Congresswoman Lateefah Simon on Doing the Work

W. Kamau Bell sits down with Congresswoman Lateefah Simon, a lifelong organizer and public servant representing California’s 12th District, which includes Oakland, Berkeley, and several neighboring cities.

Lateefah traces her journey from growing up in the Bay Area and organizing as a teenager working with young women on the streets, and eventually winning a seat in Congress without ever abandoning the politics and “fire” she started with. She talks about being a Muslim and how her faith grounds her commitment to welcoming neighbors, feeding hungry children, and fighting for single-payer healthcare and LGBTQ+ rights.

The conversation dives into what it means to represent a district that spans deep poverty and intense wealth, from West Oakland to Piedmont, and why she believes every kid in West Oakland deserves the same schools, childcare, and opportunities that affluent cities provide. Lateefah explains why she calls Trump-era small business policies “racist” rather than just “unfair,” connects today’s attacks on immigrants and voting rights to a long history of excluding Black, Latino, and Asian communities from GI Bill benefits and SBA loans, and lays out why she refuses to let polling dictate her moral compass.

They confront the “Trump Court” head-on, unpacking the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, the rollback of abortion rights, and why Lateefah believes the Supreme Court needs structural reform, including expansion and real accountability rather than lifetime, consequence-free appointments. See for privacy information.