Helen B. Williams

Helen B. Williams (born on February 27, 1942), is a former public school teacher and administrator from Miami, Florida. She is the ex-wife of author and educator, Eugene Williams, Sr. and the mother of author, educator, and motivational speaker, Eugene Williams, Jr. She is currently a community activist, children's advocate, and a former Democratic candidate for Mayor of Miami-Dade County.

Background

Ms. Williams is a native Miamian who attended Miami-Dade County public schools and graduated from North Dade Junior Senior High School in 1960. She graduated from Florida A & M University with a Bachelors of Arts degree in English in 1964, and received a Master of Arts degree in American Studies at the University of Miami in 1972.

Career

She has served as a secondary school English teacher in Howard County, Maryland, an instructor at the Baltimore Community College in Baltimore, Maryland and an instructor at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Most of her 35-plus year teaching career was in the Miami-Dade County Public School System where she became the first African-American Language Arts Coordinator.

Community Service & Local Politics

Ms. Williams is the founder of The Rilya Wilson Advocacy Project. During most of the last decade, Williams has spent most of her time dedicated to helping the less fortunate and often disenfranchised members of this community. From senior citizens to children stuck in the foster care program, she has lent her voice to getting attention and support for those most in need. Ms. Williams made history during the summer of 2008 by becoming the first African-American female candidate for mayor of Miami-Dade County. She received an impressive 35% of the vote despite the fact that she ran a grass-roots, "word-of-mouth" campaign on a $4000 budget, while her incumbent opponent raised almost $1,000,000 and was endorsed by The Miami Herald. The election results surprised many local and national pundits because Ms. Williams is an African-American who ran against a Cuban-American mayor in a predominantly Cuban county.