Rufus mayfield interview with rufus mayfield live
Rufus G. "Catfish" Mayfield is an African-American activist, community organizer, and civil rights worker. As a young man, he and fellow activist Marion Barry founded a youth help organization called Pride Incorporated to clean up their Washington, DC neighborhood. The organization later worked with police to minimize violence during riots in Detroit, Newark, and Washington DC. For seven years (1971-1978) he hosted a DC-area radio program focusing on local issues, politics, and entertainment.
Beginning in 1980, he began working with community outreach, connecting people with services they needed. From 1985 to 2007 he was with the United States Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, first as Community Affairs Specialist, then Assistant to the Deputy Director, and finally as Chief of the Community Services Division.
"If this city is ever going to be great, it will be because we have lifted you up from dependency to self-sufficiency."After retiring from DHS in 2007,he founded the non-profit Destiny-Pride, Inc. which connects providers of services and resources to those who need them, in order to promote the welfare of children and families.