[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 79 (Friday, June 14, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1057]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          A TRIBUTE IN MEMORY OF REVEREND S. AMOS BRACKEEN 2D

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                          HON. ROBERT A. BRADY

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 13, 2002

  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the memory of 
Rev. S. Amos Brackeen 2d, 83, a social activist, and founder of the 
Philippian Baptist Church, who recently died after providing more than 
four decades of spiritual and civic leadership in Philadelphia.
  From the time Rev. Brackeen arrived in our city in 1959 to become 
pastor of Jones Memorial Baptist Church, he was recognized as a 
theological activist.
  In the early 60's he stood on street corners with civil rights 
leaders and demanded accountability from the Philadelphia Police 
Department when a white officer shot and killed an African American man 
suspected of shoplifting. He was appointed by the Mayor to a committee 
helped to expose racial disparities in the payment of city workers.
  As a member of the Baptist Ministers Conference of Philadelphia and 
Vicinity, Rev. Brackeen fought discriminatory practices by city labor 
unions. He also led the North Philadelphia Human Relations Committee, 
which sought to improve relations between police and the residents of 
North Philadelphia.
  While continuing the fight for equality for African Americans, he 
also focused on the importance of economic equity. In that regard he 
became part of an effort that established an African American owned 
bank in Philadelphia.
  In 1965, he founded Philippian Baptist Church in the First 
Congressional District with less than a hundred members. Today, there 
are 1,500 congregants.
  However, his theology went beyond America's shores. As treasurer of 
the Baptist Foreign Missions Bureau, he gathered support from his 
congregation to help build a church in Nigeria, West Africa and a 
church and school in Haiti. He also sponsored the establishment of the 
Philippian Baptist Home Mission for Haitians newly migrated to 
Philadelphia.
  While Rev. Brackeen was born in Port Arthur, Texas, the son of the 
town's first African American physician, his adopted City of 
Philadelphia has been enriched and spiritually fed by this progressive 
and dynamic child of God and leader of the faithful. I know my 
colleagues will join me in expressing my condolences to his loving 
family and congregation.

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