Berkeley's Vice Mayor Continues Long History of Activism

Berkeley Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek's support of the Free Mumia movement is just one more chapter in a life marked by international adventures, controversial radical politics and humble community service.

The 88-year-old granddaughter of slaves in Arkansas, Shirek can still be seen jetting around town in her green Porsche, and her aides say she has every intention of running again for the City Council seat she has held since 1984.

"Politics is a part of life," Shirek says. "It ain't nothing new."

Through her progressive activism on local and international levels, Shirek has kept company with such historical personalities as Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, W.E.B. DuBois, Nelson Mandela, Angela Davis and Jesse Jackson, says her aide Mike Berkowitz.

But even though Shirek has dined with the likes of Fidel Castro, she has never forgotten her ties to the Berkeley community.

Shirek has assisted people in need at a very basic, personal level, says Barbara Lubin, a friend of 20 years. She has taken people to the hospital, dropped off absentee ballots to people who were unable to leave their houses, helped youth get out of jail and even co-signed on houses for people who could not afford them, Lubin says.

"She's a one-person social service agency," she says. "She lives life the way most people only talk about."

John Iverson, an AIDS and health activist who has known Shirek for 20 years, remembers the time he found her cleaning the house of a blind woman whom she met on the street that day.

Apparently, Shirek is happy to do housecleaning for those in need. Berkowitz says he was looking for Shirek to speak at a conference once when he found her scrubbing someone's floor.

Even former Berkeley Mayor Gus Newport says Shirek used to call him on Sunday nights to clean.

"She'd have me on my knees scrubbing the floor till four or five in the morning," Newport says. "You don't question Maudelle no matter who you are."

Newport largely attributes his career as an elected official to Shirek's guidance, as do many other East Bay political powerhouses. Shirek helped elect the first black member to the Berkeley School Board and also persuaded former U.S. Rep. Ron Dellums to run for City Council in the 1960s, Berkowitz says.

Dellums says Shirek challenged him to run on his own terms and stubbornly supported him, thereby catapulting him into 31 years of public service.

"Maudelle is the one that changed my life," Dellums says.

Though Shirek herself has never sought public office beyond the city level, she always remained involved in international politics, travelling to the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, Central America and Eastern Europe, Berkowitz says.

"She wants to learn how other people do things and learn from that," he says.

Lubin, who directs the Middle East Children's Alliance, traveled with Shirek to Israel in 1988 to assess the impact of the Israeli occupation of lands claimed by Palestinians. To discourage the delegation, the Israeli military fired tear gas at them from helicopters while they visited a refugee camp, Lubin says. Shirek, however, was not discouraged.

"Maudelle was the first one up in the morning and the last one to bed," Lubin says. "She was the leader of the pack."

Forty years earlier, Shirek hosted community discussions in support of the state of Israel, recalls retired longshoreman Jim Lewis, who has known Shirek since 1946. She also cooked for meetings in support of Civil Rights and against the wars in Korea and Vietnam, Lewis adds.

During this time Shirek also organized boycotts against large chain stores in the Bay Area that refused to hire or service blacks, Berkowitz says.

Shirek became the first black woman to be hired by the Cooperative Center Federal Credit Union and later, while serving on the board of directors, pressured the credit union to give loans to poor people and people of color, Berkowitz says.

Shirek served as a union organizer and officer for the credit union, and later served on the state executive board of the service employees union.

Berkowitz says this was part of a long life of union activism dating back to the 1940s, when Shirek helped organize the sleeping car porter's union.

Shirek also co-founded and directed two of Berkeley's senior centers, even donating some of her own money to keep them running, Iverson says.

Shirek introduced many innovative programs for the seniors such as massage therapy, Tai Chi, visits to the aquarium, the Wine Country and mud baths.

When she was 71, several politically motivated city council members, led by Jim Sweeney, forced Shirek to retire from the senior center because of her age, Iverson says.

Berkowitz says Shirek won an ironic victory after her forced retirement by successfully running against Sweeney for City Council in 1984. She has served on the council ever since, and has also been selected by her colleagues to serve as vice mayor.

Mayor Shirley Dean says that although they sometimes disagree, Shirek brings a voice of conscience to the council.

"She's the strongest voice on the council for labor," Dean says. "She also talks a great deal about Public Works projects to put people to work."

Berkowitz says Shirek continues to shop and cook for the New Light Senior Center and delivers meals every day to people who cannot leave their homes.

As a council member, Shirek became involved in AIDS activism, leading the first AIDS education campaigns and sponsoring the city's emergency legislation that allows activists to run the Berkeley Needle Exchange Program, Berkowitz says.

When Highland Hospital tried to close its AIDS ward, Shirek chained herself to the doors of the Alameda County Building with Iverson and other activists. Iverson says he spent seven hours in jail with Shirek.

"A police officer said, ‘There must be a mistake - was someone here actually born in 1911?'" Iverson says.

Under Shirek's leadership, the city formed the Labor Commission and the Peace and Justice Commission, Berkowitz says.

Shirek has always tried to apply national and international politics to her role as vice mayor. Berkowitz says she starts watching news at 4:30 in the morning to find out what is happening nationally and what she can do about it.

Councilmember Kriss Worthington says Shirek is also the city's liaison to the Mental Health Commission.

"Maudelle is a legendary and passionate advocate for every progressive cause you've ever heard of," he says. "When she speaks, people stop and listen."

Though heavily involved with senior citizens, Shirek is also a champion for the youth, Newport says. With Newport, she helped inner-city youth obtain scholarships to music camp. She also opposed the recent police sweeps of Telegraph Avenue as discriminatory and hopes to start a youth center, Berkowitz says.

"She went up to talk with the street kids to see if we need to do something for them," he says.

Many of Shirek's causes, such as the fight against the use of pepper spray, have led her into battle with the UC Berkeley administration, Berkowitz says.

"She's trying to make the university responsible, serve students and be sensitive to the neighborhood," he says.

After a long and intense life of political activism, Shirek is far from done. Berkowitz says her dedication and fieriness have not diminished over the years.

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