Hi, I’m Terry. I’m a poet, community organizer, and social democrat born and raised in Southwest Berkeley. I serve as the Vice-Chair of Berkeley's Transportation Commission and a California Assembly District 15 associate member of the Alameda County Democratic Party Central Committee. I've previously served the City of Berkeley on the Grants Committee of the Children, Youth, and Recreation Commission and the Grants Committee of the Civic Arts Commission. Once upon a time, I was a legislative intern for Berkeley City Council.   

As an openly gay, working-class Black man raised in West Berkeley by a single mother, I am no stranger to hardship and discrimination. Fortunately, I have been able to grow up in a city that champions justice and social change. My great-grandfather was a Texan farmer who fled racial violence in the South, my grandfather was a Navy vet, and my grandmother is a retired nurse. My father is a retired accountant who served BUSD and the City of Richmond. My mother is a retired in-home elder care provider, and I now provide care for her. My husband is a psychiatric nurse, and my sister is an IHSS care provider. I was raised by and for social justice—and what a journey it’s been!