Willie Brown (politician) - Early Life

Early Life

Brown was born in Mineola, a small segregated town in east Texas marked by racial tensions, to Minnie Collins Boyd and Lewis Brown. Brown was the fourth of five children. During Brown's childhood, mob violence periodically erupted in Mineola, keeping African Americans from voting. His first job was as a shoeshine boy in a whites-only barber shop. He later worked as a janitor, fry cook, and field hand. He learned his work ethic at a young age from his grandmother. He graduated from MacFarland High School, an all-Black school he later described as substandard, and left for San Francisco in August 1951 at the age of 17 to live with his uncle.

Brown originally wanted to attend Stanford University. His interviewer from Stanford also taught at San Francisco State and was surprised by Brown’s ambition. Brown did not meet the qualifications for San Francisco State, but the professor got him enrolled on probation. Brown adjusted to college studies after working especially hard to catch up in his first semester. He joined the Young Democrats and became friends with John L. Burton. Brown originally wanted to be a math instructor but campus politics changed his ambitions. He became active in his church and the San Francisco NAACP. Brown worked as a doorman, janitor and shoe salesman to pay for college. Brown is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He also joined the ROTC. Brown earned a bachelor's degree in political science from San Francisco State College in 1955. Brown later stated that his decision to go to law school was "more upon the avoidance of military service than anything else." He quit the ROTC and joined the National Guard reserve where he was trained as a dental hygienist. Brown attended Hastings College of the Law where he also worked as a janitor to pay for law school. Brown befriended future San Francisco Mayor George Moscone for whom Brown would later manage a campaign. Brown earned a J.D. in 1958 and was class president at Hastings.

In September 1958, Brown married Blanche Vitero, with whom he had three children, Susan, Robin, and Michael. He has four grandchildren, Besia, Matea, Mateo, and Lordes, and a step-granddaughter, Tyler. The couple separated in approximately 1976 but remain married. He has a daughter, Sydney Brown, by political fund raiser Carolyn Carpeneti.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Brown was one of a few African Americans practicing law in San Francisco when he opened his own practice. He practiced criminal defense law, representing pimps, prostitutes, and other clients that more prominent attorneys would not represent. One early case was to defend Mario Savio on his first civil disobedience arrest. He quickly became involved in the civil rights movement, leading a well-orchestrated sit-in to protest housing discrimination after a local real estate office refused to work with him because of his race. Brown helped organize the public protest and helped attract media coverage. His role in the protests gave him the notoriety to run for the Assembly.

Brown began his first run for the Assembly by having local African American ministers pass around a hat, collecting US$700. He lost the election to the California State Assembly in 1962 by 600 votes before winning a second election in 1964.