[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 74 (Monday, May 19, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E996]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO REV. M. MASON WALKER

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JIM DAVIS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 19, 2003

  Mr. JIM DAVIS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in honor of Rev. M. 
Mason Walker, a prominent civil rights activist in Florida and the 
beloved pastor of St. James AME Church, who lost his battle with cancer 
last week.
  Raised in Dade City, Florida, Rev. Walker was only a teenager when he 
began speaking out for equal rights. In the mid 1960s, he joined other 
African-American students in integrating Pasco High School and was 
instrumental in organizing the Great Pasco County NAACP Youth 
Organization.
  Unafraid to fight for his beliefs, in 1964, Rev. Walker walked into 
the segregated Crest Restaurant in Dade City and demanded service. When 
asked to leave, he bravely said ``When I'm finished eating, I will 
leave.''
  After moving to St. Petersburg, Rev. Walker continued his leadership 
in the civil rights movement. In 1973, Rev. Walker went to court to 
contest a provision in the City of St. Petersburg's charter which 
denied him a slot on the ballot for St. Petersburg City Council because 
he was not a property owner. Thanks to his efforts, the provision was 
ruled unconstitutional.
  Rev. Walker was an active member in the St. Petersburg chapter of the 
NAACP and a member of the executive board. He also served as 
Commissioner on the St. Petersburg Housing Authority Board, chairman of 
the Martin Luther King Commemorative Commission, board member of the 
Tampa Bay Holocaust Memorial Museum and Educational Center, as well as 
member of the Pinellas County Millennium Committee, the Community 
Alliance, Fair Housing Board, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 
United Way advisory board, and the Interdenominational Ministerial 
Alliance.
  However, the members at St. James AME Church and Moore's Chapel AME 
Church, where he served as pastor, will best remember Rev. Walker for 
his selfless dedication to his congregations.
  On behalf of the entire Tampa Bay area, I extend my deepest 
sympathies to all his friends and family. Rev. Walker's fight for 
equality will never be forgotten.

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