[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 30 (Thursday, March 7, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   COMMEMORATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______


                               speech of

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 28, 1996

  Mr. TOWNS of New York. Mr. Speaker, I would first like to thank my 
colleague from Ohio, Mr. Louis Stokes for calling this special order 
today in honor of African-American History Month.
  Today, I would like to pay special tribute to our African-American 
women. These women are our mothers, sisters, and wives. Women who have 
watched their young children be sold on the auction block and women who 
even today watch their children be buried or sent away in shackles.
  Through all the trials, tribulations and pain that African-American 
women have gone through, they have always been the backbone of our 
community. In 1969, Shirley Chisholm of New York became the first black 
woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. In the arts, 
Gwendolyn Brooks became the first black to win a Pulitzer. She received 
the award in 1950 for a collection of poems titled ``Annie Allen.'' In 
1955, Marian Anderson became the first black to sing a leading role 
with Metropolitan Opera in New York City. In the civil rights movement, 
Rosa Parks, a seamstress and civil rights activist in Montgomery, AL, 
became a leading symbol of black's bold new action to attain their 
civil rights. In 1955, she was arrested for disobeying a city law that 
required blacks to give up their seats when white people wished to sit 
in their seats or in the same row. Montgomery's blacks protested her 
arrest by refusing to ride the buses. Their protest lasted 382 days, 
ending when the city abolished the bus law.
  During the Great Depression, most African-Americans felt that 
Republican President Herbert Hoover, had done little to try to end the 
Depression. In the elections of 1932, some black voters deserted their 
traditional loyalty to the Republican Party. They no longer saw it as 
the party of Abraham Lincoln the emancipator, but of Herbert Hoover and 
the Depression. In 1936 for the first time, most blacks supported 
Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Democratic Party candidate for President. 
This change opened the door for women like, Mary McLeod Bethune, who 
became an advisor to Roosevelt on the problems of black America. 
Bethune, founder of Bethune Cookman-College, during the Roosevelt 
administration, directed the Black Affairs Division of a Federal agency 
called the National Youth Administration.
  Brooklyn is very blessed to have the guidance and leadership of many 
virtuous women. Virtuous women are leaders and organizers, creative and 
culturally aware of their communities. Women such as, Rev. Evelyn Mann, 
Rev. Barbara Lucas, and Rev. Barbara Williams-Norman and Rev. 
Jacqueline McCollaugh have all supported their families and communities 
through the work and word of God.
  All of these women and many more have contributed to the political, 
social and spiritual progress of this country.
  As we honor African-American women, we honor our heritage and our 
ancestors who have passed the torch of strength and determination.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in saluting African-American women 
around the country for their outstanding achievements even under the 
most difficult circumstances.