By Genoa Barrow | OBSERVER Senior Staff Writer
Today the names of Black women are synonymous with California politics. Women such as future Congress members Barbara Lee; Diane Watson; Maxine Waters, who went viral reclaiming her time in 2017; and Karen Bass, who recently was elected Los Angeles’ first female and second Black mayor. Women like Holly Mitchell, who created legislation that solidified African Americans’ “natural” right to wear their hair however they want in the workplace.
Their work stands out even more so with the reality that only 21 Black women have served in the state’s 173-year history. These women have fought for a seat at the table and the opportunity to make transformative change. Today, a new generation of leaders has emerged to carry the baton. A historic number of women (50) were elected to state government for 2023-24 overall and the number of Black women serving (five) also is at an all-time high. They are Assemblymembers Dr. Akilah Weber (D-San Diego), Mia Bonta (D-Oakland), Tina McKinnor and Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City), and Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles).
Assemblymember Wilson is featured in the second installment of our “A Powerful Sisterhood” series that highlights the contributions of past and present Black women lawmakers in California.
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While her rise in state government seems to have unfolded by design, Assemblymember Lori Wilson calls herself an “accidental politician.”
“It wasn’t on my radar at all to be an elected official. It was through serving my community that I ended up serving in the political realm,” said Wilson, who represents Assembly District 11, which includes Solano and Contra Costa counties.
Putting a degree from Sacramento State to good use, Wilson held leadership roles in the finance and accounting fields and started a nonprofit. She also sat on the Suisun City Council. When she became mayor of the Bay Area city in 2018, Wilson became the first Black woman to lead a town in Solano County.
While she was content at the local level, bigger forces were pulling her to a higher office. When her predecessor, Jim Frazier, resigned early from his seat, he called her and suggested she run.
“I felt like there would be an opportunity to be really impactful at the state level and wanted to see what that looked like,” Assemblymember Wilson said. “I was a little nervous about coming because at the local level you serve in the community you represent, but at the state level, you leave, you serve somewhere else than the community that you represent.”
Wilson quickly got over her trepidation. “Something that was forged in me as a local leader that I carry with me here is that everyone has a right to a high quality of life. Everyone has a right to define what that looks like for themselves,” she said. “My job is to facilitate that. I felt like if I could do that, in my little city, Suisun City, how amazing would that be to be able to do that here at the state [level] and impact the entire state of California?”
She arrived at the Capitol having seen Black women in leadership such as Congressmembers Maxine Waters and Barbara Lee standing out. Often for standing alone.
“Seeing these women at the pinnacle and then realizing their pathway was the state Assembly, I started looking at the Assembly,” Wilson said. “I really started paying attention when Dr. Shirley Weber and Holly Mitchell were here. They were just amazing women and I thought, ‘One day I’ll be like them.’ Not be like them, as in ‘be in the assembly,’ but just be as powerful and impactful as they are.”
Coming from an underserved community, Wilson felt she needed to come to Sacramento and be that community’s voice. She’s happy to be doing so with so many other women.
“There is strength in numbers,” she said. “The Golden State Warriors say that, but it’s real. When you have that allyship, you can flex on the floor; we’ve got something going on and all the Black girls look at each other, we’re like, ‘OK, let’s flex.’ There’s something about all of us being here at the same time as well.”
Wilson regularly invokes the words of Emerge California workshop trainer Christina Harbridge for motivation.
“She always talks about how important it is for ‘the real you’ to show up. That’s what voters want to see. You have to be you. Seeing those women, seeing Dr. Weber and Holly Mitchell, they were the personification of that training. Like look at these women and these propositions and they’re them.
“It made sense to me. The ‘real you’ is the person that’s supposed to be there. So with the other women – there’s four other ones – we see each other all the time; we hang out at the various events; we encourage one another, support one another; we text with one another; we caucus together; I’m chair of the Black Caucus and we work on policy together.”
It’s a powerful sisterhood, Assemblymember Wilson said. “We see each other and we are seen by each other. That’s the beautiful part. It’s not just about seeing each other, but being seen and getting to have that shorthand, when you’re in a meeting and something goes off and you know why it went off and the other person knowing why too, immediately, and you don’t have to say and tell the story. They know, they feel the pain of it, and can support you in that moment and stand up for you in that moment as well.”
Keeping It Real
Assemblymember Wilson marked her first year in office April 6. Days later, she announced on social media that she has been undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Wilson used the announcement to champion the importance of regular screening and early detection. She also reaffirmed her commitment to serve. Wilson wants to show Californians her authentic self 24/7.
“The real me is a fierce competitor. I am so assertive that people will call me aggressive,” she said.
“Because I don’t like grass under my feet, I fight to be productive every single day. I don’t hold back at all because time is short,” she continued. “I recognize as a leader, no matter what leadership position and whether it’s in political space or government space, a business space and nonprofit space, or family space, it’s temporary. You have to take that time and recognize how precious it is to be given authority at that particular time and take full advantage of it.”
Wilson’s broad bill package reflects the things she cares about, including health, housing and support for families. Her Assembly Bill 228, which addresses the recent infant baby formula shortage, passed the Assembly Health Committee last month with unanimous support and continues on to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. She also has taken up former Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager’s campaign to rewrite California’s constitution to unequivocally prohibit slavery and is particularly proud to be in the legislature when reparations are being discussed in a real and meaningful way.
“For me, it’s not about what I get done and I’ve been able to do cool things. In my first year, we got four bills signed by the governor. We got $17.7 million dollars for the district.”
In a year’s time, Assemblymember Wilson also was chosen as chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus and the Select Committee on Transportation and Emergency Preparedness, co-chair of the Delta Caucus and assistant majority whip.
“I’ve had a phenomenal one year, but I’m mindful of Holly Mitchell; [she] was working on a particular policy area that she started on in her very first year. And she didn’t complete it. She spent the whole time working on that issue, and it took that long to bring it to completion. Someone told me that story right before I got here and I keep that to remind myself that even if I don’t get something across the finish line in the first year, I have another year, I have 12 years to get these things across the finish line and it could take that long, but to continue to work at it.”
She’s got her vision set for the long term.
“I tell the elected officials in my area that I mentor that, as an elected official, you have to plant flowers and you have to plant trees – trees for the next generation and flowers to get elected next year,” she joked. “I recognize that and so I’m looking forward to doing this good work and know that it might take me the whole time to get some cool things across the finish line. I’m definitely committed to working year after year to ensure that California is the best that it can be and that people are taken care of.”
Wilson has made personal sacrifices to do the work and is happy with her own progress.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but definitely didn’t expect to be able to accelerate so quickly,” she said. “I knew I wasn’t here to play around. I knew that I had only been given a finite time of 12 years, if the voters would have me. I also knew that I was giving up prime working years. I made great money that took care of my family and allowed us to take care of our kids and send them off in a meaningful way. I knew I was giving that up to be here, so I knew I wanted to be productive.”
Wilson sees herself as being a part of a bigger picture.
“As a Black woman in this space right now, it’s interesting. I have two sides of me. One side of me feels very privileged to be able, as the world is burning in so many ways and tossing and turning, to have a voice during this time and represent our community. It feels like a privilege that I would be one of the ones chosen to do that.
“Black women have a space here and in a more powerful way with numbers. We all know that Black women have been on the forefront of every major progressive issue in this country since its existence and that we have been leading the way, and a lot of times we were relegated to the back. Part of me wants to be like, ‘Yeah, we should be here, damn straight,’ that kind of thing. The other part of me is indignant, like ‘It’s about damn time.’”
Editor’s Note: “A Powerful Sisterhood,” a series of feature stories highlighting the contributions of past and present Black women lawmakers in California, continues next week with Assemblymember Dr. Akilah Weber and her predecessor and mother, Dr. Shirley N. Weber, the first Black woman to serve as California’s secretary of state.