ICYMI: Congresswoman Lee Featured in The Nation on the Legacy She Leaves Behind in Congress
WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-12) was featured in the December 2024 issue of The Nation. In a piece written by John Nichols, Lee explains why, during her 25 years in Congress, it was important for her “to disrupt and dismantle and build something that’s equitable and just and right.”
Nichols wrote, “Barbara Lee started out as a Bay Area radical who didn’t believe that voting could make a difference in people’s lives. Shirley Chisholm set her straight, reminding the young Black woman from California that those in power preferred that advocates for economic and social and racial justice disengage from the electoral process.
“So Lee engaged, becoming a Chisholm delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention, an aide to California’s legendary Democratic US Representative Ron Dellums, and, in 1999, Dellums’s replacement in the House. Two years later, she cast the sole vote against authorizing President George W. Bush’s forever wars. She has remained a hero to peace activists since she cast that vote. But Lee’s epic tenure in Congress—now coming to a conclusion after 25 years—has seen her lead on issues including abortion rights, the global fight against AIDS, reframing US foreign policy, and efforts to cut the Pentagon budget to fund human needs. In early November, just days before the election, she talked with The Nation about her time in Congress and the ongoing struggle for peace and justice.”
To read the full piece, click here.