Shot many presidential election nights ago in downtown Sacramento when he was Speaker.
The Legacy Project Honorees See the Flipping Book of Portraits.
Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. is a powerful democratic politician, who has managed to conquer the upper echelons of the American Legislative System, by sheer dedication and hard work.
He was born in a small town called Mineola, Texas, which was constantly ravaged by mob violence, caused by racial tensions. This would’ve been a predicament to the growth of most people, but Brown and his family showed character and managed to keep themselves united and motivated.
Willie Brown then successfully graduated from MacFarland High School, but Mineola was too small of a town for his ambition. That’s why he decided to try his luck in the big city and in August 1951, he left for San Francisco to live with his uncle. He was just 17 at the time.
Once he got there, he tried to enlist in San Francisco State, but didn’t meet the requirements. However, the interviewer was so impressed by his ambition, that he gave him a chance to prove himself and let him in on probation.
Brown didn’t waste time and the moment he became one of their students, he quickly joined the Young Democrats, became active member of his church and got three different jobs, in order to pay for his tuition-doorman, genitor and shoe salesman. Talk about a work ethic.
He received his bachelor degree in political science in 1955 and then continued with his higher education in the Hastings College of Law, where he got his J.D.(Juris Doctor) in 1958.
After he finished with his education, Brown started practicing criminal defense law in San Francisco. He also got involved in the civil rights movement, even orchestrated a sit-in which was instigated by a housing discrimination case against him. This event gave him the needed notoriety to run for Assembly.
Brown ran for Assembly in 1962, but lost the election. He didn’t give up then and ran for the second time in 1964 and got elected.
He was one of four African Americans in the Assembly. Not only that, but he managed to keep his position from 1964, up until 1995, where he kept on rising through the ranks, ending up as the first African American speaker the assembly ever had.
After he got “termed out”, Brown decided to run for San Francisco Mayor and won in 1995, defeating his opponent Frank Jordan. Because of his magnificent performance, the people of San Francisco re-elected him again, in 1999.
After leaving his office, Brown has become a great entrepreneur and investor, who is now taking interest in helping the environment, lowering pollution and improving the city’s infrastructure.
Brown is also a weekly columnist at http://www.sfgate.com/columns/williesworld/
