Universally lauded as one of the most compelling and articulate speakers to serve in the House chamber, Dellums retired from a distinguished congressional career spanning nearly three decades. The first African American elected from a white majority congressional district in Oakland, California, Dellums occupied many leadership positions in the House of Representatives, always working as an extremely effective force for social justice.

First elected to Congress in 1970, against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, Dellums quickly became one of the leading voices for peace and disarmament. He became a recognized expert in both military and foreign policy, and perfected his craft as the acclaimed chairman of the Armed Services Committee. An advocate of the inextricable link between peace and justice, Dellums was a visionary leader of the successful Congressional effort to end U.S. support for the racist apartheid regime of South Africa. He was among the first to recognize the growing responsibility for the U.S. to participate with the international community in peace operations to deter, prevent and contain armed conflict. And he remains a vigorous advocate for arms reduction, nuclear disarmament and the use of diplomacy and conflict resolution as key elements of U.S. foreign policy.

Now retired from Congress, Dellums now focuses primarily on global health issues, particularly the AIDS pandemic. He called for a $6 billion ?AIDS Marshall Plan for Africa? to combat a disease that results in the deaths of 6,000 people each day in Africa alone, and Dellums is emerging as an important voice in fighting the disease in the U.S. as well.

At the podium, Dellums draws from his memoir, Lying Down With the Lions: A Public Life From the Streets of Oakland to the Halls of Power, to tell his inspirational and educational personal story, delivering a candid look at over thirty years of public service, with lessons learned about leadership, politics and the importance of building coalitions to affect change. With candor and insight, he also discusses global health problems, new national and international security issues, and the American political system.

A California native, Dellums served as an enlisted member of the U.S. Marine Corps before receiving a Master of Arts Degree in Social Work from the University of California at Berkeley. He enjoyed a distinguished career as a psychiatric social worker and directed community-based anti-poverty programs in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was also nationally acknowledged as an expert in the field of manpower development and training.

Dellums served on the Berkeley City Council from 1967 to 1971 before becoming a California Representative in Congress. While working to end U.S. support of South Africa?s apartheid regime, he and his family hosted a South African exchange student who, to their surprise, was white. The story of the friendship that developed between the Dellums family and their exchange student inspired the Emmy Award-winning Disney film, The Color of Friendship.

Dellums and his wife reside in Washington, DC and California.