Congresswoman Bara Lee has spent more than half her life in politics, and her career has come to a stop for now.
"We have stood firm on issues relating to the cost of living, to making life better for everyone, to issues of war and peace, foreign policy, and housing," Lee said.
Lee spent 26 years in Congress, 7 years in the California Legislature, and 11 years working for the late congressman Rob Dellums. She said she never wanted to be part of any party and thanked Shruley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress, for getting her into politics.
The pair met at Mills College, and the Ast Bill Lee passed was Chisholm's congressional gold medal.
"It just took that one person to tell me that she saw me and understood the issues, and she knew that we needed systemic change and [to] fight for racial and gender equity and justice," Lee said.
On Friday, Lee saw her mentee, Lateefah Simon, be sworn in and take over the 12th District in the East Bay.
"I really felt so proud, but I felt so encouraged that her light and her voice are going to shine, and she took this baton, and she's going to be a warrior; she is a warrior woman," she said.
Local
Lee was the 20th Black woman elected to Congress, and to date, there have been 31.
It's something she said needs to be on a wider scale.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. >Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
"The perspective, the experience, the brilliance, the strength of Black women have been missing in the house has been missing in the senate, and so this is a continuation of what we have been fighting for since we were brought here enslaved," she said.
While Lee said there had been many proud moments in her career, one that stands out is the legislation she pushed to pass under Bush's administration for HIS and AIDS relief.
"We've saved to date 25 million lives, and that's because I took that to a republican president who I disagreed with, talked to him, worked with him, and Republicans and Democrats to get this done," Lee said.
The now-former congresswoman said there are many options for her future and is not ruling out a run for Oakland Mayor. She added that her decision will come soon.
"I've been doing my day job day and night, and so we'll let you know when I make a decision on this next chapter, which is going to be very exciting," she said.
