Pamela J. Hunter (D-NY)

For this podcast I chose to highlight New York State Assemblymember Pamela Hunter. Assemblymember Hunter is a democrat who represents the 128th district in New York. Her district includes portions of the City of Syracuse and the surrounding suburbs including DeWitt, NY, where I am from. For this project, I chose Hunter because I wanted to speak with someone who was deeply invested and represented the district that I lived in. Additionally, Hunter is a black woman in a state largely defined by its major metropolis in the southern half and largely forgotten everywhere else. As someone who also grew in an area with a lot of white people, I related to the demographics she was raised in.

Assemblywoman Hunter was born towards the end of the Civil Rights movement in 1969. She was adopted by a White family. Her father was a minister and she grew up in a small town of a thousand people where her and one of her siblings were the only black people within miles radius. Her upbringing was integral to her racial identity as she was used to being different than other people and facing isolation as a black woman. Although she was accepted into college, Hunter was unable to afford college and thus has to defer her education. Knowing she had to do something in her life, her only choice was left to begin work, and Hunter decided to enlist in the military. While her time in the military was short, lasting three years, it left a lasting impact on her career and life and she continues to center her veteran identity and help other veterans in the state as the only female veteran in the New York State Assembly. After serving in the military, Hunter went to college and earned degrees in computer science and business. She soon got a job in consulting and worked in Washington, D.C., also known was “Chocolate City.” During the interview Hunter told me how different it was living in an area so densely populated with Black people in contrast with her upbringing. In the political capital of the United States, Hunter was able to encounter a lot of political work first hand.

In the late 1990s, Hunter reunited with her high school sweetheart and settled in Syracuse, N.Y.  She started a family and had a son. Having a child changed Hunter’s worldview and began working towards ways to make the world better for him. After years of working in non-profit sector, Hunter entered the realm of politics. In this podcast, we talk about her path to leadership and how she navigates her identity as a black woman.