[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 24, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1607]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1607]]
                         TRIBUTE TO GRACE JAMES

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. KEITH ELLISON

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 24, 2007

  Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the life 
of Grace James of Minnesota, a tireless activist whose contribution to 
the North Side of Minneapolis cannot be overstated. Though it saddens 
me to report that Mrs. James passed away recently at the age of 93, I 
am humbled and inspired by the example she has set through her advocacy 
for the North Side, a neighborhood she endlessly fought to support, a 
community she tirelessly worked to build.
  It is hard to think of a facet of community that Mrs. James didn't 
work to improve. During her career she served on numerous housing 
boards where she strived to ensure that everyone could find a place to 
live and that the North Side had open arms to those needing a home. 
Through organizations such as Minnesota Cooperative Housing and the 
North Side Residents Redevelopment Council, the work she began in the 
1950s to this day helps to maintain and benefit the community she 
loved.
  Mrs. James was also an activist in local education, working as a 
teacher's aide in the 1960s and as an organizer for the teachers union 
in the 1970s. Her work for North Side youth didn't stop at the 
schoolhouse doors, however; she once worked as a member of the board of 
the YWCA, supported the Campfire Girls, and served as the president of 
the Jack and Jill Club, introducing black children to cultural sites 
and events--and raising scholarship money along the way.
  Part of what makes Mrs. James so remarkable, her example so 
admirable, is how she fought on a personal level. Her daughter Noel 
remembers that, outside of the councils and non-profits, the schools 
and unions, Mrs. James made the time to make sure neighborhood kids 
kept out of trouble. She defines what it is to fight at the grassroots 
level, leaving former Minneapolis City Councilwoman Jackie Cherryhomes 
to remark how ``she believed in the power of community long before 
anyone talked about it.''
  In closing, Madam Speaker, I wish to express my condolences to those 
surviving Mrs. James: her daughters, her grandchildren, her great-
grandchild, and the community she worked for, the community she loved. 
It is an honor to stand in recognition of the memory and life of such 
an illustrious woman as she. Mrs. James, thank you.

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