Lloyd Barbee

Lloyd Augustus Barbee (August 17, 1925 – December 29, 2002) was an American lawyer and politician who worked for civil rights. He led the effort to integrate the Milwaukee Public School system. He was a Democrat.

Early life and education Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Barbee joined the NAACP at age twelve. He served in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946. In 1949, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics all-black LeMoyne–Owen College and enrolled at the University of Wisconsin Law School, but he soon dropped out due to the racial prejudice of some faculty and students. Later he returned to the University of Wisconsin. and he completed law school in 1956. In response Barbee organized civil rights activists into the Milwaukee United School Integration Committee (MUSIC), which organized boycotts of the schools and blocked buses, aiming to bring attention to the problem. In 1964 Barbee ran to represent what was then the 6th district of Milwaukee in the Wisconsin State Assembly and won. From 1965 to 1977 he was the only African-American in the state legislature. and worked for fair employment, gay rights, women's rights, prison reform, legalization of drugs and prostitution, disarming police officers, and taxation of churches.

In later years Barbee continued his law practice. and he continued to work for justice and social change in Milwaukee until he died in 2002.