Faithless
05-08-2004, 09:23 AM
Berkeley councilmember, Maudelle Shirek, is 92.
http://www.dailycal.org/article.php?id=15124
Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek celebrated her 90th birthday two years ago in handcuffs. Amid a group of council members singing “Happy Birthday,” Shirek was arrested outside the Claremont Hotel as she participated in a union strike.
After joining the serenade, police paused to have their photo taken with the Berkeley legend before taking her away.
At 92, Shirek is the oldest elected official in the state and a city institution, whose passion for justice and civil rights has placed her at the front of protest marches and re-election races for the past 22 years.
Her vigor for justice has led her to be deemed the “conscience of the City Council,” which she has served on since 1982, says Councilmember Kriss Worthington.
Less than a decade ago, Shirek was chaining herself to hospital doors in protest against closing the AIDS ward and was one of the main people responsible for bringing millions of dollars of federally funded low-income housing to Berkeley.
Today, Shirek spends most of her time volunteering at one of the two senior centers she founded, and she sometimes dozes off during council meetings.
But every once in a while, Shirek still bursts out with the occasional fiery speech across council chambers, providing audiences with a brief window into the woman who once had dinner with Fidel Castro.
“She’s sometimes seen as the radical trouble-maker who wants you to do what’s pure,” Worthington says.
As the granddaughter of former slaves, Shirek grew up in a climate of racial violence in her hometown of Jefferson, Ark.
When she moved to the Berkeley in 1940, the city was practically under Jim Crow laws. Black residents were barred from using white swimming pools, there were strict neighborhood color barriers and minorities were denied loans for housing on a regular basis.
In her early years in Berkeley, Shirek was a member and office manager of the Co-Op Credit Union, helping to overturn the housing laws that banned minority groups from living in certain areas. She opened doors for people of color to get housing loans and access to capital loans that banks would never have given them before, says former Mayor Gus Newport.
She was also one of the first African-American members of the Berkeley school board, just after the city became the first in the nation to voluntarily desegregate its schools in the 1950s.
But Shirek hasn’t restricted her activism to racial causes. During the ’60s, Shirek marched with Berkeley’s anti-war protesters and led a coalition to elect a progressive member to the U.S. Congress. She was the one who inspired former U.S. Rep. Ron Dellums, D-Oakland, to run for his position in Congress. Later, she convinced his aide, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland to run for office.
“Mrs. Shirek has the ability to light that fire in you and inspire people to do their best,” says Dale Bartlett, Shirek’s aide.
Despite her 40 years in Berkeley, Shirek did not run for her council seat until 1982, after she was fired from her job as the director of Berkeley’s New Light Senior Center for being too old. At 71, she took the lead in the council race overnight, Newport says.
As a council member, Shirek has delivered speeches across the globe—throughout the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the former Soviet Union.
She’s also kept close ties with figures like Nelson Mandela. In 1991 Shirek chaired the Free Mandela movement in the Bay Area, organizing the Oakland leg of his tour.
Part of her vision of a just society is one absent of greed and corruption, Shirek says.
“It bothers me the most that we spend money killing people instead of for people to live,” Shirek says.
Today, the council member channels her activism toward humanitarian causes, spending most of her time volunteering at the New Light Senior Center.
She keeps the senior center going, says Mike Berkowitz, Shirek’s second aide. Shirek does everything from the cooking to the cleaning and personally delivers fresh produce to the center from Berkeley Bowl.
“She likes dealing with people a lot more than she likes politics,” Berkowitz says. “Ultimately what she enjoys is cooking the meals and helping the people and visiting them in the hospitals.”
In recent years Shirek’s friends and acquaintances have taken steps to acclaim her for her life’s work. Last June, Lee proposed a bill to name the Berkeley post office after Shirek, describing her as a civil rights champion and one of her political heroes.
And Shirek continues to garner strong support from her constituency, securing 75 percent of the vote in the last council election. Berkowitz credits her high popularity to the diversity of her appeal: Her supporters are older church-goers, gay activists, AIDS activists and union members.
Although Shirek’s reputation continues to precede her, several city officials feel the aging Berkeley legend has surpassed the pinnacle of her career.
“She’s just not up to being able to understand what’s going on with the job,” says Councilmember Dona Spring. “She was in her earlier years. She’s had a full career on the City Council, and many people are hoping that she will retire this year.”
When reflecting on her accomplishments and career today, Shirek responds with a smile and a nostalgic gaze.
“I’ve done the best I could do and you do while you can because as you get older, you’re not as strong as you once were.”
http://www.dailycal.org/article.php?id=15124
Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek celebrated her 90th birthday two years ago in handcuffs. Amid a group of council members singing “Happy Birthday,” Shirek was arrested outside the Claremont Hotel as she participated in a union strike.
After joining the serenade, police paused to have their photo taken with the Berkeley legend before taking her away.
At 92, Shirek is the oldest elected official in the state and a city institution, whose passion for justice and civil rights has placed her at the front of protest marches and re-election races for the past 22 years.
Her vigor for justice has led her to be deemed the “conscience of the City Council,” which she has served on since 1982, says Councilmember Kriss Worthington.
Less than a decade ago, Shirek was chaining herself to hospital doors in protest against closing the AIDS ward and was one of the main people responsible for bringing millions of dollars of federally funded low-income housing to Berkeley.
Today, Shirek spends most of her time volunteering at one of the two senior centers she founded, and she sometimes dozes off during council meetings.
But every once in a while, Shirek still bursts out with the occasional fiery speech across council chambers, providing audiences with a brief window into the woman who once had dinner with Fidel Castro.
“She’s sometimes seen as the radical trouble-maker who wants you to do what’s pure,” Worthington says.
As the granddaughter of former slaves, Shirek grew up in a climate of racial violence in her hometown of Jefferson, Ark.
When she moved to the Berkeley in 1940, the city was practically under Jim Crow laws. Black residents were barred from using white swimming pools, there were strict neighborhood color barriers and minorities were denied loans for housing on a regular basis.
In her early years in Berkeley, Shirek was a member and office manager of the Co-Op Credit Union, helping to overturn the housing laws that banned minority groups from living in certain areas. She opened doors for people of color to get housing loans and access to capital loans that banks would never have given them before, says former Mayor Gus Newport.
She was also one of the first African-American members of the Berkeley school board, just after the city became the first in the nation to voluntarily desegregate its schools in the 1950s.
But Shirek hasn’t restricted her activism to racial causes. During the ’60s, Shirek marched with Berkeley’s anti-war protesters and led a coalition to elect a progressive member to the U.S. Congress. She was the one who inspired former U.S. Rep. Ron Dellums, D-Oakland, to run for his position in Congress. Later, she convinced his aide, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland to run for office.
“Mrs. Shirek has the ability to light that fire in you and inspire people to do their best,” says Dale Bartlett, Shirek’s aide.
Despite her 40 years in Berkeley, Shirek did not run for her council seat until 1982, after she was fired from her job as the director of Berkeley’s New Light Senior Center for being too old. At 71, she took the lead in the council race overnight, Newport says.
As a council member, Shirek has delivered speeches across the globe—throughout the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the former Soviet Union.
She’s also kept close ties with figures like Nelson Mandela. In 1991 Shirek chaired the Free Mandela movement in the Bay Area, organizing the Oakland leg of his tour.
Part of her vision of a just society is one absent of greed and corruption, Shirek says.
“It bothers me the most that we spend money killing people instead of for people to live,” Shirek says.
Today, the council member channels her activism toward humanitarian causes, spending most of her time volunteering at the New Light Senior Center.
She keeps the senior center going, says Mike Berkowitz, Shirek’s second aide. Shirek does everything from the cooking to the cleaning and personally delivers fresh produce to the center from Berkeley Bowl.
“She likes dealing with people a lot more than she likes politics,” Berkowitz says. “Ultimately what she enjoys is cooking the meals and helping the people and visiting them in the hospitals.”
In recent years Shirek’s friends and acquaintances have taken steps to acclaim her for her life’s work. Last June, Lee proposed a bill to name the Berkeley post office after Shirek, describing her as a civil rights champion and one of her political heroes.
And Shirek continues to garner strong support from her constituency, securing 75 percent of the vote in the last council election. Berkowitz credits her high popularity to the diversity of her appeal: Her supporters are older church-goers, gay activists, AIDS activists and union members.
Although Shirek’s reputation continues to precede her, several city officials feel the aging Berkeley legend has surpassed the pinnacle of her career.
“She’s just not up to being able to understand what’s going on with the job,” says Councilmember Dona Spring. “She was in her earlier years. She’s had a full career on the City Council, and many people are hoping that she will retire this year.”
When reflecting on her accomplishments and career today, Shirek responds with a smile and a nostalgic gaze.
“I’ve done the best I could do and you do while you can because as you get older, you’re not as strong as you once were.”