Home / Full timeline / Blacks win in Berkeley, California, municipal elections. They were considered to be aligned with a so-called radical coalition, which sought to take political control of the town.
Blacks win in Berkeley, California, municipal elections. They were considered to be aligned with a so-called radical coalition, which sought to take political control of the town.
1971 (Apr 6 - 13)
Warren Widener, a Berkeley, California, City Councilman, was elected Mayor of the city. Widener defeated Wilmount Sweeney, described as a moderate Black, by fifty-six votes. Widener was considered to be aligned with the so-called radical coalition, which sought to take political control of the town. Two Black lawyers, also called radical, D'Army Bailey and Ira T. Simmons, were elected to the city council. Bailey said a description of their politics as radical was misleading and suggested instead the term "progressive." The election results pointed to a radical-moderate control of the city council. In other spring municipal elections, James E. Williams, Sr., was elected the first Black Mayor of East St. Louis, Illinois, on April 6, and John Franklin, a Chattanooga, Tennessee, educator and businessman, was elected the first Black Commissioner in the city's history on April 13.
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.