[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.