Reverend Diana McDaniel was born in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1949. She grew up in a segregated community and was interested in religious studies from an early age. Her uncle, Irvin Lowery, was working at Port Chicago when the explosion occurred on July 17, 1944. When she moved to the Bay Area with her husband in 1973, McDaniel became more interested in her uncle’s story and those who were most impact—like the Black sailors—by the blast. She helped found Friends of Port Chicago and advocated for the site to become a national park. In this interview, McDaniel discusses her early life, experience of segregation, education, move to California, her uncle Irvin’s experience during the Port Chicago explosion, involvement with Port Chicago’s history, reading the testimonies of Black Port Chicago sailors and speaking to survivors, work in founding Friends of Port Chicago, collaboration with the East Bay Park District and National Park Service, the movement to exonerate the sailors, and hopes for Friends of Port Chicago National Memorial and future visitor center.