National Visionary
Born November 24, 1935
Oakland, California
First African American elected to Congress from Northern California, founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and current mayor of Oakland, CA
BIOGRAPHY
A life-long advocate of peace and social justice, Ron Dellums was re-elected 13 times and served for 27 uninterrupted years as an outspoken and controversial, but highly respected member of the US House of Representatives. Initially seeking a life in education, community activism and social work, Dellums was called to public office in 1967. His tenure in politics has been defined by a strong adherence to the principles of social progress, community activism and peace as viable and necessary national and international pursuits. In 2007, Dellums returned to public office as the Mayor of Oakland, California.
Dellums as a young man.
This interview has
been archived in the
NVLP Collection of
African American
Oral Histories at the
Library of Congress
American Folklife
Center
Throughout his tenure in the House, Dellums consistently advocated for peaceful resolutions to non-military conflict, an end to dangerous military arms buildups and social and economic justice for oppressed peoples at home and abroad. He worked to end US involvement in Vietnam and served as a plaintiff in support of anti-war protestors; the resulting case, Dellums v. Powell established a precedent protecting the rights of citizens to petition government officials. Dellums was also a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) to support and advance the agenda of urban housing, education, transportation, health care and economic development. In 1972 Dellums began his campaign to end the apartheid system in South Africa, authoring bills to withhold support from the apartheid South African regime, and in 1986 managing to get "the Dellums Amendment" passed, a bill that called for American divestment of corporations from South Africa. In 1973 Dellums secured a seat on the powerful House Armed Services Committee (HASC), and in 1992 he was appointed chairman of that committee. As a member of the HASC he worked to cut military spending that he believed destabilized security and drained resources from much needed domestic programs. During his tenure Dellums served on numerous other committees. When he left office in 1998, after 27 years of distinguished service, Dellums was lauded for his fairness, his willingness to listen, his adherence to principles and his intellect.
As a private citizen, Dellums became the president of Healthcare International Management, an organization that worked with the newly democratic South African government to develop low cost, affordable healthcare and bring awareness, prevention and treatment in response to the AIDS epidemic. Most recently, Dellums was elected mayor of Oakland, California and assumed office in January, 2007. Dellums' extraordinary and courageous political career has brought him a number of accolades, most notably the Defense Department's Medal of Distinguished Public Service and Peace Action's Lifetime Achievement Award.VIDEO CLIPS
EXTERNAL LINKS
• Ron Dellums Wikipedia Page
RELATED LINKS
URL (Click to bookmark): http://www.visionaryproject.org/dellumsron