[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 94 (Friday, July 9, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1345]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING JERRY WHYATT MONDESIRE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROBERT A. BRADY

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, July 9, 2004

  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the 
accomplishments of journalist, former Congressional staffer, 
Pennsylvania State NAACP Vice President, Philadelphia NAACP President, 
and activist Jerry Whyatt Mondesire. Mr. Mondesire has consistently 
proven himself to be a proponent of civil rights and an agent of social 
activism here in the United States and around the world.
  Mr. Mondesire's career as a journalist began in college, where he 
discovered that each of his school's four student newspapers 
intentionally overlooked the concerns and affairs of the school's 
African-American student minority. In response to this negligence, and 
to address the diverse needs of the student body, he helped found an 
Afrocentric magazine. Within a year, Mondesire took control of one of 
the campus' weekly papers and set up a fully integrated staff.
  Mr. Mondesire's post-collegiate journalistic career was further 
marked by the activism that had so deeply characterized his years in 
college. After a decade in mainstream journalism, he concluded that the 
``glass ceiling'' that denied African-Americans to work and excel to 
their full potential was present in that field. He left his editorial 
position at a major Philadelphia newspaper in order to become Chief of 
Staff for the Majority Whip of the U.S. Congress; there he was able to 
utilize his talents to combat both foreign and domestic social 
inequities. After spending 12 years in the most prestigious 
Congressional staff position, he rekindled his passion, revitalized his 
journalistic career and sought to address the issue of the journalistic 
glass ceiling by helping start The Philadelphia Sunday Sun.
  In the past twelve years, Jerry Mondesire has become the host of a 
radio public affairs program on WDAS FM, the host of a cable television 
program called ``Freedomquest'', President of the Philadelphia National 
Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and Vice President 
of the Pennsylvania state NAACP. This gentleman is clearly an example 
of social activism at its best.
  It is a privilege to recognize someone whose ambition, motivation, 
and desire for social equality are an inspiration to all Americans. I 
ask you and my other distinguished colleagues to join me in commending 
Mr. Mondesire for his lifetime of activism, journalistic integrity, and 
perseverance.

                          ____________________