[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 33 (Thursday, March 17, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING EUGENE PARKS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TAMMY BALDWIN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 17, 2005

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the memory 
of a remarkable citizen, Mr. Eugene Parks of Madison, Wisconsin.
  Eugene Parks was a complicated man who confronted complicated issues 
head on, no holds barred. He was the outspoken conscience of our 
community and he wasn't afraid to remind us of our shortcomings. He is 
remembered as a man who worked passionately against the racism and 
injustice he saw and felt in our community and in the world. ``As a 
black man,'' he told his nephew, ``you aren't going to be heard unless 
you say it like you mean it.'' Gene Parks was never afraid to say it 
and he always, always, meant it.
  Most important, no matter how contentious his relationship with his 
community and its government, Gene never abandoned either. As Madison's 
first African-American alderman, Gene was a role model and catalyst for 
change by the age of 21. Decades later, as the city's first African-
American candidate for mayor, he showed the same commitment to civic 
responsibility.
  Most in our city knew Gene as a firebrand, but he was also a devoted 
father, a music lover, and even an actor. I still have the Playbill 
from a UW-Madison Theatre Department production of the musical 
``Finnian's Rainbow'' in which I was a five year old member of the 
chorus and Gene Parks played a lead role.
  I think Gene would have been humbled by the many heartfelt tributes 
and the overflow crowd at his memorial service in Madison's Memorial 
High School auditorium. Our city was shaken by the depth of the void 
left by his passing.
  Of all the descriptors by which we remember Gene Parks, there is none 
more accurate nor more honorable than that of ``citizen.''
  Thank you, Gene.

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