[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 77 (Thursday, May 22, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1049]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING MARVIN DAVIES

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JIM DAVIS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 22, 2003

  Mr. DAVIS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in honor of Marvin Davies, 
a longtime civil rights leader in Florida, who lost his life to cancer 
last month.
  Davies began his battle for equality at an early age. By the time he 
was a college student at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical 
University, Davies was participating in protests with Dr. Martin Luther 
King Jr. and boycotts in Tallahassee, St. Augustine and Montgomery, 
Alabama. Chosen as Student of the Year, he graduated from FAMU ranked 
second in his class.
  At age 32, Davies was offered the position of Field Secretary for 
Florida's NAACP. He served Florida's 138 NAACP branches for seven years 
and became a leader in the fight for equal opportunities for all 
Americans in employment, schools, hospitals and all other public 
places.
  Later, Davies served as a special assistant and advisor to Senator 
Bob Graham during his terms as Florida Governor and U.S. Senator, and 
worked as the state coordinator of the Martin Luther King, Jr. 
Foundation. Throughout his entire career, Davies was a public voice for 
minorities and improving the lives of young people in minority 
communities.
  However, the people of St. Petersburg will remember him best for his 
work in our community. In 1968, Davies returned to St. Petersburg in 
support of city sanitation workers who were on strike for better wages 
and benefits. He served on the Coalition of African-American 
Leadership, created following the St. Petersburg city riots in 1996, as 
well as the Citizens Advisory Commission, appointed by the Clinton 
Administration to oversee the Federal assistance to the city after the 
civil unrest.
  On behalf of the Tampa Bay area, I extend my deepest sympathies to 
Marvin Davies' family and friends. His life work will never be 
forgotten.

                          ____________________