[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 98 (Monday, July 25, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                 TRIBUTE TO REV. GEORGE ``ED'' RIDDICK

  Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN. Mr. President, it is with great sadness that I 
note the death of a friend and crusader for human causes, Rev. George 
Edward Riddick.
  Reverend Riddick was known as the voice of Operation PUSH for the 
past 21 years. He was the host announcer for their Saturday Morning 
Forum. He also worked closely with the Reverend Jesse Jackson, as well 
as a vast list of other religious and social leaders in the city of 
Chicago, who helped encourage Reverend Riddick's ministry to enhance 
mankind through education, labor, and human services. Over the years, 
Reverend Riddick served as vice president, vice president at large, and 
senior vice president for Operation PUSH.
  Reverend Riddick was a humanitarian and a spiritual leader, as well 
as a civil rights activist. Born in Denver, CO, Reverend Riddick 
attended the University of Wisconsin and then graduated from the 
University of Chicago Divinity School. He went on to serve as the 
pastor of Blackwell Memorial AME Church in Chicago.
  Reverend Riddick received numerous accolates in his lifetime, 
including the Wisconsin Scholars Award and the Baptist Student Center's 
Belle Kinney Wright Award for his work in human relations. ``Reverend 
Riddick was known for doing so many great things in the Black 
Community,'' Chaplain Franklin F.W. Williams said in a testimonial to 
him. Others knew him as ``the Dean of Digits'' for his command of facts 
and figures. He was an integral player in the 1960's in Selma, AL, 
during the racial unrest there and worked closely with the Reverend 
Martin Luther King, Jr., while in Chicago. Among the many causes he 
championed were finding jobs for minorities, the Head Start Program, 
and attacking discrimination in real estate.
  Reverend Riddick was part of a committee of ministers who helped 
successfully resolve the A&P supermarket chain boycott and negotiated 
covenants with A&P and other food retailers to foster more minority 
hiring business development, philanthropic gifts and grants and policy 
development. From 1961 to 1964, he worked for the Cook County 
Department of Public Aid and later for the Church Federation of Greater 
Chicago.
  Reverend Riddick's concern for humankind stretched from concrete 
streets to corporate suites, earning him recognition, and praise among 
the downtrodden as well as the strong-willed across the city and 
Nation. He will be sorely missed.

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