Congresswoman Barbara Lee
Leah Herman
Having served in Congress for over 25 years, Congresswoman Barbara Lee has a lot of meaningful insights to offer about the progress that has been made for women of color over the years. Lee first got into politics when she met Shirley Chisholm—who was the first Black woman in Congress and the first Black woman to seek a presidential nomination from a major party—and worked on Chisholm’s presidential campaign in 1972. Now, with Kamala Harris as our first Black and South Asian woman on the ballot for president, Lee reflects on what Chisholm might think of where we are today and shares her own thoughts on this current political moment.
As the first Black woman elected to the State Senate from Northern California and the highest ranking Black woman appointed to Democratic Leadership, Lee has been a trailblazer who has always been a strong advocate for increasing Black women’s representation in politics. She is also known for being an outspoken proponent of peace and for advancing legislation to address HIV/AIDS and end poverty, among other important issues.
Earlier this year, Lee stepped up to run for the Senate seat vacated after Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s death. Although Lee was defeated in the Senate primary and will leave Congress in January, she says she’s “not retiring” and will keep working from the outside to “get a lot done.”
I recently had the opportunity to ask Lee what it would mean if Harris is elected as our first woman and woman of color president, why having Black women’s perspectives in leadership is so important, what we can do to get more women and diversity into politics and more. As she told me, “My responsibility was to make sure I wasn’t the only and last, but to do everything I could do to prepare other women of color to run for public office.” The following is an excerpt from our conversation.
Marianne Schnall: We are in a historic moment where the U.S. could potentially elect Kamala Harris as our first Black and South Asian woman president. What would it mean to finally elect a woman president who is also a woman of color? And what does it personally mean to you?
Rep. Barbara Lee: In general, it means that no more will girls even have to have a second thought about whether or not they can run for the presidency. I think it’s important. This moment is so important for many reasons. And I’ll give you an example of what I’m talking about. When President Obama was running, a woman at my church came up to me with her young Black son. He was about 15 or 16 years old, and she had tears in her eyes, and she introduced me to him and she said, “My son here thanks you.” Because I was one of the first, if not the first, to endorse President Obama. She said, “I want to thank you so much for endorsing Senator Obama for president, because my son here never believed that a Black person could be president.” He just didn’t believe it. So she was so grateful that I endorsed him early, and that opened up his eyes to the fact that it can be done, whereas he did not even believe that was an option in this country.
And I think that this is so important for young girls—girls of color, all girls—to really realize that this is an option now. Shirley Chisholm used to sign her letters and books and cards to me, she’d say, “Aim high.” That was her signature slogan, personally to me. So now I think we’ll never go back, and girls and women will always know that they too can achieve whatever—it doesn’t have to be for United States President—it can be whatever they so desire to do in life, that they have a chance at it now because Kamala Harris has done what she has done in a bold and fearless way.
And for me personally, of course I’ve known her over three decades, and I endorsed her when she first ran in 2019. So I’m wearing that T-shirt everywhere I go to campaign: “Kamala Harris for the People,” because that’s who she is. She’s been a fighter. She’s been somebody who took on the toughest issues as a prosecutor, as attorney general, as district attorney. So she understands what it means to protect our freedoms, including reproductive freedom, the right to vote, the freedom to not just get by, she says, but to get ahead. I have seen her over the years being consistent with her values in terms of fighting for people and being on the side of people, not on the side of corporate greed.
Schnall: You worked on Shirley Chisholm’s campaign in 1972, and you’ve said that she was your mentor and the reason that you got into politics. What advice did you get from Chisholm that was most meaningful? And how do you think Shirley would feel about this moment?
WASHINGTON, DC – March 03: Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Barbara Lee, D-Calif., House … [+] Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., in front of a portrait of former Rep. Shirley Chisholm as it was unveiled in the Cannon caucus room. Chisholm was the first black woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress. The portrait was painted by Kadir Nelson. (Photo by Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images)
CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Lee: As a woman of faith, I believe that Shirley’s spirit is with us, and she’s really looking down from heaven, very excited, but saying, “Look, we have a heck of a lot of work to do.” She never, ever took anything for granted, and she was saying, “You’ve got to get this done. You’ve got to keep working.” One thing Shirley Chisholm taught me was that in many ways, she was a revolutionary; she was not about just tinkering around the edges to make things better. She talked about systemic change, institutional change, racial justice. And she definitely was a good politician, and she was a great human being. She had a lot of Republican support for a lot of the issues she championed such as fairness for pay equity and fairness for domestic workers.
She would say this all the time: “You can’t just go along to get along. First, we have to make sure we have a seat at the table. But secondly, you can’t forget who you are. You’ve got to bring your experiences, your lens, your Blackness, your womanness, your understanding of the world in which we live, your understanding of the fact that everybody needs a shot and not leave anyone behind.” She was a coalition builder. She built out alliances with people of different backgrounds, of different races, of different genders. Her chief of staff was a gay Black man. So she was really living out her politics each and every day. And she would say, “Be authentic. Be yourself. But also know that you have to work to earn the vote of people, and you have to keep at it because nothing is easy, especially if you’re a woman. And especially if you’re a Black woman or a woman of color.” It’s just not easy.
Schnall: Why are representation and diversity important in our elected leaders? And what have you witnessed in Congress in terms of the difference that diversity can make?
Lee: When you look at history, there have been two Black elected women in the United States Senate since 1789. Now we have Senator Laphonza Butler, who was appointed, so you’ve had three women in the Senate with the experience of a Black woman with the lens and the understanding of politics, government, the private sector, and what people need to make their lives better. And when you think about that, we’ve never had a woman in the White House. So it’s time. Have you seen the picture of all the white guys who’ve been president except for President Obama? And you don’t see a woman, you don’t see a woman of color, you don’t see a Black woman. This is part of our democracy that has still not been fulfilled. I think this race is another step toward making a more perfect union and living up to our creed of “liberty and justice for all.”
The perspective of a Black woman is a perspective that, because of our experiences, no other women have had, really. And when you look at Black maternal mortality rates, at issues around criminal justice reform, at issues around specific diseases that Black men and Black women and people of color are disproportionately represented in—it’s that experience and that understanding of people who have been marginalized and shut out that Black women and women of color bring to the table.
I think this country and the world benefits from having a woman like Kamala Harris because of the challenges she’s been through, the experiences, for instance, being a caretaker to her mother with cancer. All of this comes to help others and help strengthen this country and help close a lot of the gaps and disrupt many of the barriers and really move forward to help everyone benefit from the American dream, which so many don’t at this point.
Schnall: We of course need many more women and diverse candidates on both sides of the aisle and in all levels of political leadership. You’ve been in Congress since 1998, and the numbers of women and people of color have increased since then, but we’re still so far from full representation. What can we do to increase the numbers of women and diverse leaders?
Lee: First, we first have to get money out of politics. In my Senate race, for example, you saw how money ruled. We’ve got to get to public financing of campaigns. That’s a must, because women of color, Black women, don’t have access to the type of resources for the most part than men, than privileged people, people who have money. And when you look at the dynamics around running for office, money is a deterrent for many women, for many Black women.
Secondly, we lift as we climb. For example, myself—there’s no way I would’ve taken a risk running for the Senate, wanting to win, I did everything I could do to win; I didn’t, but I made sure that there would be a Black woman, and there were many who were ready to run for my seat. So I think it’s important to continue to build that by mentoring, by encouraging, by supporting. And listen to this: I have been the only Black woman north of Los Angeles ever elected to the California legislature until a couple of years ago when we finally got Mia Bonta in. I have been, and still am, the only Black woman north of Los Angeles elected to the California Senate. Think about that: that’s darn near 40 years, right? So my responsibility was to make sure I wasn’t the only and last, but to do everything I could do to prepare other women of color to run for public office.
That’s the responsibility that we all have. And it’s a heavy duty responsibility because while you’re constantly fighting to have a seat at the table yourself with your peers, you’re fighting for people who’ve been marginalized, and you’re fighting to make sure other people have the opportunities that you’ve had. You’re constantly running a race on many fronts if you’re a Black woman, if you’re a woman, if you’re a woman of color. So it’s constant; this is a marathon, not a sprint.
Schnall: You have been such an amazing role model and leader, having contributed to so much transformative change and accomplishments over the years. What do you want your legacy to be from your time in Congress? And what’s next for you?
Lee: You know what? I’m not even thinking about what’s next [until after the election]. But call me the next day and we’ll talk about it. I think what I would hope people remember me by is that I tried to do the right thing by everybody. I know for a fact I helped save 25 million lives through my efforts working with President Bush on HIV and AIDS and PEPFAR and the Global Fund and all my HIV/AIDS initiatives. I know I brought the issue of poverty to the forefront and led on the effort to get the child tax credit passed. So I think issues around poverty elimination, saving lives through issues on global health and healthcare. Also, I would want people to remember that we’ve got to fight for peace. And I have fought, sometimes been the only one, after 9/11, to vote against an authorization to use force. And I’m trying to repeal that now. So I think persistence and perseverance. Again, when you look at what I’m trying to do now, repeal those authorizations that I voted against, still haven’t got it done, but I’m working with Republicans to try to get it done. And if it doesn’t get done now, I’ll keep working on the outside to be part of the outside agitators, to get a lot done that I haven’t been able to complete. I’m really not retiring, I’m forging ahead.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.