Congressman Ron Dellums was a social worker by profession, and as I studied for my own master’s degree in social work at the University of California, Berkeley, he invited me to join his office as a summer intern. It was 1974, and Congress was in the midst of the Watergate hearings. I learned a lot that summer. I saw how Ron—as a progressive, and as an African-American man—navigated his work as a legislator and built relationships without ever compromising his values.