The death of San Diego civic legend Leon Williams at age 102 triggered outpourings of appreciation and iration for the groundbreaking Black community leader. The Oklahoma native who moved to San Diego as a teen was ed for far more than being the first Black member of the City Council and the county Board of Supervisors. He was celebrated for his resolve in overcoming the bigotry that he faced for decades; for inspiring many to choose lives devoted to public service; for emphasizing the need to create jobs in downtown and southeastern neighborhoods, as well as to expand public transit; and for founding the county’s first human relations commission.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber — the longtime San Diego State professor who served in the state Assembly and on the San Diego school board — told the U-T that Williams overcame obstacles with “dignity and purpose.” He helped those who followed him do the same while always remaining focused on the need to “create a better society, a more respectful and appreciative society,” as he said in 2022 at 100 while accepting a county honor.
Williams’ death comes in an era where race issues have evolved but remain ever-present. This doesn’t just hold for national politics, where derision for programs promoting racial equity has become a staple of modern conservatism, at times with ugly undertones. Though California has a reputation as a deeply progressive state, in 2020, a strong majority of voters kept in place a 1996 ban on affirmative action programs. An arguably even bigger moment came in a landmark Los Angeles court case that showed how state laws had the effect of steering inexperienced and troubled teachers to public schools in the poorest neighborhoods — the ones that need the strongest teachers the most. In 2014, The New York Times Editorial Board called this “a shameful problem that has cast a long shadow over the lives of children.”
In her eight years in the Legislature, Weber tried to change these laws with little success. But in 2019, she also showed a younger generation — as Williams showed her — that hard work, idealism and coalition-building can pay off in grand fashion. That is when a bill she authored putting reasonable limits on police use of deadly force was enacted on a bipartisan vote with significant from some in law enforcement.
It’s not hyperbole to wonder if this ever would have happened if Weber didn’t have a role model as inspirational as Leon Williams. May he rest in peace — and keep being an inspiration even to those he never met.
