[News] Former Panther, Bob Lee, 'Mayor of Fifth Ward - Houston, ' dead at 74

Thu Mar 23 11:38:43 EDT 2017

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Bob-Lee-Mayor-of-Fifth-Ward-dead-at-74-11021423.php 

  Bob Lee, 'Mayor of Fifth Ward,' dead at 74

By Cindy George

          March 22, 2017

  *
    Bob Lee, a lifelong social worker and older brother of the late
    Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner El Franco Lee, died Tuesday.
    He was 74. Photo: Michael Gray / handout

Bob Lee, a lifelong social worker and older brother of the late Harris 
County Precinct 1 Commissioner El Franco Lee, died Tuesday. He was 74.

Photo: Michael Gray

Robert Â“BobbieÂ” E. Lee, the Mayor of Fifth Ward and brother of the 
late El Franco Lee - has died.

Bob Lee, a lifelong social worker and older brother of the late Harris 
County Precinct 1 Commissioner El Franco Lee 
<http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22El+Franco+Lee%22>, 
died Tuesday. He was 74.

His various titles included community organizer, writer, storyteller and 
folk artist. He also was known to some as the "Mayor of Fifth Ward," an 
honorary title bestowed on him by another local resident.

The Kashmere Gardens resident worked for years to help his politician 
brother, who served on the commissioners court for more than three 
decades before his death last year, to create northeast Harris County 
programs such as a Street Olympics and to stay deeply connected to the 
community.

"He was an outstanding human being. He looked at people, at their 
strengths. He always tried to help," his brother, William Lee, said 
Wednesday. "He believed in the community. He believed in family."

Robert E. Lee III 
<http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Robert+E.+Lee+III%22> 
was born Dec. 16, 1942, to Robert and Selma Lee. Raised in the Fifth 
Ward, he was a contemporary of other political and activist giants who 
attended Phillis Wheatley High School 
<http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Phillis+Wheatley+High+School%22>, 
including the late Houston Congressman Mickey Leland 
<http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Mickey+Leland%22> 
and People's Party 
<http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22People%27s+Party%22> 
II leader Carl Hampton 
<http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Carl+Hampton%22>.

Lee's grass-roots affinity was ignited in San Francisco, where he worked 
with physically challenged children as part of VISTA, the Volunteers in 
Service to America - an anti-poverty domestic Peace Corps program. He 
was promoted to a branch on the South Side of Chicago where he 
interacted with the Young Lords 
<http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Young+Lords%22>, 
a Puerto Rican gang (sic), and navigated the city's underworld (sic).

/'A revolution can begin'/

Black Panther Party 
<http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Black+Panther+Party%22> 
co-founder Bobby Seale 
<http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Bobby+Seale%22> 
introduced him to the organization, where he honed his gift for putting 
people together.

Lee was prominently featured in the 1969 documentary, "American 
Revolution 2," which focused on organizing following unrest associated 
with the 1968 Democratic National Convention 
<http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Democratic+National+Convention%22> 
in Chicago.

In one scene with other Panthers, he attempted to unify his efforts with 
poor white youths known as the Young Patriots 
<http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Young+Patriots%22> 
and used the language of the times.

"We come here with our hearts open," he told the group. "Once you 
realize that you are paying taxes - taxes - for the cops to whoop your 
ass. … You're paying them to come in to beat your children. You're 
paying them to run you off the corners and you're paying them to kill 
you and deal from there. The same thing is happening on the south side 
and the west side. And when you can realize that concept of poverty - 
the concept of poverty - a revolution can begin."

/'He gave his last'/

He eventually organized a multiracial coalition in Chicago that worked 
on economic justice and anti-police brutality initiatives.

Carol Gray 
<http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Carol+Gray%22>, 
widow of the "American Revolution 2" filmmaker Mike Gray 
<http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Mike+Gray%22>, 
said she and her husband had friendships with Lee.

"I think we have lost one of our greatest organizers and freedom 
fighters," she said Wednesday. "My husband was a white man and Bobby was 
a black man. They had not a lot in common, but they grew to love each 
other and were brothers in arms."

Lee returned to Houston in 1970. He was a longtime social worker for the 
former Harris County Hospital District 
<http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Harris+County+Hospital+District%22> 
and spent many years comforting HIV patients at the Thomas Street Health 
Center 
<http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Thomas+Street+Health+Center%22>.

Robbie Lee befriended Bob Lee decades ago when he walked into her 
business, the former Black Heritage Gallery on Almeda.

"Bob had a knack for just connecting with people. Whatever the need was, 
people knocked on his door. He gave his last. If they needed a job, he 
helped them find a job. He would go lacking to help others," she said. 
"He never wanted any recognition during life for what he did. He helped 
so many people behind the scenes with their campaigns. He was truly an 
activist and a warrior and will be sorely missed."

/A taste for tea cakes/

Current Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis 
<http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Rodney+Ellis%22> 
issued a statement mourning the loss of his longtime friend.

"Even after retirement, he maintained a strong presence by helping 
people in the community the rest of his life. He collected clothes for 
people so they could go on job interviews. He also was concerned about 
children and people with debilitating diseases such as AIDS and cancer. 
… We all mourn the loss of this kind, good-hearted man."

Bob Lee battled multiple sclerosis for at least two decades, but the 
illness and a wheelchair merely slowed him down.

"He never let obstacles stop him. That was not in his nature," William 
Lee said. "He would still collect clothes. He would still go out and 
organize and help people."

His insatiable love for tea cakes was legendary and intact until the 
end. "His wife dipped tea cakes into coffee so that he could enjoy them 
in his final days," Robbie Lee said.

A convert to Islam, Bob Lee also was known as Robert Alwalee. He leaves 
a host of relatives, friends and admirers including his spouse, Faiza, 
two brothers and a son.

A private service and burial will be held on Thursday.

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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