[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 36 (Tuesday, March 4, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1520-S1521]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO JOHNNIE CARR

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, it is with sadness that today I note the 
loss of a great American and a hero of the civil rights movement, Mrs. 
Johnnie Carr.
  Mrs. Carr passed away in Montgomery on February 22, 2008, at the age 
of 97, but her lifelong struggle for equality in America will be an 
inspiration for many years to come.
  I had the great privilege to know Mrs. Carr personally. I was always 
struck by her deep faith and commitment to improving our State. She was 
an independent thinker, and her remarkable strength served her well as 
a leader.
  Mrs. Carr lived all her life in Montgomery, where she was a foot 
soldier in the fight for equality. She was a founding member of the 
Montgomery Improvement Association, an organization that proved 
instrumental in the important civil rights events in Alabama during the 
1950s and 1960s.
  Carr was the schoolmate, friend, and partner of Rosa Parks, who was 
the recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal and who was honored, 2 
years ago, by having her body lie in honor in the Rotunda of the U.S. 
Capitol.
  Fred Gray, lawyer for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and author of 
``Bus Ride to Justice,'' a valuable history of the civil rights 
movement in Alabama, points out that Johnnie Carr was one of the 
organizers of the bus protest. Gray eloquently notes that her boycott 
``Set in motion the modern civil rights movement and gave birth to a 
world leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a future Nobel Peace Prize 
Laureate.'' That protest succeeded as a result of unified African-
American community leaders like Johnnie Carr.
  Later, in 1964, Carr became the lead plaintiff in the historic school 
desegregation case, Carr v. the Montgomery Board of Education, a 
victory for color-blind public education and one of many important 
cases heard by U.S. District Judge Frank M. Johnson. Indeed, this case 
was the first time that the U.S. Supreme Court approved ``quotas, 
goals, and time-tables'' as corrections for past discrimination, Gray 
writes.
  She committed her entire life to equality and her faith, which 
provided her the courage to make a difference.
  It is fitting that Mrs. Carr followed Dr. King as president of the 
Montgomery Improvement Association. For more than four decades she led 
campaigns to promote voter registration and integrate public 
facilities.

[[Page S1521]]

  Always a strong leader, Mrs. Carr promoted cooperation and consensus 
during a difficult period in our Nation's history. She reached across 
racial lines to promote positive change for Alabama, serving as both an 
active member of Hall Street Baptist Church and as a missionary for the 
Montgomery Antioch District.
  Many individuals and organizations have recognized Mrs. Carr's long 
history of leadership and advocacy. It is a privilege to lend my voice 
to the choir of those who have honored the spirit and dedication of 
this American hero. She left a lasting legacy in this country that will 
not soon be forgotten.

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