Sad, Ron Dellums isn't with us anymore
Last edited Tue Jul 31, 2018, 03:01 PM - Edit history (3)
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...the former congressman was an inspiration at a time when I first began looking to see who in government actually represented me and my interests.
Repeating an old narrative of mine... when I was a young adult, there were just a few black legislators in Congress, including Ron Dellums, who died Monday at age 82. I still recall the mere handful of blacks I found in Congress when I first explored the Capitol. That didn't change quickly or a great deal over my subsequent years visiting there.
It wasn't until 1990 that we actually saw a significant influx of minorities elected to Congress, enabled by the 1990 census Democrats fought to reform and manage (along with their earlier fight for an extension of the Voting Rights Act which Bush I vetoed five times before trading his signature on the bill for votes for Clarence Thomas) which allowed court-ordered redistricting to double the number of districts with black majorities.
At any rate, I distinctly remember seeing the Rep. Ron Dellums and his nice fro, ever present on the nearly empty House floor, bouncing around here and there with a sheaf of papers in his hand. I had imagined at the time that there were many more like him in the wings, however, there were only a dozen or so black congressmen and women from the 70's to the 90's, including Rep. Dellums.
13 founding members of the newly formed CBC (Ron Dellums, the tallest)
Advantaged by redistricting gains, about 90 African Americans have been elected to Congress since 1971. So, Rep. Dellums was in quite an elite group of groundbreakers and pathmakers.
Rep. Dellums had position on the House Armed Services Committee, and he was a strong advocate at the time for reductions in the military budget, and organized against U.S. war crimes in Vietnam in '71. Dellums also sued George W. Bush over his 1991 military invasion and occupation of Kuwait. Dellums also introduced the first bill calling for sanctions to confront South African apartheid.
It's remarkable just how confident, capable, and determined many black folks like Ron Dellums were in that still dark, but emerging period in our history as they kept their heads well above the water; making leaps and bounds in their personal and professional lives, then, turning right around and giving it all back to their communities in the gift of their expertise and labor.
Ron Dellums was from a generation where the fight for 'civil rights' was an actual and active defense of his rights of citizenship. He grew up in an era where those rights were under daily denial and attack, and emerged as a primary defender of those rights for all Americans; as a marine; as an activist; as a legislator.
That's a beautiful thing, and something we can all emulate in our own lives. Inspire the next generation as Mr. Dellums sought to, by dedicating ourselves to bettering our communities, even as we endeavor to better ourselves.
RIP, Congressman Dellums.
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And I know I have been fortunate that in my Congressional district (recently re-numbered with PA Supreme court-ordered redistricting to fix the GOP gerrymandering), I have had a black Congressional rep., literally during my entire lifetime (or at least starting at age 1 in 1963).
I.e., having been under another CBC co-founder - Robert N.C. Nix, Sr. (who I believe is the one seated at the far left in your photo), who was later succeeded by Bill Gray, Lucien Blackwell, Chaka Fattah, and now Dwight Evans.
Nix's son (Jr.) went on to become the first black to be elected to the PA State Supreme Court.
On one of my trips to D.C. for a conference, I was able to get to Bill Gray's tiny office in order to get a ticket to the House visitor's galley. That in itself, was a great experience just to see the office and meet the staff - and moreso because at the time, Gray held the position of House Majority Whip, the highest Congressional leadership position for our party that an AA had ever reached at that point.
But going back to Dellums - I know my mom used to follow him and watched a number of CSPAN-broadcasted panels on a myriad of topics that he participated in. His floor speeches were always fiery and his debate remarks on point. But as much as he promoted the AA cause, he never forgot his own California district and very much promoted the large Asian community there as well (including helping to shepherd reparations and an apology for the internment of Japanese-Americans during WW2, through congress). I know his post-Congressional political forays have been controversial but he was who he was and sometimes you have to look at the whole body of work and not just one piece of it.
The legacy of these founding members runs deep. There are only 4 of the original members still with us (Rangel, Conyers, Clay, and Fauntroy), all in their mid-late 80s, and I expect they mourn the loss of one of their stalwarts.
