[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 125 (Wednesday, August 1, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1676-E1677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        50TH ANNIVERSARY OF SCLC

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                           HON. BOBBY L. RUSH

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 31, 2007

  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, we are here tonight to pay tribute to an 
historic American institution. This August the Southern Christian 
Leadership Conference, the SCLC, will celebrate its 50th anniversary.
  The SCLC is one of the oldest and most influential civil rights 
organizations in American history. From its storied beginning, under 
the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the SCLC has practiced 
the cornerstone of its founding principles: nonviolence in the fight 
for civil and human rights.
  Originating from the Montgomery Bus Boycott that began after Rosa 
Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat, the SCLC has been 
a stalwart in the struggle for equal rights and human dignity for all.
  The bus boycott organized under the leadership of Dr. King and Ralph 
David Abernathy signaled to Black America the beginning of a new phase 
in the long struggle in what has come to be known as the modern civil 
rights movement.
  Bombings, threats, and arrests could not dissuade church leaders from 
all over the Deep South from coming together and organizing under a 
simple mission and platform.
  At its first convention in Montgomery, Alabama in August 1957, the 
Southern Leadership Conference adopted the current name, the Southern 
Christian Leadership Conference, and the newly-formed group issued a 
document declaring that civil rights were essential to democracy, that 
segregation must end, and that all Black people should reject 
segregation absolutely and nonviolently.
  Founders at these early meetings adopted nonviolent mass action as 
the centerpiece of their strategy against segregation and inequality. 
Additionally, the organization made the determination to open up the 
SCLC movement to people of all races, religions, and backgrounds.
  At that time in American history there were many of us who questioned 
solely using nonviolent protest as a tactic in the fight for civil 
rights. However, today there can be no question that the strategy was 
effective.
  One of the most dramatic moments in America history occurred during a 
SCLC campaign in Birmingham, Alabama. On May 2, 1957 more than 1,000 
Black school children joined in the peaceful demonstrations where 
hundreds were arrested. The following day, 2,500 more students showed 
up, and Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor met them with police 
dogs and high-pressure fire hoses.
  That evening, television news programs showed the nation, and the 
world, scenes of fire hoses knocking down school children and dogs 
attacking individual demonstrators, who had no means of protecting 
themselves.
  Public outrage led the Kennedy administration to intervene more 
forcefully. A settlement was announced on May 10, under which the 
downtown Birmingham businesses would desegregate and eliminate 
discriminatory hiring practices, and the city would release the jailed 
protesters.
  During this turbulent episode, the brutal response of local police 
and ``Bull'' Connor stood in stark contrast to the nonviolent civil 
disobedience of the activists, and public sentiment came down on the 
side of justice.
  Madam Speaker, I take pride in doing my part to continue the work of 
Dr. King and other prominent SCLC members and moving the civil rights 
agenda forward.
  Tonight my colleagues and I would like to salute the efforts and hard 
work of the SCLC. The world is a better place today because of their 
actions throughout these past fifty years. I want to extend my 
heartfelt congratulations and gratitude for the legacy the SCLC has 
established, here in America and around the globe.

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