Inez Barron (née Smith) (born February 16, 1946) is an American educator and politician who served in the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

for the 42nd district from 2014 to 2021. She is a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. The district includes

Broad Channel Broad Channel is a neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It occupies the southern portion of Rulers Bar Hassock (known colloquially as "Broad Channel Island"), the only inhabited island in Jamaica Bay. The ...

, Brownsville,

Canarsie Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin and East 108th Street; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Aven ...

East Flatbush East Flatbush is a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. East Flatbush is bounded by Crown Heights and Empire Boulevard to the north; Brownsville and East 98th Street to the east; Flatlands, Canarsie and the ...

East New York East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough lin ...

Howard Beach Howard Beach is a neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered to the north by the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue in Ozone Park, to the south by Jamaica Bay in Broad Channel, to the east by 1 ...

and

Jamaica Bay Jamaica Bay is an estuary on the southern portion of the western tip of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The estuary is partially man-made, and partially natural. The bay connects with Lower New York Bay to the west, ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Formerly, she served as the state Assemblywoman for New York's 60th district.

Life and career

Born in

Fort Greene, Brooklyn Fort Greene is a neighborhood in the northwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Flushing Avenue and the Brooklyn Navy Yard to the north, Flatbush Avenue Extension and Downtown Brooklyn to the west, ...

, Barron has been a community activist and a longtime educator since the 1960s. She is a graduate of

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

of the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

with a Bachelor of Science in Physiology and

Bank Street College of Education Bank Street College of Education is a private school and graduate school in New York City. It consists of a graduate-only teacher training college and an independent nursery-through-8th-grade school. In 2020 the graduate school had about 65 full ...

with a Master of Science in Reading and Special Education. Barron was a teacher for more than 36 years with

New York Public Schools The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's public school system. The City School District of the City of New York (or the New York City Public Schools) is t ...

. After assemblywoman

Diane Gordon Diane Gordon is an American politician and a former member of the New York State Assembly who represented the East New York section of Brooklyn from 2001 to 2008. Political background On July 10, 2006, Gordon was indicted by the office of the B ...

was charged with several scandals and eventually vacated the seat, Barron won the November 2008 election and became the State assemblywoman for the 40th district. Like her husband,

Charles Barron Charles Barron (born October 7, 1950) is an American activist and politician who currently serves in the New York City Council, representing Brooklyn's 42nd district. He previously held the same seat from 2002 to 2013, and served in the New Y ...

, she is known for her polarizing views and colorful remarks.

New York City Council

Due to term limits, Charles Barron could not run for re-election to the

in 2013; Inez Barron ran instead and won. He did, however, run for her vacant Assembly seat, which he later won. Barron resigned her seat in the Assembly to join the Council on January 1, 2014.

References

External links

The New York City Council: Councilwoman Inez Barron (official site)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barron, Inez Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Women state legislators in New York (state) African-American state legislators in New York (state) African-American women in politics Living people New York City Council members People from Fort Greene, Brooklyn City University of New York alumni Bank Street College of Education alumni Women New York City Council members 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians African-American New York City Council members 1946 births 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women