[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 58 (Friday, May 12, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E828]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING DAMU SMITH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 12, 2006

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to join my 
colleagues here in the Congressional Black Caucus, throughout the 
United States and across the globe in commemorating and honoring the 
extraordinary life of Damu Smith. A leader in the ongoing struggles for 
civil rights as well as social and environmental justice for more than 
30 years, Damu is known worldwide for his lifelong commitment to 
advancing equality, human rights and nonviolence. Damu passed away on 
May 5, 2006 after a courageous battle with cancer.
  Born in 1952 in St. Louis, Missouri to Sylvester and Vernice Smith, 
Damu was raised with his three brothers and sisters in the Carr Square 
Village housing project. A working-class family, they often struggled 
to make ends meet, sometimes receiving welfare or other government 
assistance. Damu has said that having this experience growing up 
developed in him a great sensitivity to the plight of low-income 
communities, and played a central role in shaping his views as an adult 
and as an activist.
  As a high school student, Damu had the chance to attend some of the 
Black Solidarity Day rallies in Cairo, Illinois, where he listened to 
speeches by Amiri Baraka, Nina Simone and Jesse Jackson, and toured 
black neighborhoods where white supremacists had sprayed houses with 
gunfire, a sight that changed his life. As a freshman at St. John's 
University in Minnesota, and president of the Organization of Afro-
American Students, Damu led a protest and takeover of the school's 
administrative offices to demand a Black studies program. It was during 
that time that he changed his name to Damu Amiri Imara Smith, the first 
three words meaning ``blood,'' ``leadership,'' and ``strength'' in 
Swahili, respectively. In 1973, he moved to Washington D.C., where he 
began the next chapter in his lifelong mission of advocating for social 
justice in the United States and abroad.
  Over the next thirty years, Damu's activism included vigilance in the 
fight against Apartheid in South Africa as Executive Director of the 
Washington Office on Africa and co-founder of Artists for a Free South 
Africa. Additionally, Damu focused his energy and attention on broad-
based efforts to expose gun violence and police brutality, and was also 
active in peace and nuclear weapons freeze campaigns, working as the 
Associate Director of the Washington Office of the American Friends 
Service Committee.
  Furthermore, Damu was known for his pioneering leadership in the 
environmental justice movement, working as the first environmental 
justice coordinator for the Southern Organizing Committee for Economic 
and Social Justice. After touring cities severely impacted by chemical 
pollution and seeing the devastating impacts of these practices on low 
income and African American communities, he organized Toxic Tours in 
the South for Greenpeace. In 1999, he coordinated the largest 
environmental justice conference ever held, an event which led to the 
formation of the National Black Environmental Justice Network, which 
was the first ever network of Black environmental justice activists, 
and of which he served as the Executive Director.
  Throughout his historic and far-reaching career of activism and 
advocacy, Damu was widely respected and viewed as a leading voice for 
social justice and progressive change in the United States and abroad. 
Revered by his colleagues and all who knew him as not just a leader but 
a true visionary in the fight for justice, peace and equality, Damu's 
contributions to the effort to affect genuinely democratic reforms in 
the United States and around the world are truly immeasurable.
  My life was personally touched by Damu. I met him many years ago and 
his intellect, heart and soul brought joy and clarity to my life. Like 
all who knew and loved him, I will deeply miss his presence on this 
earth.
  Though his death is a great loss to our country and to our entire 
global family, the legacy of his work will continue to improve 
countless lives for generations to come. My thoughts and prayers are 
with Damu's family, as well as the numerous friends, colleagues and 
other individuals that he inspired during his lifetime as we mourn the 
loss of this exemplary leader.