Shirley Weber

Weber was born in Hope, Arkansas, and raised in Los Angeles. Her father was a farmer and left school after sixth grade but encouraged Weber and her seven siblings to prioritize their education. At three years old, she and her family fled their farm and moved west after her father refused to back down in a dispute with a white farmer and a lynch mob threatened his life. The family relocated to the Pueblo Del Rio housing projects in South Los Angeles where Weber grew up. She earned a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and PhD in communication from the University of California, Los Angeles. == Career ==

Academics Weber is a professor emerita of Africana studies at San Diego State University. She helped to establish that department in 1972 and became its chair, teaching there for 40 years. She was president of the National Council for Black Studies from 2002 to 2006. Early political career She served as a board member and later president of the San Diego Board of Education from 1988 to 1996. She also served as chairwoman of the San Diego Citizens’ Equal Opportunity Commission. During her time in the assembly, Weber was a member of the California Assembly's Committee on Higher Education. In 2020, Weber authored Assembly Bill 3121, which created a California Reparations Task Force to study how to redress slavery in California; the task force met for the first time in 2021. California Secretary of State On December 22, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Weber to the position of secretary of state of California, effective upon confirmation by the California State Legislature, to replace Alex Padilla, whom he had just appointed to the United States Senate. Weber is the first African American to serve as secretary of state. Weber was sworn in on January 29, 2021, having been confirmed unanimously by the state senate the day before. As secretary of state, Weber played a central role in administering the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election that targeted Newsom. She won a full term in the 2022 election. == Personal life ==

Weber's husband, Judge Daniel Weber, died in 2002. She has two children and three grandchildren. Her daughter, Akilah Weber, is a physician who served as a member of the La Mesa City Council from 2018 to 2021. On April 19, 2021, Akilah was sworn in by her mother to succeed her in the California State Assembly after winning in a special election, before being elected to the California State Senate in 2024. == Electoral history==

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