prayers go out to the Jewish community in Oakland, and I strongly condemn this vile act of antisemitism.”

“Oaklanders salvaged the menorah and gathered together (Wednesday evening) to celebrate its re-lighting, spreading love and support in the way only Oakland does. I’m proud of my constituents. We will not let hate win.”