First Steps to Denver

My husband and I are real political junkies. My first political organizing began when I was a teenager and I was outraged that then Governor Reagan would close down the mental health facilities in the state. I worked with special education students and helped organize a weekend program for some severely mentally handicapped kids in our city; I went door to door with my first petition to fight the closures. I met my husband Floyd at UC Berkeley when he was a student body senator. He taught me about coalition building when he ran on a slate that supported the formation of Ethnic Studies and opposed the Vietnam War; he would eventually be the first Asian American student body president.

We watch C-Span almost every night. So, we were delighted at the first Democratic Party debate on how many strong candidates there were. Over the months we were torn between Clinton and Obama. There were many debates over Sunday dinners with our kids. In the end both my husband and I had personal contacts with Hillary and that made a difference.

In the 90's I was chosen by the Clinton Administration to represent School Board members on the national Title 1 Rules Making Committee, governing the federal funding of education. Later I chaired the Council of Urban Boards of Education, representing the 100 largest districts in the nation or about one quarter of American students. Through these experiences I met and heard Hillary many times and was impressed at the depth of her understanding of school and children's issues. I remembered the strong federal support we got from Washington for Headstart, after school funding, school police, science education, and job training. I thought wouldn't it be great to have a real education president? Floyd had a similar experience when he was the medical director of the county hospital and he toured her through Highland Hospital. He thought she had a better plan for universal health care.

Either way I knew it would change history, the first woman or first black president would break barriers of discrimination. Our kids voted for Obama because of the war and his great appeal to young people. My daughter talked about the hope he gave to youth she worked with. I was struck that for her, being minority was a bigger barrier than being a woman. I realized that there was a definite generation gap and how quickly some barriers have come down during my lifetime. Obama's victory will lift the glass ceiling for all Americans of color.

I was contacted doggedly by the Clinton campaign for nearly a year, I finally decided to commit to Hillary after I got a call from my friend Sandre Swanson, our assemblyman. I volunteered to work on the campaign and was surprised at the shoe string budget. The northern California coordinator was a local girl who had gone to Skyline High with my kids, Maisha Everhart (left). She led a small dynamic team of mostly young women. I set up tables at the farmer's markets, spoke to groups, and organized phone banking.

The most amazing primary experience was the strong response among Chinese immigrant women. Asian Americans do not historically vote heavily in the primaries. I organized the Chinese language phone banks and my husband and I did much calling ourselves. I learned the Chinese name for Hillary -- Hay Lai Nay. These "new American" women were so excited about the possibility of a woman president, when we called a meeting for phone banking over 50 Chinatown residents showed up, mostly blue collar and senior women. The Asian American community in California voted 75% for Hillary. We called all the Chinese American and other voters in northern California  (minus SF) from out phone banks in Oakland!


Jean and Council Members Delafuente and Chang speak at the Chinatown phone bank training.