With almost 70 years of experience in the ILWU and Bay Area politics, pensioner LeRoy King has built a substantial reputation. On May 17, 2014, he received permanent recognition when the City dedicated their 108 year-old carousel in his honor at a ceremony held in the Yerba Buena Gardens, a location shaped by King who served on San Francisco’s Redevelopment Commission (now the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure) for 34 years – making him the City’s longest-serving commissioner. King says he plans to stay active in his Pensioners group and city politics, with no plans to slow down or change priorities.
“I’m not as old as that merry-go-round,” said King, who turns 91 this September – making him 17 years younger than the antique carousel which carries dozens of children on the backs of 60 hard-carved animals. The ride was recently overhauled to the tune of $300,000, which should allow it thrill a new generation of children.
King credits his success to the first generation of ILWU activists who welcomed him into the union during the mid-1940’s and provided him with training – including classes at the California Labor School which was run by ILWU members. “Not many blacks were active in Local 6 then,” said King, who helped build a community coalition with black churches that changed San Francisco’s political makeup.
In King’s oral history, collected by historian Harvey Schwartz and published in the book, “Solidarity Stories,” he told of the repression that followed him and other ILWU activists in the 1950’s when leftists were attacked both by their government and by other unions who led “raids” against the ILWU. King recalls the FBI agents who used to park in front of his house and follow him around town. He also recalls working for a year and a half to defeat a Teamster raiding campaign – which he won by educating ILWU members to resist raids with community support that included churches. He also recalls helping Paul Robeson in 1947 after the great singer and left-wing activist was banned from performing in San Francisco’s opera house. That insult spurred King and others to organize performances in local Black churches.
King’s bitter experiences with racism included his service in a segregated Army unit during WWII and being unable to rent a home in San Francisco because he was black and his wife, Judy Paton, was white. Their interracial marriage forced them to move nine times during one year in the early 1950’s. King also battled racial injustice within the ILWU which he helped overcome by forming a coalition of Local 6 members that included Curtis McClain, who helped pass reforms that made it possible for black members to win elections and appointments in their union.
“I still get up every day and think about the union,” says King, who still makes a daily habit of calling his list of union contacts to ask “what’s new?”
“My hearing isn’t as good, and my legs get sore, but I’m still an ILWU man and always will be.”