[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 119 (Thursday, September 21, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1808]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      IN TRIBUTE TO LEONARD SYKES

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. GWEN MOORE

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 21, 2006

  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the 
life and work of Mr. Leonard Sykes, Jr., a highly respected, deeply 
principled and thoroughly knowledgeable Milwaukee journalist. Mr. Sykes 
died September 17, after suffering a stroke earlier this summer.
  Mr. Sykes dedicated his professional life to ensuring that the 
practice of journalism in Milwaukee and across the country should grow 
to reflect the full range of life in communities of color. He came to 
Milwaukee in 1986, having already established a strong journalism 
career with stints at Jet Magazine and the Waukegan, IL, News-Sun. 
During his tenure at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, he covered issues 
that were at the heart of the urban, African American experience, 
including civil rights, poverty, job training, and anti-violence 
efforts. He was dedicated to highlighting community efforts that helped 
hold families and neighborhoods together. A one-time city editor at the 
Journal Sentinel, he was working as urban affairs reporter at the time 
of his death.
  An award-winning journalist and consummate professional, Mr. Sykes 
was known throughout the Milwaukee area for bringing dignity and 
passion to his work. His writing never failed to highlight a keen 
understanding of the issues. His unique insights derived from skillful 
research and encyclopedic knowledge of Milwaukee and its people. His 
no-nonsense approach to the issues sometimes touched a nerve with 
policymakers, power brokers, and the community at large. Perhaps 
because of his commitment to seeking truth and airing out the 
assumptions that underlay conventional wisdom, his work was well 
respected among the powerful and disenfranchised alike.
  As chair of the Journal Sentinel's Minority Caucus, and through his 
work with the Wisconsin Association of Black Journalists, Mr. Sykes 
endeavored to expand coverage of communities of color across the state 
and throughout the country. Notwithstanding this effort--and the 
glimpse it afforded into the African American community--his reach, 
focus and scope transcended race. I will miss his powerful intellect 
and his commitment to using his position to speak truth to power. His 
death leaves a void not only in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 
newsroom, but in the Milwaukee community as a whole.

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