School of Public Affairs Dean Featured on KCET’s SOCAL Connected
Posted on November 13, 2008

[See video]

Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr., Dean of the UCLA School of Public Affairs was featured in a recent broadcast of KCET’s SoCal Connect. The title of the program was “Power Politics,” which focused on African American political representation since the time of LA’s first black mayor to the present and Barack Obama’s successful presidential campaign.

Also included in the segment, broadcast Nov. 6, were two top African American leaders: Yvonne Burke – first African American woman in the State Assembly (1966), first African American women elected to Congress (1972) and head of L.A. County Board of Supervisors (1992) – Karen Bass, the first African American woman elected Speaker of the California State Assembly.

“The Obama Campaign, and particularly its success, I think, has reinvigorated the African American Community, has stimulated the political consciousness of African Americans, is certainly helping African American candidates,” said Gilliam who has been a frequent commentator throughout the campaign.

The KCET segment also focused on the drop in number of African American politicians in comparison to the rise in the Latino population and political representation in the region.

To the question of how to keep political power with dwindling numbers of representatives, Dean Gilliam commented, “Your are ultimately going to have to reach out to non-blacks and perhaps the Obama campaign makes that all the more possible.”

To view the entire SoCal Connected episode (107) please visit the KCET Web site at: http://kcet.org/socal/2008/11/power-politics.html