Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

Invitation to an Oral History Project in Support of Black History Month (February 28, 2024, 9 a.m.)

I would like to invite you to join me at an oral history presentation for Black History Month that focuses on the experiences of African American elected and public officials who served Richmond, California. The event will be held at 9 a.m. at De Anza High School in Richmond. Many African Americans migrated to work in the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond during World War II.

This is a great opportunity for students to learn about Black history from those who lived it. Richmond’s history outlines many of the experiences met by Black Americans migrating from the south to the San Francisco Bay Area during World War II as it relates to housing, employment, politics, civic life, and education. Hearing from those who lived and witnessed history makes it come alive for our students.

Special guests include:

• Nathaniel “Nat” Bates, eight-time Richmond City Council Member.
• Audrey Miles, Universal Transitional Kindergarten Teacher in Emery Unified School District and former West Contra Costa Unified School District Board President. Miles was the first Black woman elected to that role.
• Myrtle Braxton, former Chair of the Richmond Parks and Recreation Commission and former member of the National Parks and Recreation Commission.
• John Marquez, Contra Costa College Board Member and former Richmond City Council Member for 18 years.
• Ahmad Anderson, son of former Richmond Mayor Irma Anderson and member of the Cal Berkeley Football Hall of Fame.

A short video tribute to the late Richmond Mayor Irma Anderson will be included. Irma Anderson was the first Black woman elected as Council Member and Mayor of Richmond and, at the time of her mayoral election, was the first Black woman to be elected to a large city in the state of California.

As the second Black State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI) after Wilson Riles and the first Afro-Latino to serve as California’s SSPI, I am the first person from Richmond to serve as a statewide constitutional officer and have been proud to represent Richmond for more than 15 years as a City Council Member, a School Board Member, and an Assemblymember.

I encourage you and your schools to join the livestreamed event on the CDE Facebook Live web page at www.facebook.com/caeducation.

For more information, you may contact Liz Sanders, Director of Communications, California Department of Education, at esanders@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Tony Thurmond
State Superintendent of Public Instruction