Dameion Gumbs

Dameion Gumbs was a student at Gardena Senior High School when he first met Darius Anderson.

“It was 1995,” recalls Gumbs, “and Darius was a guest teacher in government relations. I later learned that teaching was something he had always wanted to do, and he was really enthusiastic about the subject. He held an essay contest on race relations – the prize for first place was some gift cards – and I won.”

Anderson was generally well received by the class, Gumbs says, “but there was one really disruptive student, and he was giving Darius a hard time. And Darius is human, and he was getting a little upset. So after class I went up to him and gave him some advice, basically saying to ignore the guy, not let him get under his skin. And that worked pretty well, and Darius appreciated that.”

As a result of that interaction, a friendship developed between Gumbs and Anderson – and ultimately, Anderson became Gumbs’ mentor, helping the teen negotiate the academic and personal rough patches that are the lot of any high school student.

“He didn’t just give me some pointers during high school, though,” Gumbs says. “For Darius, mentorship is a deep personal commitment. After I graduated, I went to El Camino Community College, and Darius helped me buy my books and cover my expenses.”

Anderson later signed on as the finance director for Gray Davis’ 1998 gubernatorial campaign, and he drafted Gumbs as a volunteer.

“Darius had brought in a staffer from the Clinton White House to talk to our high school government relations class, and I was fascinated by his stories,” says Gumbs, “so I jumped at the chance to work for Gray. I really got to learn how campaigns operate from a down-in-the trenches perspective. I also helped out with Gray’s re-election and recall, and Darius got me on Steve Bradford’s Assembly campaign as well. I picked up a lot about government, business, and politics from those experiences. But mainly I learned about basic human nature – how people interact, negotiate and compromise, how they get things done. And that has served me well ever since.”

Gumbs also learned that getting things done isn’t happenstance: it requires a certain talent for identifying the desires and anxieties of different people and creating a colloquy where their views are respected, their concerns are addressed, and everyone’s basic requirements are met.

“When you watch Darius work, one of the things that strikes you is his profound ability to engage and understand people on a very deep level,” Gumbs says. “He somehow knows how to put the right people in the right spots, to connect them so their talents are maximized. That’s how he’s able to take on incredibly complex projects that no one else will touch – and make them work.”

Though Gumbs found the political realm fascinating, he ultimately decided it wasn’t for him; he now works as a production superintendent for one of the country’s largest food companies.

“Darius has stood by me at every step of my career,” says Gumbs. “His recommendations always figured into my promotions. When money has been tight, he gave me ‘loans,’ and he has consistently refused repayment. At one point the mother of my child died, and I was hard pressed for a while to both care for her make a living, and he insisted on helping out.”

But Anderson’s greatest gift had nothing to do with financial aid or career support, emphasizes Gumbs.

“I just know he cares about my family and me,” Gumbs says. “That’s what I value most. In 2008, I was in a very dark place. The Great Recession had hit, and I had been laid off from my job. I really needed someone to lean on, to talk to. And he flew down to Los Angeles to see me, and he told me that what was happening wasn’t my fault – that the recession was forcing him to cut back on staff, and how bad that made him feel. And he told me stories about low points in his own life, about deals falling through or unflattering articles appearing in the media about his projects or even about him personally. And he said I had to endure, that I couldn’t give up, that there’d be other jobs and other opportunities.”

Those stories helped extricate Gumbs from a deepening abyss of despair.  

“I felt much better after his visit,” Gumbs says. “It motivated me, and six months later I had a new job. The thing is, he told me that he had flown down to Los Angeles to see a client, but I knew that wasn’t the truth. He came down specifically to see me. He won’t ever admit it, but I know he wanted to make sure I was okay.”