[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 160 (Monday, October 22, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2193-E2194]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         IN HONOR OF MEL MASON

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 22, 2007

  Mr. FARR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a great American, Mr. 
Mel Mason, on the occasion of his recognition by the Monterey Peninsula 
Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored 
People with its Stephen E. Ross award for community service. I have 
known Mr. Mason for many years. He has distinguished himself in so many 
fields: as a mentor, an athlete, a public servant, and most of all as 
an advocate for justice.
  Mel was born on January 7, 1943 in the Appalachian coal mining town 
of Providence, KY. As an African American, Mel suffered the full force 
of that community's Jim Crow era segregation, In 1956, Mel moved with 
his mother to Seaside, CA. As a young man, Mel made a mark on the 
basketball court at both Monterey High School and Monterey Peninsula 
College where he was the stand out basketball star of his day. He still 
holds the MPC scoring record. While serving in the Air Force, he became 
the youngest basketball player to

[[Page E2194]]

be named All-Air Force team and in 1964 led all branches of the 
military in scoring in Europe. After returning from the Air Force, Mel 
then attended Oregon State University for a short time under a 
basketball scholarship.
  In the Air Force and then at OSU, Mel encountered head on deep seated 
racism in his superior officers and coaches. Mel fought back, for which 
he paid a price. In 1965, his complaints about his treatment in the Air 
Force earned him a bad conduct discharge. In 1966, his complaints and 
actions at OSU over its treatment of him and other black players led to 
the loss of his scholarship and a ban on Mel from playing basketball at 
any U.S. college. U.S. Senator Thomas Kuchel later helped Mel change 
his discharge to honorable but the college ban stayed and Mel returned 
to California.
  These experiences truly fired Mel up and he became a burr under many 
saddles. He helped organize a Black Workers Unity Organization to fight 
racism at a San Jose company where he worked. Back in Monterey County 
he organized a Black United Farmworkers Union support committee during 
UFW's organizing efforts in the Salinas Valley in the early 1970s. He 
helped organize the first anti-police brutality campaigns on the 
Monterey Peninsula and has remained an advocate for fair treatment for 
people of color and the mentally ill by law enforcement agencies in his 
community. In the 1990s, Mel co-founded both the Regional Alliance for 
Progressive Policy and the Pro-Democracy Education Fund. In 2002, Mel 
began the first of two consecutive terms as President of the Monterey 
Peninsula Branch of the NAACP.
  Throughout the early 1970s Mel was an active member of the Black 
Panther Party, and later the Socialist Workers Party. He ran 
successfully for a seat on the Seaside City Council where he championed 
programs for youth, tenants, organized labor, and minorities. Mel later 
ran unsuccessfully as the SWP candidate for California Governor and 
President of the United States.
  Much of Mel's work has been called subversive by many. Some of the 
organizations that he has been associated with over the years are not 
popular. While Mel may not have always made right argument, he has 
always argued in the right way. He has taken unpopular ideas into the 
democratic process and so made our Nation a better democracy. Madam 
Speaker, I wish to extend the congratulations of this House to Mr. Mel 
Mason for his achievements so far and our wishes for his success in the 
future.

                          ____________________