[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 34 (Wednesday, February 28, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E421]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO MS. DESIREE PILGRIM-HUNTER

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                          HON. JOSE E. SERRANO

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 28, 2007

  Mr. SERRANO. Madam Speaker, as we give pause to commemorate the 
innumerable contributions that African Americans have--and continue to 
make--to our Nation, it gives me great pleasure to rise in honor of a 
Bronx activist, organizer and impassioned voice for community 
empowerment, Ms. Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter.
  Born in London, England, by the age of twenty, Ms. Pilgrim-Hunter had 
lived in six countries across Europe, Africa and North America. The 
roots of Ms. Pilgrim-Hunter's activism in the Bronx date back to 1995, 
when she first attended community meetings surrounding the 
redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx. In the twelve 
years since first taking an interest in this project, Ms. Pilgrim-
Hunter's passion for the Armory has resulted in her emergence as a 
local leader on the issue.
  In January of 2006, Ms. Pilgrim-Hunter began to lead Community Action 
Meetings in her Fordham Hill neighborhood regarding the redevelopment 
plans, and later that year she participated in the Kingsbridge Armory 
Redevelopment Alliance's Community Forum. Ms. Pilgrim-Hunter was 
present when New York City Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff announced the 
formation of the Kingsbridge Armory Task Force, and not long after this 
announcement, Ms. Pilgrim-Hunter was invited to serve on the Task Force 
as my Community Representative.
  In addition to her work around the Armory, over the years, Ms. 
Pilgrim-Hunter has also been an advocate for issues ranging from fair 
labor standards to improving Bronx public schools; she has even founded 
a group known as Concerned Shareholders of Fordham Hill--a coalition of 
area residents organized around the idea of ensuring that their 
building management company acts in the best interest of its tenants.
  Madam Speaker, the esteemed author Alice Walker writes, ``The most 
common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have 
any.'' On behalf of the many individuals in the Bronx who look to Ms. 
Pilgrim-Hunter to provide leadership, I am very proud to be able to 
acknowledge and honor the power, conviction, and selflessness behind 
Ms. Pilgrim-Hunter's continuing efforts to advance meaningful social 
change in the Bronx. I am therefore pleased to recognize Ms. Desiree 
Pilgrim-Hunter.




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