Dymally, Mervyn M. (Mervyn Malcolm), 1926-2012

<p>California State Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally was born in Cedros, Trinidad on May 12, 1926 to a mother and father from Trinidad and India, respectively. While in Trinidad, Dymally was a staff reporter for The Vanguard, a newspaper published by the Oil Workers Trade Union. In 1946, he traveled to the United States and attended Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri to study journalism.</p>

<p>After leaving Lincoln University, Dymally traveled to California, where he resumed his education by earning a B.A. degree in education in 1954 from Los Angeles State College. After teaching in the Los Angeles Unified School District for a number of years, Dymally became a field coordinator in 1960 for John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign. Two years later, he was elected to the California General Assembly, and in 1966, he became the first African American to serve in the California State Senate. As a State Senator, Dymally chaired a number of committees, including social welfare and veterans affairs committees. He also earned a master’s degree in government from California State University in 1969. In 1974, he again made history, when he was elected the first black lieutenant governor in California history. Though he failed to be reelected in 1978, Dymally went on to earn a Ph.D. from the United States International University in San Diego, and in 1980, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, becoming the first foreign-born African American to serve in the U.S. Congress.</p>

<p>As a Congressman, Dymally served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where he was the chair of the Subcommittee on International Operations. He also served on the Post Office and Civil Service Committee, as well as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus from 1986 to 1987. In 1991, Dymally was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as a representative to the United Nations, and he retired from Congress in 1992.</p>

<p>Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (May 12, 1926 – October 7, 2012) was an American politician from California. He served in the California State Assembly (1963–66) and the California State Senate (1967–75) as the 41st Lieutenant Governor of California (1975–79) and in the U.S. House of Representatives (1981–93). Dymally returned to politics a decade later to serve in the California State Assembly (2003–08).</p>

<p>Dymally was the first Trinidadian to serve California as State Senator and Lieutenant Governor. He was one of the first persons of Dougla (mixed African and Indian) origin to serve in the U.S. Congress.</p>

<p>In 1974, he and George L. Brown became among the first African Americans elected to statewide state office since Oscar Dunn did so during Reconstruction. Edward W. Brooke, III (R) had been elected Attorney General of Massachusetts in 1962 and 1964, and was elected to the United States Senate from Massachusetts in 1966 and 1972. Dymally was the second African-American to hold statewide office in California, following Wilson Riles who served as California Superintendent of Public Instruction starting in 1971.</p>

DYMALLY, Mervyn Malcolm, a Representative from California; born in Cedros, Trinidad, British West Indies, May 12, 1926; attended Cedros Government School, Trinidad; graduated from St. Benedict and Naparima Secondary, San Fernando, Trinidad, 1944; B.A., California State University, Los Angeles, 1954; M.A., California State University, Sacramento, 1969; Ph.D., United States International University, San Diego, 1977; president, Mervyn M. Dymally Co., Inc., 1979-1981; teacher; lecturer; served in the California state legislature, 1963-1966; State senator, 1967-1975; Lieutenant Governor, California, 1975-1979; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-seventh and to the five succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1981-January 3, 1993); was not a candidate for renomination in 1992 to the One Hundred Third Congress; member of the California state assembly, 2002-2008; unsuccessful candidate for nomination to the California state senate in 2008; died on October 7, 2012, in Los Angeles, Ca.

<p>A Caribbean immigrant, a longtime member of the California legislature, and the first black elected to statewide office in California, Mervyn Dymally represented a southern Los Angeles County district in the U.S. House of Representatives for 12 years. Representative Dymally eventually served as a subcommittee chairman on the Foreign Affairs Committee, where he was an outspoken advocate for international human rights and economic development, particularly in Africa and the Caribbean. “I have an obligation as a Third World person. I make no excuses,” Dymally explained. “I do have a very keen interest in the Third World. We do not live in just 50 states. We contribute significant sums of taxpayer money in the Third World.”</p>

<p>Mervyn Malcolm Dymally was born on May 12, 1926, in Cedros, Trinidad, in the British West Indies, to Hamid A. and Andreid S. (Richardson) Dymally. He attended Cedros Government School and graduated from St. Benedict and Naparima Secondary School in Trinidad in 1944. Dymally worked as a janitor and a labor organizer early in his career. He also worked as a reporter, covering labor issues for The Vanguard, a weekly newspaper published by the Oil Workers’ Trade Union. Inspired by the story of Booker T. Washington, Dymally arrived in the U.S. to study journalism at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. After a semester, he transferred to Chapman University in southern California. Dymally earned a B.A. in education from California State University in Los Angeles in 1954. After college, he taught students with exceptional needs for six years in Los Angeles. He earned an M.A. in government from California State University in Sacramento in 1969 and a Ph.D. in human behavior from the United States International University (now Alliant International University) in San Diego in 1978. He married the former Alice M. Gueno, an educator from New Orleans, and they raised two children, Mark and Lynn.</p>

<p>While a teacher, Dymally volunteered as a campaign worker and joined the California Young Democrats, where he served as state treasurer. In 1960, he worked for the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, where John F. Kennedy was chosen as the party’s presidential nominee. He later served as field coordinator for the Kennedy presidential campaign.</p>