Lying Down with the Lions

Library Journal

Dellums retired in 1998 after spending 27 years as a progressive Democratic member of the House of Representatives, faithfully representing the diverse ethnic, racial, student, and gay populations that largely comprised his district of Berkeley, CA, or "Berzerkeley," as its detractors called it in the early 1970s. This engaging and informative autobiography relates Dellums's lack of success in a school system that marginalized blacks and his failure to be appointed to Marine Office Candidate School because of his race. Despite these incidents, Dellums did not resort to hatred and enjoyed a distinguished career in politics in part because he was able to work with conservatives who respected him for his unswerving dedication to human rights and peace. Dellums's significant accomplishments include becoming the first African American to chair the House Armed Services Committee, serving as an original member of the Congressional Black Caucus and leading the successful legislative fight against the repressive system of apartheid in South Africa. This true American success story is recommended for all public libraries and strongly so for Black History Month collections.--Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Megan Rosenfeld

The story of Ronald Dellums's twenty seven years in Congress is not just about a wild—eyed radical, a self described 'commie pinko afro topped bell bottomed dude from Berkeley' who earned the love of friends and the respect of enemies. It is about a man who made strategic and deliberate decisions about how and when and for how long to promote his causes, to ignore insult and outlast exclusion, to be a gentleman rather than a firebrand.
—Megan Rosenfeld, The Washington Post