[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 6, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E296-E297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   COMMEMORATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______


                               speech of

                         HON. NICK J. RAHALL II

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 28, 1996

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I am as proud as a father today, to have 
this opportunity to pay tribute to Vicky L. Bandy, of Beckley, WV, 
during Black History Month. For more than a decade, Ms. Bandy served as 
my executive assistant here in Washington, and Ms. Bandy was ever as 
loyal and dedicated as she was a professional, at all times and in all 
situations. I knew that I could depend upon her in all things.
  Mr. Speaker, on February 24, 1996, Ms. Bandy gave a speech at the 
Beckley Federal Correctional Institution's Black Affairs Banquet, as 
part of its celebration of Black History Month.
  I am privileged to place in the Record at this point, Ms. Bandy's 
stirring words as she encouraged and surely inspired her sisters as she 
spoke eloquently about their theme: African-American Women: Past, 
Present and Future. Mr. Speaker, I commend Ms. Bandy's remarks to my 
colleagues for their reading and their remembrance.

            African-American Women: Past, Present and Future

                          (By Vicky L. Bandy)

     ``Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod, felt in 
         the days when hope unborn had died.''

       Today, we gather 370 years after the first African American 
     landed at Jamestown, Virginia, 133 years after the signing of 
     the Emancipation Proclamation, and 31 years after the 
     Enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which gave 
     African Americans power at the Ballot Box.
       Last October, the African American Community pledged itself 
     to pursue a bold new course with the success of the Million 
     Man March.
       The success of the effort is still being felt. But today, 
     ladies, it is our turn. The Theme for the 1996 observance of 
     Black History Month is: African American Women: Past, Present 
     and Future.
       As I thought about what I would say, I thought about how 
     far we as African Americans have come. I thought of the 
     stories that were told to me by my Grandmother, Ella Bandy. I 
     recall stories about how this Strong Black Woman worked hard 
     in the fields of Alabama. She would leave her babies in a 
     wagon under a shade tree, while she worked the long rows 
     of the fields. At the end of each row, she would run back 
     to check on her babies. Grandmama was a strong African 
     American Woman. She never gave up, she was a woman of 
     principle; and she never gave in. Grandmama's hands, hard 
     and calloused from toiling in the hot Alabama Sun, so that 
     her children and grandchildren could have a better way of 
     life.
       Earlier this week, I witnessed the Swearing-In ceremony of 
     Congressman Kweisi Mfume, as President and CEO of the NAACP, 
     an event that was attended by a very small but elite group of 
     people, among them being the President and Vice President of 
     the United States. I reflected back to the point in time when 
     I would ride in the car with my grandfather on election day--
     a day that I equated to Thomas `n Joyland carnival coming to 
     town.

[[Page E297]]

       Grand daddy's car windows held many campaign signs 
     belonging to various politicians, seeking a vote in the Black 
     community. I suppose it never occurred to Grand daddy that 
     his granddaughter would grow up to become a part of the 
     Political Process. He did not know that he was molding me for 
     a successful career with your Congressman Nick J. Rahall. 
     Well, Grand daddy did not live to see the end results of the 
     many rides we shared on Election Day, but I will always be 
     grateful to him. For I did not meet the normal standards. 
     Ladies and Gentlemen, you see, I never attended an Ivy League 
     school. I was educated in a four room schoolhouse. My parents 
     were not politically connected, nor did they contribute to a 
     campaign committee. The one thing that they did, was to teach 
     me how to seize an opportunity.
       That same lesson is equally important today. Too many of us 
     today let opportunity pass us by, because we look for it in a 
     pretty package, delivered to our doors by Federal Express or 
     priority Mail. Often times, when we do seize the opportunity, 
     we take all of the credit and forget that the way was paved 
     by someone else, who labored and toiled in the fields from 
     sun up to sun down.
       ``Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod''. I've 
     got mine and you get yours, never offering to lend a hand to 
     help another. Well, I heard the songwriter say ``The only 
     time you should look down on a man, is when you are picking 
     him up''. Imagine Harriet Tubman, Conductor of the 
     Underground Railroad, not reaching back, after seizing the 
     opportunity to become a freed slave. Where would we be had it 
     not been for Sojourner Truth, who traveled the country to 
     proclaim to others the truth about slavery. Would we be 
     able to sit in any seat on a bus today, had it not been 
     for Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat in the 
     front of the bus, when Coloreds were not allowed to ride 
     in the front.
       African American women; past, present, and future. What 
     about Dr. Mae Jamison, first African American female 
     Astronaut? What about Elizabeth Drewey, first African 
     American Woman elected to the West Virginia House of 
     Delegates? What about Carol Moseley Braun, the first female 
     African American U.S. Senator, and my boss, Hazel R. O'Leary, 
     the first African American and female African American to 
     become Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, one who 
     has opened many doors to expose Minority Students to the 
     world of Science. What about your mother and my mother, 
     strong and courageous African American Women, who made 
     tremendous sacrifices and stood firm, despite the obstacles 
     they faced--despite society's denial; despite low paying 
     jobs; despite prejudice and racism--women who because of 
     their determination, paved the way for you and me.
       ``We have come over a way that with tears has been watered, 
     we have come treading our path thru the blood of the 
     slaughtered.'' But, I would ask you today, what profit a 
     person to gain, if he or she does not reach back to help 
     another? Now that we have arrived, what are we doing to 
     ensure that we will have famous African American Women in the 
     future?
       There are young women in our own neighborhoods who need to 
     know that there is a way off of Welfare and on to Faring 
     Well. Each of you today has a Special Gift to give back, so 
     that others can realize their dreams, their hopes, their 
     goals. I challenge you to stir up your gifts, to lift up 
     somebody, to respect each other, to love yourself and to 
     never stop striving to reach for your goals, never give up--
     don't give in.
       We are African American women, marching on till victory is 
     won. Yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet, come to 
     the place for which our fathers signed? African American 
     women; past, present, and future.
       Poet Maya Angelou sums it up by saying: ``You may write me 
     down in history, with your bitter twisted lies. You may trod 
     me in the very dirt, but still, like dust, I'll rise''. We 
     will rise. African American women, past, present, and future.

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