It is a long, long, long road from the Berkeley City Council to the House Armed Services Committee. That Ron Dellums started at the former in 1967 and chaired the latter in 1993 must surely rank as one of the greatest leaps in American political history. The vast majority of prominent anti-war movement voices from the 1960’s were essentially banned from national office forever, a bigoted proscription that deprived the country of many of the best of an entire generation’s natural leaders. Congress would fill to overflowing with racists and grifters, but never countenance a former “radical,” i.e. someone vehemently opposed to racists and grifters. Except for Ron Dellums (and for awhile Bella Abzug, from the West Side of Manhattan, who unfortunately never got anywhere near Armed Services). Chalk it up to the magic shield bonafides of his early stint in the Marines, perhaps, but also recognize a rare genius for bridging treacherous waters.
with Jesse Jackson and Bobby Seale, 1970