Women You Should Know: Karen Bass
June 29, 2009 by blackgirlgrown
Filed under black women, politics, women you should know
Karen Bass has been a State Assembly Member representing Los Angeles’ 47th Assembly District since 2005. In May 2008, she made history when the Los Angeles Democrat became the 67th Speaker of the California State Assembly, catapulting a Democratic woman to the post for the first time in the state’s history. Along with the California political first, Speaker Bass makes national history as the first African American woman in the country to serve in this powerful state legislative role.
The Los Angeles Times’ Patt Morrison recently interviewed Speaker Bass. Of note:
On how men and women deal with power differently:
I think that women are much more collaborative; men are much more competitive. And here’s the funny thing: I think men are more emotional. I don’t know where we got the hysterical rap.
On whether she, as an African American woman, is able to do things her white male colleagues can’t:
No, I think it’s a lot easier for white men, absolutely. I feel that gender is much more of a dynamic [in the Legislature] than race is. It’s just overwhelmingly male — in every sector of life in Sacramento. It doesn’t bother me because I’ve grown up with that. But sometimes it’s a little taxing. At press conferences, I go out of my way and call on the women [reporters] because if I don’t, they will not be heard. I just think that the guys are overpowering. It’s not overt; it’s not like they make overtly sexist comments. It’s just people going about life. If you’re the overwhelming majority, you function that way.
On anger in the gay community about Proposition 8 and the African American community:
Trying to say, “What you went through is the same thing we’re going through” — that’s what African Americans have a hard time with. Race — you can’t really mistake who I am. I most certainly didn’t support Proposition 8. Every time marriage equality has come up, I’ve voted for it. I’ve contributed financially. [But] if you look at people’s struggles, you have to respect them for their uniqueness. You can’t say they’re all the same. And I also think, within the general generic gay community, they need to lift up the black gay community. I know that black gays and lesbians [have] felt very disrespected.
On persevering after the death of her only child, a daughter, in a car accident in October 2008:
My daughter was the center of my life, and it has changed me forever. The only way I can describe it is if you use an analogy of physical pain. It’s like having a deep wound that never heals. Over time, you learn how to manage the pain [but] it doesn’t go away. My life is intense and consumed, but I go home at night, and I wake up in the morning, [and] she is on my mind constantly. The good news is that I’m very close to all of her closest friends. I was like the play-mom. When [Emelia] was in college, she’d come home and say, “Well, you don’t mind if so-and-so stays with us for three months?” There were a couple of summers when I was running a sorority.
