The award winning column returns as The Citizen interviews the Navy veteran and current custodian.
A quiet stillness blankets the Laney College campus, the sky still darkened by night as Laney custodian Dwayne Jefferson begins to gather his supplies for the day. It’s 5:50 a.m.. as I walk towards him, and his silhouette is barely distinguishable in the darkness, save for a plume of warm air that escapes as he says, “Good morning.” It is a cold morning, 42 degrees, but Jefferson is unfazed by the temperature and the hour.
Jefferson spent 27 years as a custodian with the University of California, Berkeley before making the move to Laney in May of 2024.
As I shadow Jefferson and pepper him with questions, it becomes clear that he takes great pride in his work and holds family at the center of everything.
Laney College custodian, Dwayne Jefferson, pauses for a moment from work at Laney College in Oakland, CA on Dec. 4, 2025.
This interview was edited for clarity and length.
T: Tell me about a favorite childhood memory.
J: I was born in New Orleans [until age two] and raised in rural Louisiana in two different cities. [My childhood years were in a city] called Convent […] and Lutcher during my teenage years. My childhood memory pretty much is growing up in my community. Just being friends with a lot of people. I was a very quiet kid. So I stayed to myself, but I had my own group of friends. And I tend to get along with everyone that I [come] into contact with. […] I have friends that I’ve known since I was five years old. To this day, we’re still friends, we never had an argument or a fight. We just stayed friends all these years.
Laney College custodian, Dwayne Jefferson, begins his day cleaning classrooms at Laney College in Oakland, CA on Dec. 4, 2025.
T: What kind of music did you grow up listening to?
J: It started with country music because country music was popular when we were younger. We had this show called Hee Haw that played country music. So we was exposed to it. We also had R&B, the blues and jazz, soft rock, which was like Journey and Aerosmith. Heavy metal like Twisted Sister. All this music was out at that time. Disco and hip hop, 50s music, rock and roll. So, yeah, we were very exposed to a lot of different music, even big band jazz.
T: If you had your dream dinner party, who are a few people that you would invite?
J: It’s mom and dad cause they’re gone. So it would be family members, really. It would just be a bunch of different family members. Elise Taylor Jackson is my mother and my father is Alfred Jefferson Sr., my cousin Carmen, my auntie Georgie May, my auntie Dolores. […] yeah it would be family members.
T: You mentioned you were in the military?
J: I’ve been to some foreign countries. I’ve [spent] four years in the military. I came out of high school and went to the Navy. I did boot camp in San Diego. After boot camp, I went to school in San Diego and then they put us on the boat […] stationed in Alameda. I was in Alameda pretty much from ‘91 to ‘95. And we would go out to sea for six months on a carrier.
So when I was in high school, it just didn’t seem like there were many opportunities for Black folks. So for me, it was my mom. She was the one that really made me go. I’m sitting in the house and you know, I had a little job and everything. My mom comes in. I’m laying down in the middle of the afternoon.
“So what [are you] going to do? Are you going to go to college?” I looked at my mom like, “man you playing right?” And I had to give her an answer right at that moment and then I had to follow through on it. I had to make a decision and I made my decision and that was it. I left and I never looked back.
T: What are you watching right now?
J: I like to watch a little bit of everything. I’m watching Korean dramas right now. What I love about Korean dramas is that the men, they say a lot of sweet words and they say it with such conviction. And I understand that it’s just a movie, but when you think about what they say, you’re like, oh, that’s kind of cool what he said. I like Korean dramas because when they write them, it’s not over the top.
T: If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
J: Just to be able to read a person, […] to be more emotionally intelligent. That would be a superpower for me. So for me, it’s being able to just look at a person and dissect and diagnose and be able to give [them] whatever they need. Some people just need to be seen. Some people need to be heard. Some people need wisdom too. So that’s what I would want.
T: If you could eat this dish for the rest of your life, what would it be?
J: Red beans and rice, I mean you can’t go wrong with red beans and rice. When I was little, I used to watch my mom, my aunties and my grandmothers […] cooking. And I just observed. I didn’t say nothing. I just observed. And when I cook, I try to get it as close to what I grew up with. Red beans? Oh yeah. I can cook some beans.
T: If a movie was made about your life, who would you want to play Dwayne Jerfferson?
J: Mike Epps. You know a comedian has different levels. I mean, if you ever actually seen a comedian […] act in a movie, they are very good. I like to laugh and joke with my family. And at the same time, you know, I can be serious about a lot of things too. Somebody who’s funny, but at the end of the day can be very serious.
T: I was able to photograph you over the course of a few days to document all that you do on campus. Thank you! And what is it that you do Dwayne?
J: I take care of building E. I take care of the yard. So that’s pretty much outside. I can end up powerwashing. I could be taking the trash out. I could be cleaning. The main thing is I clean the fountains, the elevators, the stairwells, the yards. And whatever [it is] I can do[…] custodial work inside the building, like cleaning bathrooms, scrubbing them in, all that stuff too. But it just depends. My talents can be very useful because, you know up there at UC Berkeley, we used to clean dormitories, apartments, and suites. I believe a child should have the best experience at school. So yes, my purpose and motivation never changes: to provide a better space to study and focus on learning, that’s the most important individual to a student.
T: Family. You’ve spoken a lot about them in our conversations.
J: I have one son. He is 30 years old. He was born in ‘94, so he’s about 30 years old. I got two grandchildren. I enjoy it all. I enjoy my grandkids too. I try my best to spoil them. I do try to involve my son because they’re gonna let me know if I’m doing too much or not. You know they want their kids to come up a certain way, have certain type[s] of values, so I have to respect that you know what I’m saying? Respect is very important to them.
This story was updated at 10:19 a.m. on April 25, 2026 to include a correction and to include more detailed captions to the photos of Jefferson in the Navy.