[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 23 (Thursday, February 27, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E349]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  ONE OF AMERICA'S GREATEST TREASURES

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 27, 1997

  Mr. THOMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize one of 
Mississippi's most out-spoken heroes and one of America's greatest 
treasures. Although the contributions that Americans of African descent 
have made to this country are inexplicably woven into the very fiber of 
freedom and democracy upon which this country was founded, they are 
consistently overlooked and seldom find their place in history books 
alongside those of their white counterparts. However, because the 
recognition of these contributions has been relegated to 1 month out of 
the year--this month--instead of everyday, I would like to take a 
moment to share with you an article from ``The Mississippi Link'', a 
paper in the district I represent. This article commemorates the life 
of Mr. R. Jess Brown--Civil Rights pioneer and true supporter of 
democracy.

     ``R. Jess Brown: A Memorial Tribute to Keep His Memory Alive''

                          (By Nettie Stowers)


                    special to the mississippi link

       R. Jess Brown, a citizen of Mississippi residing in the 
     city of Jackson, in September, 1988 was summoned by the U.S. 
     Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus 
     Foundation, Inc. to the Nation's Capitol. Brown had been 
     invited to attend and participate in ``A Special Tribute To A 
     Great American, The Honorable Thurgood Marshall, U.S. Supreme 
     Court Justice'' that was hosted by the Black Caucus and 
     Foundation.
       This invitation to attend and participate in the tribute 
     was due Brown, in part, because the Jackson, Miss. attorney 
     had been a member of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund which had 
     also included Justice Marshall. According to the Magnolia Bar 
     Association, in his august career, Brown ``played a major 
     role with the NAACP Legal Defense lawyers in (ending) the 
     discrimination against Blacks in the areas of transportation 
     and other public accommodations along with (the) Honorable 
     Thurgood Marshall, then Associate Justice of the United 
     States Supreme Court (now deceased); (the) Honorable 
     Constance Baker Motley and Robert L. Carter, now (both are) 
     residing judges in the United States District Court for the 
     State of New York; and other NAACP Legal Defense lawyers.''
       At this tribute, billed as ``A Special Tribute To Thurgood 
     Marshall . . . The Lifetime Companion For Justice For All 
     People . . .'', Brown was rubbing elbows with people who held 
     esteem for equal justice for all Americans such as Wiley 
     Branton, Sr., Esquire, (now deceased); U.S. Representatives 
     Louis Stokes, Michael Espy, Mervyn Dymally, Walter Fauntroy 
     and Julian Dixon; William Coleman, Jr., former Secretary of 
     the Department of Transportation; Ramsey Clark, former U.S. 
     Attorney General; and AME Bishop H. H. Brookins.
       Brown was accustomed to such invitations and honors: a 
     civil rights lawyer, he had served as a member of the team 
     lawyers who had systematically dismantled the discriminatory 
     segregationists and ``Jim Crow'' laws in America, especially 
     in the South and Mississippi. Brown's contributions to 
     American society are a reading of U.S. History and 
     Mississippi History.
       In 1948, Brown joined Gladys Noel Bates in seeking equal 
     salaries for black teachers in Jackson when very few, if any, 
     blacks dared to oppose the historically white supremacy power 
     structure in the Magnolia State. Jether Walker Brown, his 
     widow who still lives in Jackson, said ``when Jess stepped in 
     to help Mrs. Bates, almost no one was speaking to her because 
     of intimidation by whites. Jess stepped in and almost 
     immediately made the Black people feel ashamed for their 
     actions.'' Jether Brown went on to say that ``things were not 
     easy for him (Jess) or any of us during this time. Anyone or 
     any group associated with helping Blacks get equal treatment 
     ``receiving death threats harassment and vindictive and cruel 
     intimidation; this included men, women and children. This was 
     especially true for Jess, me and our two children. Oh Lord, 
     it wasn't easy!''
       Mrs. Brown also said that her husband represented a lot of 
     Black people in cases where Mississippi sought the death 
     penalty; but, these Black folk were never executed because 
     her husband would keep on appealing their cases until some 
     judge or court would overrule Mississippi's decision to 
     execute.
       In the 1950's Brown filed the first civil rights suit in 
     Mississippi in Jefferson Davis County seeking the enforcement 
     of the right of Black citizens to become registered voters. 
     He was successful in obtaining Clyde Kennard's release after 
     Kennard was convicted for the theft of chicken feed after 
     attempting to register to vote at Mississippi Southern 
     University. In the 1960's, Brown was among the team of 
     lawyers who represented James Meredith in opening the doors 
     of Ole Miss to Blacks.
       The civil rights lawyer represented Mack Charles Parker in 
     the Circuit Court in Pearl River County, Miss., who was 
     lynched and thrown in the Pearl River after Brown raised the 
     jury selection question prior to Parker's trial. And, while 
     serving as counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union 
     (ACLU), Brown was successful in obtaining reversals of 
     convictions of Black defendants because discrimination 
     against blacks in jury selection in Scott and Warren 
     Counties.
       Before Brown's untimely death in 1989, Attorney Firnst J. 
     Alexander, Jr., assisted Brown in obtaining an acquittal for 
     a Black defendant accused of being involved in attempted 
     armed robbery of an alleged white victim in Neshoba County, 
     Miss., where the alleged victim was shot.
       Mrs. Brown said, ``All of R. Jess' cases were important; 
     but I'd say that lawyers in the State of Mississippi were 
     hard to find and Mississippi had a rule that out-of-State 
     civil rights lawyers could not come in and represent the 
     people who were suffering and dying from discrimination--a 
     local lawyer had to take the lead.'' That's how we got some 
     of the lawyers in Mississippi whose names are a part of civil 
     rights history like Carsie Hall, Jack Young, Sr. and others.
       Brown served on the executive board of the National Bar 
     Association, he received numerous honors and awards which 
     includes the C. Francis Stratton Award of the National Bar 
     Association, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund 
     Award; and, the Illinois State University Award of 
     Achievement. Brown's fraternal affiliations included Phi Beta 
     Sigma Fraternity, the Elks, and L.K. Atwood Lodge. Brown was 
     a member of Pratt United Methodist Church in Jackson, 
     Mississippi.
       When asked about her greatest contribution to R. Jess' and 
     his undaunted efforts to gain equality under the law for 
     American with African heritage, Mrs. Brown said ``R. Jess was 
     a humanitarian, educator, and fighter for civil rights. I 
     made my contribution as a friend, wife, mother to our 
     children and someone with whom he could confide and consult 
     with on any subject. I have given it to R. Jess, he valued 
     and respected my opinions and my knowledge.''


                at first glance fact about r. jess brown

       September 2, 1912--December 31, 1989.
       Formal Education: Public Schools of Muskogee, Oklahoma.
       Undergraduate Education: Illinois State University.
       Graduate Education: Indiana University.
       Legal Education: Texas Southern University School of Law.
       Admitted To Practice Law: All Mississippi State Courts; 
     U.S. District Courts for the Southern/Northern Districts of 
     MS.
       Profession: High School Teacher, College Professor, Lawyer.
       Married to Jether Lee Walker Brown; Jackson, MS.
       Children: Jacqueline Brown Staffney; Jackson, MS and 
     Richard Jess Brown; Jackson, MS.


                         major accomplishments

       Filed the first civil rights suit in Mississippi seeking 
     the enforcement of the right of Americans with African 
     heritage to become registered voters.
       Represented James Meredith in opening the doors of the 
     University of Mississippi to American with African heritage 
     with other lawyers from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.


                            memorial tribute

       The Magnolia Bar Association (R. Jess Brown was a co-
     founder) presents the R. Jess Brown Award to a deserving 
     attorney.
       R. Jess Brown Park; Capitol Street; Jackson, Mississippi.

                          ____________________