[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 125 (Thursday, September 12, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1608-E1610]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING ANDREW J. BROWN

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ANDREW JACOBS, JR.

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 12, 1996

  Mr. JACOBS. Mr. Speaker, he was the only minister of the Gospel in 
history to deliver a second opening prayer at the House of 
Representatives in the same calendar day. But his claim to the profound 
respect and affection of all Americans is that he was one of Dr. Martin 
Luther King's top lieutenants in the peaceful revolution to make real 
the ideals of the bloody American Revolution.
  It is no exaggeration to say that Andrew J. Brown was Mr. Civil 
Rights in Indiana. He led the movement to excise the poison and 
stupidity of racial discrimination from America's body politic. He had 
what Dag Hammarskjold called that Christ-like urge. You could see it in 
his face, that countenance always about to brust into smile. You could 
see the personification of the Sermon on the Mount. He served his 
country well in our Armed Forces during World War II. And yet for 
decades after World War II, his country--or at least a great part of it 
served him ill. But this did not evoke bitterness and hatred in him. It 
evoked peaceful compassion and just plain hard work. He traveled 
through that biblical valley of the shadow of death and neither feared 
nor did evil. These words, written by Shelly, apply beautifully to the 
magnificent Rev. Andrew J. Brown:

       The great secret of morals is love. A person, to be greatly 
     good, must imagine deeply and comprehensively. He must put 
     himself in the place of another, of many others. The 
     pleasures and the pains of his species must become his own.

  The following are only a few of the tributes paid to this great and 
good man on the sad but triumphant occasion of his passing.

               [From the Indianapolis Star, Aug. 3, 1996]

                Rights Leader Rev. Andrew J. Brown Dies

                           (By Rob Schneider)

       The Rev. Andrew J. Brown, who was a friend of the powerful 
     and the powerless, died in his sleep, his family said Friday.
       Brown, who came to symbolize civil rights in Indianapolis, 
     was 75.
       Indiana Black Expo? He helped found it.
       Providing information to the African-American community? 
     The longtime pastor at St. John's Missionary Baptist Church 
     also started Operation Breadbasket, a Saturday morning radio 
     program to discuss everything from economic to spiritual 
     issues.
       Rev. Brown was a lifelong advocate for civil rights, a man 
     whose doorstep was a common sight to people like Dr. Martin 
     Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
       In recent years, though, he had taken on another fight. 
     Rev. Brown had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease two to 
     three years ago, said his son, the Rev. Thomas L. Brown.
       It was a fight that had left the community leader a ``tired 
     warrior,'' his son acknowledged.
       Thursday night after dinner, Rev. Andrew Brown gave his 
     wife a kiss and said, ``I'll see you later.'' Early Friday, 
     Rev. Brown's wife, RosaLee, called her son with the news that 
     she could not wake her husband.
       ``He was about the business of peace making,'' Rev. Thomas 
     Brown said of his father's life. ``His peaceful passing is 
     reflective of his mannerisms of dealing with people even 
     though he was a very intense social activist.''
       The elder Rev. Brown's dedication to social justice 
     originated on a Christmas Eve during World War II in a 
     hospital at Camp Livingston, LA.
       Laid up in a hospital bed with a leg that doctors said 
     would have to be amputated, he listened to a happy, noisy 
     celebration from which black soldiers had been excluded.
       Rev. Brown promised God that if his leg was saved, he would 
     spend the rest of his life fighting for justice for all 
     people.
       A few days later, he walked up to the doctor who was 
     supposed to operate on him.
       ``That's the miracle in my life. That's the commitment I 
     made,'' Rev. Brown explained in an interview in 1985. ``I'll 
     keep fighting until I fall, because that's what I told God I 
     would do.''
       Moving to Indianapolis from Chicago in 1947, he used his 
     position as pastor of St. John's Missionary Baptist Church as 
     a pulpit not only for spiritual messages but social action as 
     well.
       In 1963, he organized Indianapolis blacks to show voting 
     bloc strength. Two years later, he walked with King in the 
     civil rights march in Selma, Ala. He was at the home of 
     King's parents the night the civil rights leader was 
     assassinated in April 1968. The next month he was in 
     Washington, D.C., for the Poor People's March.
       In 1990, Rev. Brown resigned as pastor of St. John's.
       The church is on a street that was renamed Dr. Andrew J. 
     Brown Avenue 10 years ago to honor him.
       News of his death led city leaders to remember a man whose 
     trademark was compassion.
       ``He was an extraordinary Baptist preacher, [who] had a 
     marvelous voice and could move a congregation with song,'' 
     said Sam Jones, president of the Indianapolis Urban League.
       ``He led numerous marches and demonstrations against acts 
     of segregation and discrimination in this community,'' Jones 
     noted.
       ``He was the kind of guy who could operate with the least 
     of us in our community and with kings and queens and giants 
     alike,'' Jones added.
       The Rev. Stephen J. Clay, pastor of the Messiah Baptist 
     Church and president of the Interdenominational Ministers 
     Alliance, said it was Rev. Brown's compassion for people at 
     large that became a driving force, that ``like a rocket, 
     propelled him to the national arena.''
       ``The world is a little bit smaller and heaven a little 
     brighter because of the contributions made by Dr. Brown,'' he 
     said.
       Mayor Steven Goldsmith simply called Rev. Brown a 
     ``remarkable leader,'' one who was committed to opportunity 
     and equality.
       He credited Rev. Brown's commitment, sincerity and faith in 
     making him a national leader.
       Rev. Jesse Jackson summed up Rev. Brown's contributions 
     this way: ``He fought and changed America for the better 
     forever. He had courage and took risks,'' he said.
       Services for Rev. Brown will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. 
     John's. Calling is from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the 
     church.

[[Page E1609]]

       Stuart Mortuary is assisting with arrangements.
       Rev. Brown is survived by his wife, RosaLee Brown: 
     daughters, Dr. Monica Fields, Adrienne Brown; and son, Rev. 
     Thomas L. Brown.
                                                                    ____


               [From the Indianapolis Star, Aug. 6, 1996]

                              Quite a Life

       From the pulpit of St. John's Missionary Baptist Church, 
     Rev. Andrew J. Brown changed thousands of lives for the 
     better. From the streets of Indianapolis and other cities 
     where he marched for civil rights and justice, Rev. Brown 
     helped change the world.
       Last week, after several years battling Alzheimer's 
     disease, the 75-year-old leader, described as a ``tired 
     warrior'' by his son, died at home in his sleep. Services 
     will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. John's with calling from 
     11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday.
       Rev. Brown's name is synonymous with civil rights in 
     Indianapolis. After moving here from Chicago in 1947, he used 
     his pastoral position to organize social programs, black 
     voting strength and marches to the Statehouse and the 
     governor's mansion. He was a co-founder of Indiana Black Expo 
     and started Operation Breadbasket, a Saturday morning radio 
     show dedicated to economic and social justice and spiritual 
     life.
       Yet Brown is perhaps best known for his close relationship 
     with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who stayed at Brown's home 
     in Indianapolis on numerous occasions and consulted with him 
     frequently about the national civil rights movement.
       In a 1992 interview, Brown referred to their efforts as 
     ``mental judo''--a battle waged not with violence but with 
     persuasion and intellect. ``It was not the judo where you get 
     up and fight,'' he said. ``It was judo with your mind, your 
     disposition.''
       The tactic of mental judo, which included passive 
     resistance, was what won so many people to the cause, Rev. 
     Brown believed. That's why, before entering a white-only 
     store or restaurant to request service, young black activists 
     would be told, ``Don't fuss, don't cuss, smile at the 
     people,'' even as force was being used against them.
       Rev. Jesse Jackson, a close friend who marched with Brown, 
     said of him, ``He fought and changed America for the better 
     forever. He had courage and took risks.''
       The fact that a major Indianapolis street already bears his 
     name is testament to the prominent role played by Rev. Brown 
     in this community. But the highest compliment is what has 
     been said many times already by his friends, historians and 
     distant admirers: He practiced what he preached.
                                                                    ____


               [From the Indianapolis News, Aug. 6, 1996]

                        The Rev. Andrew J. Brown

       The Rev. Andrew J. Brown became a symbol of the civil 
     rights movement in Indianapolis.
       He died last week at the age of 75, after a lifetime of 
     church and community service that will continue to have 
     impact in this city and others for many more years.
       He was a door-opener for African-Americans in the years 
     before the civil rights movement was accepted as part of the 
     social consensus, putting his life, family and church at risk 
     as he led demonstrations against segregation.
       Meanwhile, he continued his pastoral work at St. John's 
     Missionary Baptist Church.
       ``He was an extraordinary Baptist preacher [who] had a 
     marvelous voice and could move a congregation with song,'' 
     said Sam Jones, president of the Indianapolis Urban League.
       Jones also took note of Brown's friendships with prominent 
     political and social leaders, both locally and nationally.
       ``He was the kind of guy who could operate with the least 
     of us in our community and with kings and queens and giants 
     alike,'' he said.
       Brown marched with Martin Luther King Jr. at Selma, Ala., 
     in 1965 and was active in social justice issues in 
     Indianapolis for many years.
       The source of his interest in justice went back to World 
     War II, when he was told he would have to have a leg 
     amputated.
       He promised God he would fight for justice for all people 
     if his leg could be saved. It was, and he kept his promise to 
     God.
       ``That's the commitment I made,'' the Rev. Brown later 
     explained. ``I'll keep fighting until I fall because that's 
     what I told God I would do.''
       His example of making and keeping a commitment to God 
     remains for others to follow.
                                                                    ____


            [From the Indianapolis Recorder, Aug. 10, 1996]

                    ``Now, He Belongs to the Ages''

                            (By Amos Brown)

       Throughout its history, Indianapolis has been blessed with 
     many key African-American servant/leaders: Brokenburr, 
     Blackburn, Richardson, Stewart, Ramsey, Sanders, Johnson. 
     But, over a nearly 50 year career, the Rev. Dr. Andrew J. 
     Brown was the most significant--helping transform our 
     African-American community and in large measure, our city as 
     a whole.
       Brown was one of a cadre of Black ministers in their 20s 
     and 30s, who began pastoring in Indianapolis after World War 
     II. Brown, along with Reverends R.T. Andrew, F. Benjamin 
     Davis, Mozel Sanders, Arthur Johnson, Melvin Girton and 
     others broadened their ministries into key staging arenas in 
     the fight for respect and equality for African Americans in 
     this city and state.
       Andrew Brown set a standard for Black leadership and 
     service that many of today's Black leaders have clearly 
     forgotten or don't want to emulate.
       This son of Duncan, Miss., war veteran, accomplished gospel 
     singer, couldn't stayed inside the comfort of his church. 
     Instead, he reached out, personally and with his ministry, 
     his church and his congregation to our community.
       A contemporary of Dr. Martin Luther King Andrew Brown asked 
     Indianapolis to join in the movement. And Indianapolis did! 
     His power base wasn't the Black bourgeoisie, it was the Black 
     working class. Those laboring in the dead end jobs racism had 
     consigned them. Brown appealed to a Black community living in 
     tightly packed segregated neighborhoods, whose children 
     attended an openly racist and segregated school system; in 
     short Brown was the perfect Abraham to unite the tribes 
     living in the plantation Indianapolis was in the 50s and 60s.
       Without Andrew Brown prodding this city's white power 
     structure to change its racist ways, Indianapolis would not 
     have achieved its national and international stature!
       Without Andrew Brown, there would not be a record number of 
     African Americans employed in the professions and in key 
     leadership positions in government and business!
       Without Andrew Brown we would not have had African 
     Americans elected to statewide office or be on the verge of 
     having a Black in Congress!
       Without Andrew Brown, there would not be Blacks living all 
     over, from Geist, to Pike, to Carmel and Fishers, yes even on 
     the Southside of Marion County!
       Other than Frank P. Lloyd, Brown was the only Black 
     universally respected by the city fathers and our own 
     community!
       He had the stature to develop operational unity among 
     Indianapolis Black churches. When Brown called Black 
     ministers together--everybody responded! Sadly, that does not 
     exist today, because of the petty, meaningless jealousies 
     existing among Black churches and ministers in our city.
       With a loyalty and devotion inspired by his calm, firm 
     demeanor and love and respect for the common man and woman, 
     Brown inspired and motivated thousands. And more than any 
     Black man in Indianapolis history, Andrew Brown did things 
     that will never be equaled again in our community!
       Brown could attract thousands to protest outside the 
     Governor's Residence, the State House and other locations. No 
     one can do that today!
       Brown founded Indiana Black Expo, the one enduring monument 
     of what our Black community can accomplish when united. A 
     feat that no one can replicate today!
       Brown used Black radio to inspire and communicate with the 
     community. Until it was shunted to WTLC-AM, Brown's Operation 
     Breadbasket broadcasts on WTLC-FM had huge ratings!
       Brown was a pastor who still had time to be president of 
     the NAACP, and lead the church into social action ministry. 
     An accomplishment that today's timid, fearful Black church 
     refuses to emulate!
       Nearly every Black elected official in this city, from 
     Carson, to Crawford to Howard and the rest owe their 
     inspiration and election to Andrew Brown!
       Those of you reading this who have good jobs in major 
     corporations and businesses in this city, whether you're from 
     Indianapolis or not, you and other African-Americans are 
     there, in large measure, due to the protests, marches and 
     cajoling of Andrew Brown!
       Brown's passing last Friday morning, effectively ends the 
     era of leadership in our community coming from the Black 
     church. His death leaves a void big as the Grand Canyon; one 
     that cannot be filled. The Baptist faith doesn't allow for 
     saints, which is a shame because Andrew J. Brown truly was 
     one.
       This community, and I personally, shall miss his wisdom, 
     his voice, his counsel.
       I have many positive memories of Andrew Brown, especially 
     when we worked together using WTLC Radio in the '70s, '80s 
     and early '90s as a force for positive good in this 
     community.
       I last saw him in November, at Andy Jacobs retirement 
     announcement. In recent years, Alzheimer's disease had taken 
     its toll on Brown. I was walking through Jacobs living room, 
     when I looked up and saw Brown.
       His body was shaking, he was having trouble walking and was 
     helped by his son Tommy. My heart sank, seeing how the 
     disease had ravaged his body. Just then, he reached out his 
     hand. As I grasped it to shake his hand, his eyes twinkled--
     that famous twinkle and smile he had for everyone. He clasped 
     my hand, shook it and nodded. In that instant, we bonded, 
     knowing while the flesh was weak, Andrew Brown's mind, spirit 
     and love still remained strong! That memory, and all the 
     memories of his good works, will stay with me for the rest of 
     my days.
       My sympathies and those of our community goes to wife Rosa 
     Lee, son Thomas and daughters Monica and Adrienne. We thank 
     you for sharing Andrew with us.
       When Abraham Lincoln died, Secretary of War Edward Stanton 
     uttered six words that serves as an epitaph for Brown: ``Now, 
     he belongs to the ages.''
       Bye Rev. Brown * * *

[[Page E1610]]


                                                                    ____
            [From the Indianapolis Recorder, Aug. 10, 1996]

          A.J. Brown Jr.: The man and the Liberating Theology

       (Editor's Note: This article is a reprint from the Tribute 
     and Birthday Celebration booklet, which was held in the honor 
     of Rev. Dr. Andrew J. Brown Jr. Nov. 20, 1995.)
       During the late 1940's, a Black church rose up from among 
     the local Indianapolis Negro churches protesting loudly 
     against racism, discrimination, and poverty.
       St. John Missionary Baptist Church began as a basement 
     church comprised of 57 members, but later grew into one of 
     the largest, most progressive Black churches in the United 
     States. The uncharacteristic progressiveness of St. John can 
     be attributed to its pastor, Rev. Andrew J. Brown, whose firm 
     resolve was to raise the social conscience of the community.
       ``Dr. Brown made me believe that I was just as good as 
     anyone else and he then taught me how to make others feel the 
     same,'' said Larry Veal, a former Indianapolis resident who 
     attended St. John as a youth and was appointed director of 
     the St. John's Youth Awareness Program in 1989. ``I am truly 
     going to miss Dr. Brown, but his mission will live on through 
     me and hundreds of others that he has touched.''
       Through Brown's resoluteness to bring about social reform, 
     St. John became the focal point in the Indianapolis 
     community, and many progressive Blacks gravitated toward it.
       Brown believed the very nature of a minister's calling is 
     to make people uncomfortable, and that the religion of Jesus 
     Christ is revolutionary.
       His formative years were spent with grandparents from the 
     south who instilled a sense of self-worth, Christian hope, 
     and pride in his Black heritage. Another major influence in 
     Brown's life was the late Adam Clayton Powell Jr., a noted 
     politician and minister of social gospel.
       Brown embraced Powell's philosophy of a holistic concept of 
     the church and was critical of any attempt to separate 
     spirituality from social reality.
       The civil right struggle of Martin Luther King Jr. in 
     Montgomery strengthened Brown's resolve to evoke social 
     change in Indiana. Brown was also fortunate to have his 
     supportive, unfaltering, loyal wife, Rosa Lee Brown, at his 
     side. Mrs. Brown, a nurse, is from Chicago where she was a 
     labor organizer and an ardent community activist.
       Rev. Brown's most vivid recollection of bigotry and racism 
     was during his years overseas in World War II. There were 
     very few chaplains for Blacks in the United States Army. 
     Seeing the need for spiritual guidance for Black soldiers, 
     Brown sought and received a field commission from General 
     Dwight D. Eisenhower and became a chaplain in the U.S. Army.
       Brown attended Bishop College in Marshall Texas, where he 
     became acquainted with other young Blacks involved in the 
     Civil Rights struggle such as Coleman W. Kerry who was later 
     appointed by President Richard Nixon to the Education Task 
     Force of North Carolina, and George Dudley who became 
     president of the city council of Rocky Mountain, NC. Brown 
     also attended the Butler University School of Religion.
       During the 1950s and '60s, like his Black counterparts, 
     Brown was involved in the Civil Right's Movement in other 
     parts of the United States. Rev. Brown preached a social 
     gospel, initiating the Civil Rights struggle in the state of 
     Indiana. Ever conscious of bomb threats, night sticks, 
     threats of dismissal from their jobs, and mutilation of their 
     property, the congregation of St. John stood fast, and 
     supported its minister.
       Dying were the days of the docile, passive Negro church in 
     Indianapolis, and in its place grew the Black church still 
     denouncing evil, but demanding human rights, and no longer 
     accepting second-class citizenship for its people.
       Despite threats of bodily harm to himself and family in 
     1962, with the support and protection of his parishioners, 
     Brown, then the president of the Indianapolis NAACP, urged 
     the city of Indianapolis officials to hire more Black police 
     Officers, pointing out that the Black population was 20 
     percent and the police force only represented 10 percent of 
     the Black population.
       As president of the Indiana Christian Leadership 
     Conference, a Southern Christian Leadership Conference 
     Affiliate in 1963, Brown brought about the first coming 
     together of Blacks in Indianapolis to form a single voting 
     block to demonstrate the power of the Black vote.
       Members of St. John participated significantly in taking 
     the civil rights struggle into their career areas in 
     politics, business, government, education economics, and 
     community development.
       The members and its minister provided leadership and 
     support to the Black community by protesting against police 
     brutality and unfair hiring practices by staging freedom 
     rallies, leading picketing marches, and holding inquisitions 
     into Indiana politics.
       Brown urged Indiana Blacks to join the March For Equal 
     Rights in Selma, Ala., in March 1965. It was during this 
     participation in the march that he had to maneuver to keep 
     his car from being run off the road by Ku Klux Klansmen in 
     Alabama.
       Realizing that he was up against the power structure, Brown 
     did not keep quiet. In April of 1965, he said, ``I have 
     attacked the power structure here. I have been threatened 10 
     times today; I should be dead by midnight if any of those 
     threats are carried out.'' He would not be deterred by these 
     threats.
       In keeping with his firm resolve to achieve social reform, 
     as president of the newly organized Central Indiana Christian 
     Leadership Conference, he continually criticized Blacks for 
     being too complacent. He urged Blacks in the 
     Indianapolis Community to join the national Civil Rights 
     struggle by participating in the Poor People's March on 
     Washington in May, 1968.
       Rev. Brown and St. John were to stage many of his such 
     rallies for social justice in the coming years.
       Out of St. John Baptist Missionary Church, in 1971, was 
     born the Indiana Black Expo, an exposition which yearly 
     details the contributions of Blacks to the economic and 
     social growth of Indiana, depicts their history and heritage, 
     and celebrates their progress in the total equality struggle, 
     both economically and socially. The establishment of Indiana 
     Operation Breadbasket is one example of this effort.
       Rev. Brown and the church he nurtured provided the 
     Indianapolis community with a renewed sense of Black pride 
     and Christian hope, his life has been a continued example of 
     achievement through foresight perseverance, prayer and the 
     Christian belief that it is man's duty to act out the eternal 
     truths of God within society.
       When asked about his visions for tomorrow.
       ``Don't think the storm is passing over yet,'' said Brown. 
     ``Things sometimes have to get worse before they get better. 
     Today, we have more subtle injustices, you can't see 
     immediately, but they affect us more than we know.''
       ``The Black Church had a liberating theology, bringing 
     about change and it should always seek to preserve its 
     religious freedom not only for itself, but for the benefit 
     and the posterity of this country.''
       Rev. Brown then leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, 
     placed his finger tips on the edge of his desk and spoke ``If 
     this country is to survive, it will be because the Blacks who 
     were last, will become first in demonstrating the Christian 
     love that truly can bring people together--a perfect love 
     that casts out fear.
       ``If we, God's people, would become interested in loving 
     and preferring one another, this country could survive,'' he 
     said.
       Rev. Andrew J. Brown, Jr., 75, died Aug. 2 in his sleep. 
     Funeral services for Rev. Brown were held Thursday at St. 
     John Missionary Baptist Church.