[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 97 (Friday, June 27, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1395]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    TRIBUTE HONORING ATLANTA'S FIRST BLACK MAYOR, MAYNARD H. JACKSON

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE-JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 26, 2003

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE-JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it is with great 
sorrow that I pay tribute to the memory of a profoundly historical 
gentleman from Atlanta, Mayor Maynard H. Jackson. I would like to 
extend my greatest sympathy to the Jackson Family by taking a moment to 
reflect upon his rich life.
  Although Mayor Jackson was born in Dallas, Texas, he grew up in 
Atlanta and finished high school at 14 years of age. He graduated from 
Morehouse College with honors at 18, and later, successfully pursued a 
law degree from North Carolina Central University.
  Maynard Jackson reshaped Atlanta's power structure and made history, 
at age 35, when he was first elected Atlanta's first black mayor from 
1974 through 1982. In 1990 he was re-elected with 80 percent of the 
vote and took office several months before the 1990 announcement that 
Atlanta had been chosen as host of the Summer Olympics. He's been 
widely acknowledged by his statement: ``It is fitting and proper that 
Atlanta, not perfect but the best city in America, was chosen to host 
the Olympic Games.''
  Mayor Jackson's initial eight-year tenure in City Hall will be 
remembered most for his impact on the black business community. He was 
a champion of black business, evidenced by the affirmative action 
programs he implemented which increased the number of city contracts 
awarded to blacks and other underrepresented groups by more than 30 
percent. After he left his 1989 mayoral term, Jackson entered the 
business sector by forming Jackson Securities, an investment firm which 
now has offices in Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Orlando, Los Angeles, San 
Diego, San Francisco, and Chicago.
  His family was active in early voting rights efforts. His 
grandfather, John Wesley Dobbs, was co-chairman of the Atlanta Negro 
Voters League, and his father, the Rev. Maynard H. Jackson Sr., was the 
first black to seek public office in Dallas, the former pastor of New 
Hope Baptist Church, and founded the Georgia Voters league. Maynard 
Jackson will be missed, but never forgotten for his enthusiasm, his 
vision and dedication towards leaving a legacy for a world of true 
cohesive diversity, and contributions to the City of Atlanta, Georgia.

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