Ford, Wayne (1951- )
Dates
- Existence: 1951-
Biography
Wayne Ford was born in Washington, D.C. in 1951. He earned a bachelors degree in education from Drake University. In 1984, Ford collaborated with Latino/a community leader Mary Campos to found the Black and Brown Presidential Forum. In the mid-1980s, Ford founded Urban Dreams, a nonprofit providing mental health, substance abuse, and job training programs in Des Moines; in 1992, he founded a consulting firm specializing in advising for municipalities dealing with urbanization. In 1996, he was elected as a Democratic to represent parts of Des Moines in the Iowa House of Representatives. He served for seven terms, retiring in 2011.
Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:
Transcript, October 16, 2023
Transcript of an interview with Iowa state legislator Phyllis Thede, which includes discussion of the following topics: Thede's family; her experiences as a Black girl growing up in Chicago and Iowa, including differential experiences of segregation and racism in those respective locales; her analysis of the redistricting and its effects on her final reelection campaign; memories of serving in the legislature during the COVID-19 pandemic; memories of witnessing and being targeted by racist harassment at the legislature or among her constituents; her role in changing Iowa's law regarding insurance reimbursements for chiropractic care; the increasingly partisan character of politics in Iowa and the United States; the founding of the Black caucus in the Iowa legislature; and her Catholic faith.