Barbara – WUVS 103.7 The Beat

Progressive icon and ex-US Rep. Barbara Lee wins race for mayor of struggling Oakland, California

Progressive icon and former U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee declared victory Saturday as the new mayor of troubled Oakland, a San Francisco Bay Area city reeling from economic stagnation, crime and homelessness. Lee issued a statement Saturday as mayor-elect, saying that her chief opponent, Loren Taylor, had called to concede the April 15 race. “While I believe strongly in respecting the democratic voting process and ballots will continue to be counted … the results are clear that the people of Oakland […]

April 22, 2025

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Former Rep. Barbara Lee seeks to make Black ‘Herstory’ with Oakland mayoral run, vows to resist Trump

After serving nearly 30 years in the United States Congress, former U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee is seeking public office yet again with her campaign to be elected mayor of Oakland. Though Lee, 78, has seen many historical moments up close as a U.S. congresswoman, she could literally make history during next Tuesday’s special election on April 15. If elected by residents in a crowded contest, the Democrat would become the first Black woman to serve as mayor of Oakland. “The […]

April 7, 2025

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With a nod to her mentor Shirley Chisholm, Rep. Barbara Lee exits Congress as a renegade herself

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Barbara Lee has always stood apart, a matter-of-fact renegade with a long list of firsts. In high school, she was the first Black student to integrate her Southern California cheerleading squad. During the Democrat’s more than two decades in Congress, she has been the only Black woman elected to the House from California’s regions north of Los Angeles. But it was Lee’s lonely 2001 vote as the only lawmaker against the authorization for the use of military force against those […]

January 2, 2025

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Rep. Barbara Lee says this would be Shirley Chisholm’s message to Kamala Harris and Democrats today

No one has fought more in Congress to keep alive Shirley Chisholm’s legacy than U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee. The 78-year-old California lawmaker counts the late Chisholm as a mentor and friend. Despite making history as the first Black woman elected to Congress in 1968 and the first Black American and Black woman to run for U.S. president in 1972, it took years for the “Unbought and Unbossed” congresswoman’s trailblazing career to be recognized on Capitol Hill. “When I came to […]

November 30, 2024

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Rep. Barbara Lee schools Republicans about what ‘woke’ means with resolution

U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., introduced a resolution this week in the U.S. House of Representatives in an attempt to educate Republicans on the true meaning of “woke” and its connection to Black culture. The resolution seeks to “affirm” the ‘‘woke’’ term and its “historical connection to Black history, Black liberation movements and social justice.”“Woke is deeply connected and rooted to Black history and our fight for social, racial, and economic justice,” Lee said in an exclusive statement to theGrio. […]

September 27, 2024

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Barbara Lee, once a young Shirley Chisholm staffer, aims to take fight to US Senate

TheGrio’s “Running Black” election series profiles Black candidates running for office in the 2024 elections. If successful, each candidate profiled could make history in their state. Hear from them in their own words about what’s at stake in their races, for the country, and for Black and brown communities on the political margin. As a veteran U.S. member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., has lived a life of public service for over three decades. Through many years of leadership and legislating, […]

March 5, 2024

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Exclusive: Rep. Barbara Lee and CBC members’ letter addresses layoffs of Black tech employees

Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California and several other Congressional Black Caucus members have written a letter to Julie Su, the acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, to address the disproportionate layoffs of Black tech employees. An excerpt from the letter reads, “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.” “Tech companies who previously agreed to […]

December 20, 2023