The Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs hosted Los Angeles District 8 City Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson Thursday in the latest event of its “My Journey” series, which gives accomplished Black professionals a chance to share their lives and career journeys. 

During his time in office, Harris-Dawson’s initiatives focused on pursuing a housing-first approach to homelessness, community policing and job creation within the L.A. City Council. In June, he was elected president pro tempore of the City Council after Councilmember Curren Price stepped down, following allegations of conflicts of interest, embezzlement and perjury.

Damarea Parker, a supervisor at the CBCSA, said the event series helps foster a cross-generational conversation.

“Folks can really understand that there’s wisdom and knowledge to be passed down,” Parker said. “They haven’t walked your path, but they walked a path and can have some similar challenges and some similar successes.”

Harris-Dawson spoke about growing up in a “very traditional” Black family on Hope Street, not far from the USC campus. He said his community was extremely tight-knit, with most residents coming from areas in East Texas and West Louisiana in search of opportunities in the growing Californian defense industry during World War II.

“There was a great feeling of familiarity with people who you aren’t necessarily blood-related to in the community,” Harris-Dawson said.

In his youth, Harris-Dawson said pollution in his neighborhood was so intense that the Hollywood sign was not visible. As someone living with asthma, Harris-Dawson couldn’t play outside during the summer because of the smog; instead, he stayed inside and read about politics.

So did Terrance McDonald, a freshman majoring in electrical and computer engineering who attended the event. McDonald said it was “pretty cool” to know he wasn’t the only one reading about politics at a young age.

“I’m trying to figure out ways how I can give back because it’s always important to give back to the community … him giving back to the community which he grew up in was pretty inspiring,” McDonald said.

Harris-Dawson said he couldn’t recall a time when he wasn’t interested in politics. As he grew older, he continued to pursue local activism as the crack epidemic and the War on Drugs took its toll in the 1980s. As the state government defunded education and violence in the streets grew, his family eventually joined many others in moving into the San Gabriel Valley.

Harris-Dawson described his experience building meaningful relationships at Morehouse College, a historically Black college in Atlanta, Georgia, advising students to do the same.

“Almost nothing worth doing can one individual accomplish by themselves,” he said.

After graduating from Morehouse in 1994, Harris-Dawson reached out to Mark Ridley-Thomas — then the District 8 Councilmember — for an internship, and worked on the former councilmember’s campaign. In the process, he met current L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and then spent a decade working with Bass’ Community Coalition, building political power among the Black and Latine residents of L.A. 

As the event came to an end, Harris-Dawson spoke about the role of Black USC students in the larger world. He told the audience to focus on graduating, since graduation rates for Black students are historically poor, he said. The nationwide college graduation rate for black students is 42%, while the rate for white students is 62%.

“Don’t stop fighting,” Harris-Dawson said. “You could look at all of our history: The one time we for sure don’t win is when we stop fighting, so when you see conditions, confront them.”

Today, trust in institutions, from corporations to governments to religion, is “at an all time low” across the country, Harris-Dawson said in an interview with the Daily Trojan after the event.

“People’s basic needs are not being met,” Harris-Dawson said. “When people have to be in a situation where you’re in such an incredibly wealthy country, and basic things can’t get handled, I think it destroys everybody’s trust.”

Harris-Dawson said voting and leading by example are important for students to do to address today’s challenges.

“You can play a leadership role with folks that you go to school with,” Harris-Dawson said, “and an awful lot of folks that you don’t.”