[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 162 (Thursday, October 19, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15364-S15365]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO JOHNETTA MARSHALL

 Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a 
Kentuckian who for many years has displayed a great deal of courage in 
standing up for what she believes. Louisville native Ms. Johnetta 
Marshall has traveled the world to fight for the rights of others, and 
now she's being recognized here at home as the new president of the 
National Older Women's League, a not-for-profit organization that 
promotes health, housing, and Social Security issues for women over the 
age of 50.
  Recently, Ms. Marshall traveled to China to march for equality of the 
sexes at the United Nation's Fourth World Conference of Women. While 
that trip ended peacefully, some of her journeys have taken a violent 
turn. One such incident occurred in the Deep South in the late 1950's 
when Ms. Marshall was pelted with rocks while marching for civil 
rights. She recently recounted in a story for Louisville's Courier-
Journal, that while in Meridian, Mississippi, ``we had to go in the 
back way at hotels and ride the freight elevator. They made us a dining 
room in the bedroom rather than have us eat with the rest of the 
guests.'' While this kind of treatment may have disparaged some, it 
gave Ms. Marshall a reason to continue her fight for civil rights.
  One of the highlights of Ms. Marshall's career came in March of this 
year, when she was named president of the Older Women's League. 
Marshall, who served as a member of the board of directors for 6 years, 
is truly dedicated to the cause and she hopes to put the organization 
in the public spotlight during her tenure as president. The executive 
director of the Older Women's League, Deborah Briceland-Betts, says 
members of the group are delighted that Marshall is now leading them. 
And they hope she will continue her extraordinary commitment to find 
creative and effective ways to improve the lives of midlife and older 
women and their families.
  Not only is Ms. Marshall a national leader in the fights for the 
rights of others, she also worked on behalf of interests in the 
Bluegrass State. For nearly 20 years, Ms. Marshall was executive 
director of Louisville's Opportunities Industrialization Centers, Inc., 
which was responsible for training welfare recipients for jobs. She 
also served as regional coordinator of the Prichard Committee for 
Academic Excellence in Lexington, and during that time she worked hard 
to promote education reform. She was also the director of Senior 
Services, Inc., executive director of Kentucky's Opportunities 
Industrialization Center, past president of the Louisville Section of 
the National Council of Negro Women, and was the first African American 
woman chair of the March of Dimes' Kentuckiana chapter. And in the 
1960's and 1970's, she investigated racism in Ohio, Tennessee, and 
Kentucky as a member of the Presbyterian Church task force.
  As you can tell from her list of accomplishments, Ms. Marshall has 
had a long and distinguished career, and it does not look like it will 
slow down anytime soon. Even with the demanding pace of her public 
advocacy, she still always found time for her real love, her six 
children whom she successfully raised as a single mother.
  Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to 
this outstanding Kentuckian. I also ask that an article from the 
October 10 Courier-Journal be printed in the Record.
  The article follows:

       [From the Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY, Oct. 10, 1995]

A Pioneering Spirit--Louisville Native Has Marched in the South and in 
                       China for Rights of Others

                         (By Lawrence Muhammad)

       Johnetta Marshall won't tell her age but ``pioneer'' is 
     definitely a title that fits her.
       The Louisville native was pelted with rocks while marching 
     for civil rights in the Deep South in the late 1950s and 
     early '60s. More recently, she marched for sex equality under 
     the watchful eyes of government police at the United Nation's 
     Fourth World Conference of Women in China.
       In the '60s, in Meridian, Miss., she recalled, ``we had to 
     go in the back way at hotels and ride the freight elevator. 
     They made us a dining room in the bedroom rather than have us 
     eat with the rest of the guests.''
       Decades later, Marshall attended the China conference as 
     the new president of the Washington, D.C.-based Older Women's 
     League. Carrying a banner and chanting, she and other 
     conferees marched onto the conference grounds and into 
     workshops.

[[Page S 15365]]

       Although no one in her group had trouble with Chinese 
     authorities, she said, ``there were people with video 
     cameras. . . . We wanted them to see the banner. But there 
     was no harassment.''
       Marshall, who lives in Jeffersontown, was named president 
     of the Older Women's League in March. It's a nationwide, not-
     for-profit organization that promotes health, housing and 
     Social Security issues for women over the age of 50.
       The appointment caps a career of distinguished service.
       For nearly 20 years until it closed in 1988, Marshall was 
     executive director of Louisville's Opportunities 
     Industrialization Centers Inc., once a nationwide non-profit 
     group with headquarters in Philadelphia that trained welfare 
     recipients for jobs.
       She was also the first chairman of the Kentucky Minority 
     AIDS Council.
       Sam Robinson, president of the Lincoln Foundation and also 
     a founding member of the AIDS council, recalled suggesting 
     Marshall to the group because of her work with the National 
     Council of Negro Women and the National Association for the 
     Advancement of Colored People. ``And when we were ready to 
     elect officers, everybody looked to her for leadership,'' 
     Robinson said.
       Lead she has, also serving stints as a Presbyterian Church 
     organizer, propagating racial fairness among Southern members 
     during the 1960s and '70s; as director of Senior Services 
     Inc. in Louisville; as past president of the National Council 
     of Negro Women's Louisville section; and as the first 
     African-American woman to chair the March of Dimes' 
     Kentuckiana chapter, among other posts.
       Last month in China, Marshall led a 32-member delegation to 
     the Non-governmental Organizations Forum on Women in Huairou. 
     It was an unofficial gathering held in conjunction with the 
     U.N. conference in Beijing.
       Marshall and her group, co-sponsored by the American 
     Society on Aging, met officials of the China National 
     Committee on Aging and China Research Center on Aging and 
     toured hospitals and welfare homes for the elderly. It was an 
     effort to promote concerns of older women that past world 
     forums had inadequately addressed, Marshall said.
       For example, women over 65 are disproportionately poor, 
     spend more on home repairs, more frequently develop breast 
     cancer and suffer more chronic ailments than older men, 
     according to an Older Women's League study done in 1993.
       The study also showed 60 percent of married women are 
     widowed and living alone by 75, and 30 percent require home 
     care, double the percentage for men.
       ``Back in the civil-rights days, women were suffering, and 
     there have been some improvements, but not enough,'' Marshall 
     said. ``Women can work side by side with men, and maybe have 
     better skills, but men get more pay. And if you happen to be 
     an older women, you are counted out completely.''
       Marshall clearly would not be counted out. Leading the 
     local Opportunities Industrialization Center, she smashed the 
     gender barrier in the early 1980s to head the group's 
     executive directors association, a male-dominated network of 
     about 85 OIC insiders.
       ``For Johnetta to run for that position, and win it, was 
     akin to Shannon Faulkner entering The Citadel,'' said Gene 
     Blue, president of the Phoenix, Ariz., OIC. ``She became a 
     spokes-person who accompanied the founder, Dr. Leon Sullivan, 
     at congressional hearings. She had to overcome significant 
     male egos to preside over all these dudes at meetings and 
     workshops, which usually got loud and emotional.''
       Blue recalled one particular meeting, where ``one of the 
     most vociferous, a senior executive from a major city, had 
     the floor and was waxing eloquent. Finally Johnetta, without 
     even raising her voice, said firmly, `OK, that's enough. Sit 
     down.' Now, it took most of us by surprise that she would 
     tell this guy to shut up. But she did, and he sat down.''
       Marshall is widely know as a nurturer too. She grew up in 
     Louisville's Limerick neighborhood, daughter of concrete 
     finisher John Marshall who died when she was 10, and Emma 
     Marshall, who supported the family with domestic work. 
     Marshall had wanted to be a surgeon, but being black and 
     female in the segregated 1930s and '40s, it was difficult to 
     aspire to so lofty a vocation.
       A divorcee, she raised six children on her own, has four 
     grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. The fruits of her 
     labors are plentiful among her children: Samuel is a San 
     Francisco stockbroker; Charles, a geriatric doctor in Los 
     Angeles; and John, a supervisor of correctional officers in 
     Los Angeles County, Glenna is a Louisville graphic artist; 
     Marilyn, a bookkeeper in Atlanta; and Jo, a computer systems 
     engineer in Louisville.
       Marshall also served as a role model for scores of other 
     people's children at the Presbyterian Community Center at 760 
     S. Hancock St.
       ``She'd ask questions like, `How are you doing at home? How 
     are you doing at school?' '' said Ernest ``Camp'' Edwards, 
     63, an associate executive presbyter for the Presbytery of 
     Louisville. ``I was sort of mischievous, throwing stuff on 
     the floor and blaming somebody else, so she always preached 
     that I should be accountable for my own behavior and not 
     blame others.
       ``That really stuck with me over the years,'' Edwards said. 
     ``She has a kind of presence and talks to you so that it 
     makes a difference. I'm a social worker by profession, and, 
     because of her, I decided to work with people. She was a 
     `significant other.' and I decided I could be a significant 
     other.''
       Charles Hammond, the 52-year-old mayor of Fairfield, 
     Calif., first met Marshall at the community center when he 
     was 14. It was ``where we virtually lived after we got out of 
     school, and she was one of our youth directors. They 
     basically kicked our behinds and kept us in line. We'd have 
     our dances and she'd give us rules--no cursing, no smoking, 
     treat the ladies like ladies * * * But she always had time 
     for us. There was never a question that went unanswered. And 
     that's what we admired about her. Seven days a week, any time 
     you looked around, there she was, just like our mothers.''


               Johnetta Marshall's advice for single moms

       Johnetta Marshall successfully raised six children along. 
     Some now have families of their own, and all pursue rewarding 
     careers.
       ``It wasn't easy then,'' said Marshall, ``and even though 
     women have more advantages now, it is lots more difficult.''
       She offered this advice for today's single mothers: 
     ``Recognize that you are only one person, that you can never 
     by a mother and a father. Just be the best role model you 
     can.
       ``As the mother, you instill in your children some ideals 
     by the way you live. Always be honest and frank with the 
     children. Don't let them think you can give them the moon 
     when you can only give them a piece of the earth.
       ``And don't give up. You can do it.''


                     About the Older Women's League

       Founded in 1980, the Washington, D.C.-based Older Women's 
     League promotes issues of health care, Social Security and 
     housing for women over 50.
       There are 20,000 members nationwide and chapters in every 
     state.
       Annual dues start at $15; sterling, silver and platinum 
     memberships also are available.

                          ____________________