Mervyn M. Dymally
Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (May 12, 1926 – October 7, 2012) was a California Democratic politician. He served in the California State Assembly (1963–1966) and the California State Senate (1967–1975), as the 41st Lieutenant Governor of California (1975–1979), and in the U.S. House of Representatives (1981–1993). Dymally returned to politics a decade later to serve in the California State Assembly (2002–2008).
Dymally, of mixed Indian and Afro-Trinidadian heritage, was the first Trinidadian to serve California as State Senator and Lieutenant Governor. He was one of the first persons of African and Indian origin to serve in the U.S. Congress. In 1974 he and George L. Brown became the first two blacks elected to statewide office since Oscar Dunn did so during Reconstruction. Dymally was also one of three African Americans to hold statewide office in California including Wilson Riles, who served as California Superintendent of Public Instruction serving from 1971 to 1983 and Kamala Harris, who is currently serving as California Attorney General.