Sharron SK Williams was born in Belize, Central America and is a member of the Garifuna ethnic group, descendants of captured Africans who were brought to the island of St. Vincent in the Eastern Caribbean by French colonizers who later escaped their captors and lived in the mountainous region ...
Read moreSharron SK Williams was born in Belize, Central America and is a member of the Garifuna ethnic group, descendants of captured Africans who were brought to the island of St. Vincent in the Eastern Caribbean by French colonizers who later escaped their captors and lived in the mountainous region of the country as free people. The Garifuna inhabited that island for over 100 years as maroons who integrated with the island’s indigenous population of Arawak and Carib natives. At that time they were known as Black Caribs. As the group evolved they changed their name to Garifuna which is the word in their language for Carib or manioc (cassava) eater. The island was initially colonized by the French who eventually lost control to the British after losing a war over the territory in the mid-18th century. The Black Caribs fought on the side of the French and once the British took control of the island, they were rounded up and summarily deported to the island of Roatan in Honduras (referred as the Second Middle Passage). From Honduras the Garifuna spread to the nearby nations of Belize, Guatemala and Nicaragua. The population is spread over these four nations and the United States.
Ms. Williams immigrated to the United States as a child in 1978 where she was involved in political processes for over 20 years. She relocated to the San Francisco Bay area in 2001 after completing law school in New York City. In May 2002, she joined Barbara Lee’s campaign for reelection and has since worked on multiple political campaigns in the Bay Area. Ms. Williams is a committed progressive who believes that she can influence the way things are run in her community by joining the ranks of politicians that seek positive outcomes for their constituents.
She is an attorney and the principal of Yurumein Law Firm and JINA Immigration Legals Services in Richmond, CA. She is admitted to practice before the State Bar of California. She practices broad-based immigration, debtor-side bankruptcy law and general civil litigation.
Ms. Williams has served as a founding steering committee member of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, a former board member of the Charles Houston Bar Association and a former board member of the Barristers Club of the Bar Association of San Francisco.
Ms. Williams received her first bachelor’s degree in export marketing and fashion design from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), a second bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies and Political Science from Hunter College of the City University of New York and her law degree from Fordham University School of Law in New York City.
She is the mother of Troy, Marco and Nathan Williams Gelobter.