Rep. Barbara Lee, known for her independent stance and historic firsts, leaves Congress as a role model for younger politicians. Her lone 2001 vote against the Authorization for Use of Military Force after 9/11, once seen as controversial, is now respected and emulated.
LISA MASCARORep. Barbara Lee is now leaving Congress and her renegade approach is serving as a model for the next generation.Rep. Barbara Lee has always stood apart, a matter-of-fact renegade with a long list of firsts.
"If you really believe that this is the right thing for the country, for your district, for the world, then you have to do it, and be damned everything else," Lee told The Associated Press during a recent breakfast interview at the Capitol.
A single mom and social worker by training, Lee had been disconnected from politics. She was a volunteer community worker with the Black Panther Party when she met Chisholm. Lee found in "Mrs. C" a new kind of leader who "stood up for people." Lee got involved in Chisholm's 1972 presidential campaign. Lee eventually worked in Congress and ran for office herself, taking over the seat after her boss, Rep. Ron Dellums, retired.
She explains that as a Black woman, she brings a perspective that is often lost on others, going through life with "antennae" that sense what's going on "because of our history."
Barbara Lee Congress Renegade Inspiration Black Women In Politics
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