Marqueece Harris-Dawson is no stranger to the field of community organizing, as it is the foundation of the current work he does as the President of Los Angeles City Council, District 8, a role that he officially began in September 2024. He was a city council member nine years prior.
A native of South Central Los Angeles, Harris-Dawson spoke exclusively to Our Weekly about his upbringing, career, the Trump administration, and some of the latest efforts he has made through the City Council.
“I was always interested in activism for as long as I can remember. One of the times that I remember the most growing up is when the crack and cocaine epidemic was taking place, so life in a place like South LA changed a lot in a very short amount of time” said Harris-Dawson.
He continued, “So, when I was a little kid, [I’d see] what started out as fights in the park between different neighborhoods quickly turned into shootings, homicides, police, and all the rest that followed, which really shaped my desire to try to be a person who intervened in those situations. I wanted to create the social conditions that didn’t produce the kind of gang violence that drove lots of families out of the community.”
Public service and community organizing have been at the root of being a public servant for over 20 years, getting his start at the Community Coalition (CoCo). It is also where he met the co-founder of CoCo and his mentor, Mayor of Los Angeles Karen Bass.
Councilman Harris-Dawson garnered his earlier interest in public servitude as a campaign coordinator in 1998 for the committee to re-elect Mark Ridley-Thomas. A few years later, he became the president & CEO of CoCo and worked with that organization for 11 years until he became a city council member in July 2015. He reflects on the milestones that he has achieved so far.
“I’m very proud of the work that we did at Community Coalition around quality of education, whether it’s making the college prep courses a civil right, or getting the bathrooms and classrooms cleaned up and winning nearly $200 million for local schools, to winning support for foster care children.”
A testament to the work
The Community Coalition played a pivotal role in the makings of Harris-Dawson’s current career path as a politician. Assemblymember of District 57, Sade Elhawary, met Harris-Dawson in 2009 during a class that she was taking at UCLA. They both crossed paths again in 2011 during her role as a lead organizer at CoCo, as Harris-Dawson was an executive director of a program through CoCo called Freedom Schools.
“Marqueece is incredibly strategic and thoughtful, and he engages the community. When he was at CoCo as an activist, he started before I even got there, as a youth organizer.” She continued, “He was at the high schools in South Central working with the young people to actually get funding to fix the schools, because they were literally falling apart, and ended up getting billions of dollars through Prop BB” said Assemblymember Sade Elhawary.
The assemblymember explained his leadership style and dedication to community as one that isn’t self-motivated but instead selfless, as he “remained clear on being connected to the people.”
Dr. Manuel Pastor, a distinguished professor and director of USC Dornsife Equity Research Institute, met Harris-Dawson during his earlier days of being a community organizer, and they both gained mutual respect for each other. He told Our Weekly how Harris-Dawson is responsible for the political solidarity between the Black and Brown communities during the LA City Council’s tape scandal that occurred three years ago, in which audio leaked of three city council members saying racist and disparaging comments towards residents of various neighborhoods in Los Angeles.
“He spoke out quickly for the resignation of the three city council members. He did it in a way that continued to highlight Black and Brown political solidarity. I see that as a moment in which he exhibited courage and commitment and integrity” said Dr. Manuel Pastor
Pastor also shared another moment that many members of the public are less aware of. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Harris-Dawson called him directly from the council chambers to ask him for raw data of undocumented Angelenos in South Los Angeles in order to provide them aid.
President and CEO of Brotherhood Crusade, Charisse Bremond Weaver, who has known Harris-Dawson for over 20 years said, “Council President Harris-Dawson’s leadership style is around care, community, love, and equity. The two met during his time at the CoCo.
Challenges along the way Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson then shared his thoughts about the lawsuit filed by the Trump administration over Los Angeles’ sanctuary policy that protects immigrants. His name was listed as one of the Los Angeles government officials, including Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council.
“I laughed. I called the city attorney, and the city attorney said, ‘It’s meaningless. What they’re asking for is wholly a violation of the Constitution. It’s a part of their overall effort to dismantle the Constitution and install a king or dictator. Don’t worry about it.’ And I haven’t.”
He went on to say that the current presidential administration is attempting to force a significant change upon the U.S. “I think this is an attempt to change the character of this country. This country has to decide whether or not freedom is worth fighting for. And sometimes the fight for freedom is external, but a lot of times, the fight for freedom is internal. I think that’s the situation we’re in now.”
He also said the following in regard to the immigration enforcement raids still taking place in Los Angeles. “Our top priority is that we stand together. First, maintain our unity, and second, we fight back. There are a bunch of ways to fight back. You can document what you see happening. You can protest. You can help your neighbors. You can get involved in things like grocery delivery or walking, helping people walk to school, or when people have to be in public, standing with them.”
He continued, “If you feel like you’re relatively safe as compared to them, you can do that. But the point is to get out and do something. This is not a thing where we sit on the couch and have debates about it. This is a thing where we have to hit the streets.”
As of Sept. 8, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that lifted limits on immigration stops in Los Angeles, federally implementing “roving patrols” based on racial traits, appearance, or accent, according to legal documents, a shocking outcome for immigrant communities in Los Angeles but a victory for the Trump administration.
“The recent ruling to lift the TRO (temporary restraining order) on ICE raids does not align with the ideals of the Constitution. This decision reaches back over 100 years into the ugliest, morally bankrupt, deeply racist period of our country’s history,” said President of the Los Angeles City Council Marquecce Harris-Dawson.
Latest efforts
Harris-Dawson then spoke about some of the work that has come into fruition during his tenure as City Council president. Tackling homelessness and fighting for higher wages have been notable milestones, among many, that he said he is proud of.
“The biggest item that we’re the most excited about is that homelessness is down two years in a row, almost a quarter, 25 percent less homelessness than two years ago.”
He continued, “We’re going to have almost 1000 units of homeless housing in the district and several hundred more affordable units. There are over 4000 people that were on the street that have been permanently brought indoors.” He continued, “We’re excited about that, and we want to continue to get in front of that issue. Because, again, I really believe if we show we can defeat homelessness, we can take care of all these other problems.”
Proposition HHH is a landmark legislative move put forth, which Harris-Dawson co-authored within the first 15 months of his tenure to address homelessness in Los Angeles, one of the most trying issues the city constantly grapples with. The grand opening of the Serenity Apartments, located at 1623 W. Manchester Avenue in South Los Angeles, occurred in August. It is the city’s 100th Proposition HHH housing development, which is a $30 million project that provides 50 units of permanent supportive housing for seniors. More information can be found at www.cd8.lacity.gov.
“Serenity Apartments is what real community investment looks like,” said Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who co-authored Proposition HHH in 2015. “This development represents dignity, stability, and safety for our seniors. I applaud Southside Church of Christ and all of our partners for making this vision a reality.”
Right along with tackling the issue of homelessness for the city, revamping Black neighborhoods has also been a priority for Harris-Dawson through ongoing projects such as Destination Crenshaw. Destination Crenshaw will consist of more than 100 Black public/private artworks and is the largest Black public art program in the U.S. Sankofa Park, its crown jewel, is 95 percent complete and will serve as a cultural hub that captures Black American creativity in the Crenshaw District.
Los Angeles is facing a multitude of challenges, yet politicians such as Marqueece Harris-Dawson encourage Angelenos to continue to fight, speak up, and continue to build allyship within the city and across various states.
“This is a long struggle. As far as we know, the Trump administration will be in office for four years. He’ll try to make it more. We’re going to try to make it less, but it’s going to be a fight every day that he’s sitting in the White House.” He continued, “The most racially diverse, worker-supportive, environmentally conscious big city in the country is in the crosshairs of the great international bully that is Donald Trump.”