[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 120 (Monday, July 24, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10576-S10578]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   THE PASSING OF DR. SAMUEL L. BANKS

 Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, on Wednesday, July 19, the 
children of Maryland lost a distinguished educator. African-Americans 
in Maryland lost an impassioned, tireless and eloquent leader. All of 
us who thirst for justice and equality lost an enormously distinguished 
champion. And, I lost a good friend.
  I refer, Mr. President, to the passing of Balitimore's Dr. Samuel L. 
Banks. My relationship with Dr. Banks was one of long-standing, dating 
back to my earliest days as a grassroots organizer and community 
activist. Dr. Banks and I debated one another on many occasions. I 
always felt that we not only debated each other but delighted each 
other.
  No community ever had a more persuasive, persistent and effective 
advocate than did Baltimore's African-American community in Dr. Banks. 
He had a rare and wonderful gift for language and communication. He 
never failed to awe me with his unique ability to express the most 
content-rich views in the most vivid of images.
  Dr. Banks was a fighter for those left out and left behind. He was a 
mighty warrior for good. In an illustrious career of over 30 years as a 
teacher and Administrator in Baltimore City public schools, he 
implemented his vision of education as a tool of empowerment.
  His loss is a deep tragedy for his family and friends. My condolences 
go out to all his loved ones. But his passing is also a tremendous loss 
for the children of Maryland. I wish we had a hundred--a thousand--Dr. 
Banks in Baltimore and in communities throughout Maryland and, indeed, 
the country. We desperately need more people with his dedication and 
vision.
  So, all of us will miss him greatly. I hope, though, that when he 
entered the gates of Paradise, he was greeted by Martin Luther King, 
Jr., Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass and Mary McLeod Bethuse. And 
wouldn't we all like to sit there and listen to that heavenly choir.
  Mr. President, I would like to share with my colleagues an article 
and an editorial tribute from the Sun which sum up much of what made 
Dr. Samuel Banks such a remarkable figure, and ask that they be printed 
in the Record.
  The articles follow:
                [From the Baltimore Sun, July 20, 1995]

                            Samuel L. Banks

       Regular readers of this newspaper's letters to the editor 
     knew Samuel L. Banks as an inveterate correspondent always 
     ready to take on the powers-that-be with a rhetorical 
     flourish that both enlightened and entertained.
       Dr. Banks, who died Wednesday at 64, was for 36 years a 
     teacher and administrator in the Baltimore City public 
     schools. But it was through his innumerable letters to the 
     editor, his feisty opinion-page pieces and his sometimes 
     prolix prose that he became known to thousands of Marylanders 
     as a tireless champion of equal opportunity.
       Most people write letters to the editor to let off steam, 
     express a personal opinion or simply for the thrill of seeing 
     their name in print. The letters columns are a forum for all 
     manner of complaints, grudges and passionate appeals as well 
     as for the occasional gem of lucidity and sweet reason. A few 
     people develop virtual second careers as letters column 
     correspondents, vying with other letter writers and the 
     newspaper's own staff members for pride of placement and 
     frequency of publication.
       For Dr. Banks, however, a letter to the editor or an 
     opinion page article was a means to 

[[Page S10577]]

     an end, not an end in itself. He addressed the issues of the 
     day not out of vanity but because he believed fervently that 
     change would never come unless the status quo was challenged. 
     He made it his business to do so as forcefully as possible. 
     He wanted to wipe out every trace of bigotry and 
     discrimination so that the nation might at last fulfill its 
     historic promise of justice and equal opportunity for all.
       Applying the dictum of old-time labor leader Sam Gombers--
     always demand more, more, more--Dr. Banks brought to his 
     advocacy an unquenchable demand for improvement in the lives 
     of his fellow African Americans. This newspaper was his 
     special focus. He would rise in righteous fury against news 
     stories or editorials he considered unfair to this 
     constituency or his several causes. Yet when writers 
     displayed what he regarded as greater sensitivity, he would 
     dispense gentlemanly praise before launching into a lecture 
     of what could be done better. He was one of our most 
     persistent bed bugs, albeit a beneficent bed bug. We suspect 
     that description would please him.
       Dr. Banks' style often mimicked the stately cadences of a 
     church sermon. But he was fond of spicing up his phrases with 
     unusual and sometimes arcane words that lent his expressions 
     a peculiar dignity and sly humor. He knew readers delighted 
     in his seemingly inexhaustible stock of adjectives, which he 
     piled atop one another.
       Editors could pare words, phrases or whole paragraphs from 
     his letters and still have more than enough left to fill the 
     allotted space. Dr. Banks' vision of America and its 
     possibilities was as generous as his use of words, and as 
     wise.
                                                                    ____

 Samuel Banks, Champion of Black History, Dies--Educator Was Known for 
                           His Love of Words

                           (By Joan Jacobson)

       Samuel L. Banks, a Baltimore educator who was a connoisseur 
     of the English language and a nationally known champion of 
     African-American history, died suddenly yesterday at his home 
     in Prince George's County. He was 64.
       Dr. Banks was a teacher and administrator for 36 years, 
     orchestrating one of the nation's first Afro-centric social 
     studies curricula in city schools more than 20 years ago.
       A history and social studies teacher who taught future 
     mayor Kurt L. Schmoke at City College during the 1960s, Dr. 
     Banks became a school administrator and national leader at 
     writing history and social studies curricula.
       A prolific writer--particularly for The Sun, The Evening 
     Sun and the Afro-American--Dr. Banks excoriated the U.S. 
     Supreme Court for its rulings against affirmative action and 
     flayed the Republican-dominated Congress for what he believed 
     was a racially biased ``Contract with America.''
       In his writings, he was fond of using French phrases and 
     quoting abolitionist-writer Frederick Douglass. He often sent 
     readers to a dictionary to look up words. He used the word 
     ``Zeitgeist'' in a July 14 letter to a Sun editor that 
     arrived on the day of Dr. Banks' death.
       Dr. Banks died yesterday morning after a routine day of 
     work and an evening at home the day before, said his wife of 
     38 years, Elizabeth.
       As she was waking up, Mrs. Banks said, she heard her 
     husband take two heavy breaths and heard no breathing after 
     that. She said she did not know the cause of death.
       The news of Dr. Banks' death traveled quickly and with 
     sadness through the Baltimore Education Department's North 
     Avenue headquarters yesterday.
       ``It was awfully hard to break the news,'' sad May 
     Nicholsonne, associate superintendent for instruction, who 
     informed the staff of the school system's department of 
     compensatory and funded programs, which Dr. Banks directed.
       ``I asked them to carry on the legacy and think of all the 
     contributions he made,'' she said.
       Delores Powell, a secretary whose desk sits outside Dr. 
     Banks' office, remembered him as a ``sweet, gentle man'' who 
     took time out from his busy schedule to write recommendation 
     letters to help her daughter get a college scholarship.
       ``It's a shock to everybody,'' she said. ``I don't know a 
     better word, but Dr. Banks would have a better word.''


                             a wise leader

       Dr. Banks was ``a wise leader in the school system and in 
     the city of Baltimore,'' said Martin Gould, assistant 
     superintendent for family and student support services. ``He 
     was a warm and supportive colleague from the first day I came 
     on board here.''
       On Tuesday, said Dr. Gould, Dr. Banks appeared in good 
     health, physically and mentally as he ``consumed a 150-page 
     document in a matter of hours'' before discussing it in 
     detail.
       Mayor Schmoke, in a written statement, called Dr. Banks, 
     ``a leader in promoting multicultural education long before 
     it became a fashionable topic for public discussion.
       ``I was a student of his at City College and through the 
     years I found him to be a tough advocate with a kind heart, a 
     person who will be greatly missed by his community,'' said 
     Mr. Schmoke.
       Dr. Banks had many other admirers as well.
       ``The world is a much lesser place without Dr. Banks,'' 
     said Margie Ashe, a homemaker and writer, who became Dr. 
     Banks' friend through the Association for the Study of Afro-
     American Life and History. ``Dr. Banks was a gentleman. He 
     was one of the most considerate human beings I have ever 
     met.''
       The Woodlawn resident said she and Dr. Banks also had a 
     mutual love for words.
       ``One of my major accomplishments was that I found a four-
     letter word that Dr. Banks didn't know. It was `limn' which 
     means to outline or describe something. I found it in a 
     crossword puzzle. After I finally worked it out, I said, `Did 
     you know this one, Sam?' and he said no. He was famous for 
     knowing all the words in the dictionary and using them.''
       Thousands of Marylanders who never met Dr. Banks knew him 
     through his articles and letters to the editor of the Sun and 
     The Evening Sun. Joseph R. L. Sterne, Sun editorial page 
     editor, estimated that Dr. Banks wrote more letters to the 
     editor than any other contributor during the last two 
     decades.


                              Many topics

       ``He's been one of our most dedicated letter writers. His 
     letters often were couched in formal language that led to 
     some kinds of parody but also rang with a certain kind of 
     dignity,'' said Mr. Sterne.
       In his letters to the editor, Dr. Banks took on many 
     topics--most dealing with the inequities he perceived toward 
     African-Americans. For instance, in a letter that appeared in 
     Saturday's paper, he critized the Supreme Court decision 
     against minority set-asides, saying the court ``has placed 
     its judicial imprimatur in a resuscitation of separate but 
     unequal treatment for black citizens.''
       Yesterday, in what turned out to be his last communication 
     with The Sun, Dr. Banks wrote of his ``concern that so many 
     in our society, young and adult, are bombarded constantly 
     with negativism failure, cynicism and alienation. This 
     situation, I believe, weighs very heavily and 
     disproportionately on children and youths given the Zeitgeist 
     or spirit of the times.''
       In his letter to a Sun editor, Dr. Banks encouraged the 
     newspaper to ``highlight the experiences and successes of 
     young people who are making vital, substantive and 
     inspirational gains in spite of societal turbulence, apathy 
     and ennui.
       In the early 1980s, Dr. Banks was instrumental in leading a 
     predominantly black boycott of the Baltimore Sun after a 
     series of articles appeared in The Evening Sun that dealt 
     with single-parent families.
       But harsh criticisms were not limited to the Supreme Court, 
     congress or the local newspaper.
       In a recent interview, Dr. Banks ridiculed his boss, City 
     School Superintendent Walter G. Amprey, for his unusually 
     close relationship with the head of a private company hired 
     to run several city schools.
       Dr. Banks' wife said his prolific writing and strong 
     opinions on education were fueled by ``his care and concern 
     for children. He believed in education. It was uppermost in 
     his thoughts. He loved children.''
       Dr. Banks was educated in the Norfolk, Va., school system, 
     received his undergraduate and master's degrees from Howard 
     University in Washington and his doctorate in education from 
     George Washington University, also in Washington.
       He was a member of numerous organizations, including the 
     National Council of History Standards and the NAACP. He 
     taught Bible class at Walker Memorial Baptist Church in 
     Washington.
       Funeral arrangements were incomplete yesterday.
       In addition to his wife, he is survived by two daughters, 
     Gayle Banks Jones of Bowie and Allison Banks Holmes of Upper 
     Marlboro; and three grandchildren.
                      banks' letters to the editor

       For close readers of The Sun during the past quarter of a 
     century, Samuel L. Banks was as familiar a fixture at the 
     newspaper as any of its regular staff writers. His missives 
     to The Sun were unceasing; it was not unusual for two or 
     three of his letters to be published in the newspaper each 
     month. ``In the past 22 years that I've been on this job, 
     we've had more Sam Banks' letters than any other letter 
     writer by far,'' Joseph R. L. Sterne, The Sun's editorial 
     page editor, said yesterday, ``And yet being Sam Banks, if we 
     discarded a few of his letters, he would be quick to put on 
     pressure to get his letters into the paper.''
       If Mr. Banks' writing was often verbose and more than a bit 
     preachy, it was also dignified, passionate and occasionally 
     caustic. Below, a selection from his voluminous 
     correspondence with this newspaper:
       The [Joe] Smith case has reverberations far beyond College 
     Park. The larger issue concerns an almost veritable disregard 
     in predominantly white NCAA-affiliated colleges for black 
     student-athletes. These black youths are simply seen as 
     gladiators, especially in football and basketball, whose 
     athletic talents and abilities bring huge profits to the 
     institutions.--May 17, 1995.
       Finally, I recall, as an undergraduate member of the 
     debating team at Howard University, how the late Lewis 
     Fenderson often cautioned us: ``When you have the facts, 
     argue the facts. When you don't have the facts, pound the 
     table lustily.''
       Mr. Slepian's letter gave abundant evidence of the 
     latter.--April 30, 1995.
       It is a national scandal that, 31 years after the enactment 
     of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, white males still make up 97 
     percent of senior managers in Fortune 1000 companies.--March 
     29, 1995.

[[Page S10578]]

       The banal and wholly self-serving comments of Mr. Williams 
     regarding his upbringing in South Carolina and the role of 
     race represented a cruel and mindless transmogrification of 
     truth and reality.--Feb. 26, 1995.
       The painting of graffiti outside the Knesh Israel Synagogue 
     in Annapolis and a black-owned hair salon in Edgewater is a 
     manifestation of a worrisome situation that goes far beyond 
     the October Ku Klux Klan rally in Annapolis led by a group of 
     rag-tag, venomous and obstreperous peddlers of hate, 
     divisiveness and intolerance.
       As has been true historically in our nation, the central 
     problem remains the refusal of white Americans to accept the 
     clear and present reality of racism.--Jan. 6, 1995.
       Congressional Republicans' so-called ``Contract with 
     America'' signals an intensification of hostility, racism and 
     indifference to the socio-economic and educational needs of 
     racial minorities and the poor.--Dec. 13, 1994.
       The saga of Marion Barry is instructive and inspirational. 
     He had fallen, through his visceral and worldly appetites, to 
     the lowest point with his incarceration. Nonetheless, he paid 
     his dues and bounced back. His incarnation provides a 
     marvelous example to those in similar predicaments as to what 
     can be achieved through faith in God, determination and 
     staying power.--Nov. 2, 1994.
     

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