[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 31 (Monday, February 23, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H1647-H1653]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2009, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Fudge) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Ms. FUDGE. Mr. Speaker, I stand tonight to represent the 
Congressional Black Caucus for this hour as we talk about Black History 
Month. The Congressional Black Caucus is proud to anchor this hour.
  Currently, the CBC is chaired by the Honorable Barbara Lee from the 
Ninth Congressional District of California. I am Representative Marcia 
Fudge, representing the 11th Congressional District of Ohio, here to 
anchor the hour for the Congressional Black Caucus.
  The CBC Members are advocates for families, nationally and 
internationally, and have played a significant role as local and 
regional advocates. We continue to work diligently to be the conscience 
of the Congress, but because all politics are ultimately local, for 
that reason we provide dedicated and focused services to the citizens 
of the congressional districts we represent.
  The vision of the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus, 
to promote the public welfare through legislation designed to meet the 
needs of millions of neglected citizens, continues to be the focal 
point for the legislative work and political activities of the 
Congressional Black Caucus today.

[[Page H1648]]

  To close the month of February, we are proud to present a reflection 
on black history. Specifically, we would like to take this time to 
herald the unsung history-makers in the black community.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to our chairperson, Barbara Lee, 
the gentlewoman from California.
  Ms. LEE of California. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
  First let me thank the gentlelady from Ohio for yielding and also for 
your leadership.
  Let me give just a bit of history. We have been for many years now 
holding these special orders to make sure that the country understood 
what the priorities are of the Congressional Black Caucus, which, of 
course, we believe will make America live up to its creed of liberty 
and justice for all. As a result of that, the late beloved 
Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones chaired these special orders every 
week for us to sound the alarm, to beat the drum, to make sure the 
country knew the work of the Congressional Black Caucus.
  I want to thank the gentlelady from Ohio for continuing this 
tradition. This is truly historical. She is such a great leader, not 
only in her home State, but throughout the country. This is her first 
night chairing this, and we look forward to continuing the legacy of 
those who came before us to make sure that the agenda of the 
Congressional Black Caucus is put forth center front so that the 
country can know exactly the work of this great and august body.
  This is Black History Month. It began in 1926 as Negro History Week 
out of Dr. Carter G. Woodson's frustrations over the lack of black 
history in history books. For 83 years, the contributions of African 
Americans have been recognized and celebrated each February. It comes 
as no surprise that this year Black History Month is especially 
significant with the inauguration of Barack Obama as our Nation's 44th 
President.
  Forty years ago, the Congressional Black Caucus was founded with a 
simple yet a very profound goal, and I would like to read you what the 
founding statement said. Part of the statement said, ``To positively 
influence the course of events pertinent to African Americans and 
others of similar experience and situation and to achieve greater 
equity for persons of African descent in the design and content of 
domestic and international programs and service.''
  Black History Month is a time to celebrate the legacy of so many of 
our heroes and our sheroes whose stories sing a song full of the faith 
that the dark past has taught us. For more than 400 years, and despite 
tremendous hardships, African Americans have made significant 
contributions to the economic, educational, political, artistic, 
literary, religious, scientific and technological work in the United 
States.
  In the words of the old Negro spiritual, we have come this far by 
faith: Faith in the divine justice of a merciful God; faith in the 
ideals proclaimed to the world in the Declaration of Independence by 
the founders; and faith in the capacity of Americans of all creeds, 
races and religions to devote their lives to making America freer, 
stronger, better, more equal and more just.
  Earlier this month, the Congressional Black Caucus, led by the 
Honorable Danny Davis from Illinois, held a Black History Month program 
to honor and celebrate the legacy of a truly courageous group of 
trailblazers, the 22 black lawmakers who served in the House and the 
Senate in the two decades after the Civil War. Every African American 
Member of Congress today and tomorrow will forever owe them a debt of 
gratitude. We must all pay tribute to this group, because they 
symbolized more than the Union's victory over the Confederate and the 
eradication of the institution of slavery.
  These men, eight of whom had been held as human chattel, represented 
the embodiment of hope. Hope not only that the shackles of slavery 
could be broken, but hope that America was indeed capable of fulfilling 
the principles of liberty, equality and justice for all who called this 
land home.
  ``Place all citizens upon one broad platform,'' declared 
Representative Richard Cain of South Carolina, who served two non-
consecutive terms during the 1870s. He said, ``All we ask of this 
country,'' right here on this floor, ``is to put no barriers between 
us, to lay no stumbling blocks in our way; to give us freedom to 
accomplish our destiny.'' That was in the 1870s. Of course, part of 
that destiny, as I said earlier, was fulfilled on Tuesday, November 4, 
when this Nation elected Barack Obama President of the United States.
  We all know too well that electoral victories, however, can be 
fleeting if they are not coupled with a sustained commitment day in and 
day out to protect and empower all Americans.
  Despite the bravery and efforts of this early vanguard of black 
lawmakers, for most African Americans the strides made during the 
reconstruction period gave way to an era of Jim Crow, which many of us 
remember and experienced. And black lives in many of the lands that 
once were represented here on Capitol Hill by African Americans, and 
elsewhere in our country, were routinely lynched and subjected to 
second-class citizenship.
  Yet I am certain that we all know the true possibilities of this 
great country, and we know what we believe in can be achieved. And we 
owe this in no small measure due to what I like to call this original 
Congressional Black Caucus, those 22 Members, then moving forward to 
the 13 Members who founded the Congressional Black Caucus 40 years ago. 
And, yes, still today, the Congressional Black Caucus of 42 members of 
Congress, continues to be the conscience of the Congress and will 
continue, will continue, to work day and night to make this a more 
perfect Union.
  Thank you, Congresswoman Fudge, for leading us tonight and for 
leading us through the next couple of years with these special orders. 
Thank you for allowing me to speak for a few minutes tonight.
  Ms. FUDGE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank our distinguished Chair 
for her leadership, and I would now like to yield to the gentleman from 
New Jersey (Mr. Payne).
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, in commemorating Black History Month this 
year, it is certainly fitting that the members of the Congressional 
Black Caucus have chosen to honor unsung heroes, since all of us know 
men and women in our communities who are laboring tirelessly to improve 
the quality of life for others while seeking no recognition for 
themselves.
  Let me begin by commending the new Member to the Congressional Black 
Caucus, Congresswoman Fudge, for her outstanding work in the short 
period of time that she has been in the caucus.

                              {time}  2100

  As you know, she replaced the Congresswoman from Cleveland, 
Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, whose untimely death left a big 
hole in our heart and the Congressional Black Caucus. But we are very 
pleased to welcome her, and she is starting with a sprint. And her 
experience as a former mayor and active in civic and government affairs 
throughout her life have prepared her for this task. And so it's a 
pleasure to share this hour with you.
  As we mentioned, it's only fitting and proper that we recognize 
unsung heroes because there are so many in our community, all through 
the history of African Americans, whether it was the Underground 
Railroad, whether it was people at the battle of Bunker Hill, Peter 
Salem, who killed Major Pitcairn who led the Boston Massacre. We could 
go on through history, that so many African Americans were unsung 
heroes, many whose names never appear in our history books.
  And we have these living legends today in our community, and that's 
why I think it's so important that we have an opportunity to mention a 
few of them in our own district. My district, the 10th Congressional 
District of New Jersey, encompassing parts of 22 towns and three 
counties. I will focus on several who live in the City of Newark and 
Irvington, those who have devoted their time and energy to lifting 
others up and truly performing labors of love in communities in our 
Nation.
  Our community activist who have had a significant positive impact on 
my home City of Newark and surrounding communities for a period 
spanning over 30 years, is a dedicated human rights activist, Larry 
Hamm, whom I've known and had the privilege of knowing since he was a 
high school student as a very young man.

[[Page H1649]]

  He has been described as a forceful and articulate spokesperson for 
educational needs and aspirations for the students in the City of 
Newark. And, as a matter of fact, he was appointed to the Newark School 
Board when he was only a high school student himself, and transformed 
the local Board of Education to listening to the needs and the ideas of 
young people. Those who were supposed to be served by the Board of 
Education and felt they were not being served had an active voice on 
the School Board. He graduated from Arts High School in Newark, even 
achieved an outstanding record as a long distance runner, once again, 
showing the endurance that he even learned as a young person.
  He then went to Princeton University. And at Princeton he did not sit 
on his laurels. He actually organized a student protest against the 
oppressive system of apartheid in South Africa, successfully arguing 
that Princeton had a moral obligation to divest its financial interests 
in that Nation. As you may recall, there was the question of 
divestiture in South Africa's P.W. Botha-led apartheid government, and 
there was a move afoot to have governments, institutions of higher 
learning, other kinds of foundations divest their funds in companies 
that did business in South Africa. And by having that economic 
stranglehold on the finances going into South Africa, that was one of 
the weapons that helped bring down that evil system of apartheid that 
strangled people of color in South Africa. And Larry convinced the 
Board of Trustees at Princeton University to divest from South Africa.
  After earning his degree, Mr. Hamm returned to Newark and became 
active in local politics. A district leader and President of the 24th 
Assembly District, he was the founder and director of the People's 
Energy Cooperative, a community fuel oil cooperative. As you know, 
cooperatives tend to help people make affordable the cost of energy, 
and he did an outstanding job in that position.
  Then he served as director of the Community Organization Program of 
the United Church of Christ, the Commission for Racial Justice. Along 
with Reverend Ben Chavis, he organized a voters registration drive in 
Alabama during the 1980s.
  He is also known locally for his work this organizing the People's 
Organization for Progress, called POP, an independent, grass roots 
political organization that is active in Newark and the northern part 
of New Jersey. Under Mr. Hamm's leadership, the group works to build 
unity among community organizations, from promoting access to quality 
education and affordable health care. He currently is supporting H.R. 
676, the universal health care legislation, to protesting racial 
profiling and police brutality where he's been extremely active in 
cases in the local communities. He says that a people united can never 
be defeated, and he says that if there is no justice there can be no 
peace. And he continually raises the question of police brutality and 
excessive use of police authority.
  He is a wonderful, committed young man. He's always been in the 
forefront of the struggle for justice and equality. As a matter of 
fact, most recently, he arranged for five buses to bring 300 New Jersey 
residents to Washington, D.C. so that they could experience the 
historic inauguration of President Barack Obama. As a matter of fact, 
he had to come down early because he wanted to be sure that all 300 
people had Metro cards. Thinking ahead, he said, rather than have them 
wait in line that day, he took another day off to come down and had to 
then purchase them to bring them back so that when his group got here, 
they were able to proceed in an orderly fashion.
  We're all certainly proud of Larry Hamm, and we wish him well in his 
pursuit of equality for all.
  All of us know individuals who are literally doing the Lord's work, 
and that is pastors and church volunteers who reach out to meet both 
the material and spiritual needs of those they serve. There are many, 
many great pastors in our communities, as we know. But there's one 
young one that I would just like to mention, his name is Reverend Ron 
Christian, who is pastor of Christian Love Baptist Church in Irvington, 
New Jersey in the 10th Congressional District of New Jersey.
  Reverend Christian inspires all of those who find their way to his 
church with his message of compassion, forgiveness, spiritual renewal 
and optimism. He holds a special appeal for the young and the 
dispossessed, coaxing former gang members to give up destructive pasts 
and, instead, fulfill their God-given potential. Reverend Christian 
welcomes all with open arms. And he has said that his philosophy is, 
come as you are; let God worry about the rest.

  As a matter of fact, our court system depends on Reverend Ron, 
because they allow him to run a community service program for young men 
and teenagers who have had problems with the law. But they send them to 
Reverend Ron's church to do community service. And he has taken so many 
young men and has turned them around. Each Sunday, many, many young men 
come, and women, to give their life to God, who have said they're 
turning their life around because of how Reverend Ron has inspired 
them.
  He's just a wonderful young man. And not only does he do work here in 
the local community, but he's gone overseas to Africa, to Liberia, 
where he's had projects to help over there.
  He's just an exciting young man, and he said he's finally pleased 
that he is performing more weddings than funerals of young people 
because, as we know in our communities, there is an unbelievable 
carnage of young people with gun violence. But he is turning so many of 
those young lives around.
  As we talk about these two young men, let me talk about a remarkable 
woman in my community, Ms. Eddiemae Livingston. Now, Ms. Livingston, 
you would think that she was as young as Reverend Ron and Larry Hamm, 
but she was born in 1919 so she is a little bit older.
  Ms. Livingston, if you're looking, you said it was all right for me 
to mention your age once before so I remembered that. And you are a 
remarkable, 90-year old, and the work that you continue to do is 
amazing.
  It's hard to believe that Ms. Livingston will be 90 this summer. 
Actually I pushed it up a couple of months because she remains 
interested and active every day. Early in her professional career she 
worked for the Federal Government providing family allowances to 
soldiers families. She wanted to move to Newark but initially was 
prevented from transferring because of discriminatory laws. After the 
NAACP intervened, she was able to move to Newark in 1942 where she 
worked for the Office of Dependents Benefits. Her community service 
includes working as a counselor for unwed mothers. She worked at 
various social agencies until retiring from the City of Newark in 1992.
  She holds two life memberships and two golden heritage memberships 
with the NAACP. In addition, Ms. Livingston has been honored for her 
work at Hopewell Baptist Church, Reverend Geis, where she actually 
sends donations to students from her church to simply help them with 
their books and things of that nature. She just has such a big heart.
  The North Jersey unit of the National Association of Negro Business 
and Professional Women's Clubs and the City of Newark has recognized 
her. Our community was pleased when the Mayor of Newark declared July 
13, 2004, as Eddiemae Livingston Day.
  Ms. Livingston now devotes much of her time to the unit complex where 
she lives. And she's active in the tenants council. She was an active 
supporter of President Barack Obama and was thrilled at his historic 
election.
  She was also a volunteer at the local YM/YWCA where I ran a program 
for young people when I was teaching. And she volunteered to be a 
counselor to one of the Tri-Hi-Y clubs at that time. So she is just a 
wonderful person. I wish her another several decades of outstanding 
work.
  Finally, another outstanding woman who I am pleased to call a friend 
is Gloria Hopkins Buck, who has dedicated her life to working 
tirelessly to improve the quality of life in our community. She is 
well-respected and well-loved for her accomplishments over the years as 
a leader in service to community, arts, culture, professional and 
educational organizations, primarily located in the Newark metropolitan 
area.
  Ms. Buck worked for over 25 years with the Newark Public Schools as a 
licensed clinical social worker and was

[[Page H1650]]

among the first nationally to become certified as a School Social Work 
Specialist. In her early years she was a supervisor of Adoptive and 
Protective Services, which is now the Division of Youth and Family 
Services in our State.
  Ms. Buck is a former Public Relations Consultant with Rochelle Jones 
& Associates. She is a founder and former president of First Friday 
Group, Incorporated, a 20-year old corporate business designed to 
facilitate networking and socializing among African American 
entrepreneurs and professionals.
  Ms. Buck has served as a Trustee to the Newark Museum Association 
since 1978, and is presently vice president of the board and a member 
of the executive committee. She has initiated projects that increase 
community participation in museum programs and exhibitions. As 
chairperson of the Community Gifts for the Museum's 1989 Master Plan 
Campaign, Mrs. Buck helped raise $50,000 in the Black community in 2 
days.
  She has delivered important testimony before the legislature on 
behalf of the Newark Museum, one of the prides of our city, one of the 
most outstanding museums in the country, where people now from New York 
City come to visit the Newark Museum, and that's really an achievement.
  And Mary Sue Sweeney Price, who is the director, has done such a 
fantastic job, with the help of people like Ms. Gloria Buck. And the 
overall importance of the arts in culture and contemporary life is 
something that Gloria Buck continues to push.

                              {time}  2115

  Ms. Buck is also a 1976 charter member and chairperson of the Newark 
Museum's Newark Black Film Festival Selection Committee. Celebrating 35 
years, the film festival has been acclaimed the best and longest 
running festival of its kind in the country. Ms. Buck will serve as co-
Chair for the Newark Museum Centennial Committee.
  One of the highlights of Ms. Buck's contribution to the arts in 
Newark and the State of New Jersey was her appointment in 1988 by 
Governor Tom Kean to the Literacy in the Arts Task Force, a 16-member 
panel charged with developing a comprehensive plan for arts education 
within the State's public school system. Many social and civic 
organizations have been the recipient of Ms. Buck's membership.
  She has given 25 years of service as a vice president and member of 
the board of trustees of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Newark, and 
currently serves on the Leadership Council. She led the effort that 
resulted in the historic decision to legally make girls a part of the 
Boys Clubs of Newark.
  Ms. Buck cofounded the Annual Wine Tasting to benefit the clubs, 
which has been held for over 20 years. She was a 1982 charter and 
founding member of the board of directors, New Jersey Coalition of 100 
Black Women. For 25 years, Ms. Buck was a member of the governing body 
of the board of trustees of the New Jersey State Opera. In 2003, she 
was appointed a commissioner of the Newark Landmarks and Historic 
Preservation Commission for a 3-year term by the then mayor of Newark.
  Ms. Buck is the recipient of many honors and awards for her work in 
the Newark community. In most recent years, she was awarded the 2001 
Sojourner Truth Award by the Essex County chapter of the National 
Association of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Inc., and was 
honored Woman of the Year by the National Council of Negro Women, the 
Newark chapter. In 2005, she received the Newark Museum's Commemorative 
Medal Award for Distinguished Service. In 2007, Ms. Buck received the 
Newark Boys and Girls Clubs' Champion of Youth Award, honoring her 
outstanding commitment to our youth, community and the club.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues here in the United States House of 
Representatives to join me in honoring these devoted volunteers who are 
the glue helping to hold our communities together and the light helping 
our neighborhoods to shine. We appreciate their service, and in that 
spirit, we pause this evening to say thanks to all you do. It has been 
a pleasure to have an opportunity to just shine the light on four 
individuals who happen to brighten the corner where they are.
  Ms. FUDGE. Thank you so much.
  Mr. Speaker, I would now like to yield to the gentlelady from the 
Virgin Islands, Mrs. Christensen.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Congresswoman Fudge, and thank you for 
hosting this hour this evening.
  Mr. Speaker, as we approach the end of Black History Month, once 
again, it is a privilege for me to join my colleague and friend--
Congresswoman Fudge--and all of my colleagues on behalf of the 
Congressional Black Caucus this evening, but it is a special honor to 
be able to come to this floor in tribute to the many heroes and 
heroines of the African American descent of our past.
  In this Black History Month 2009, we particularly want to call 
attention to the ordinary people who have throughout our history 
stepped forward to do extraordinary things, the greatest number of whom 
remain nameless but to whom we owe a bottomless well of gratitude for 
the rights, freedoms and privileges we enjoy today.
  As we prepare to go on the biennial Alabama Civil Rights Pilgrimage, 
they come to mind--the many who joined the leaders we do know: the 
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, our colleague John Lewis, Reverend 
Jesse Jackson, Ambassador Andrew Young, and others--but there were also 
those who anonymously joined in the bus boycott, the countless numbers 
who met in churches and in homes to plan, to strategize or to just lend 
support to the movement, those who risked jail by their actions, and 
those who went to jails and prisons or the young, courageous children 
who braved dogs and fire hoses because they were stirred by the 
injustices of the day and were inspired by the righteousness of the 
cause. There are countless others, some whose faces we see in pictures 
and who are named and those who remain nameless and very invisible. We 
may never know them, but their courage, resilience and sacrifice 
changed the course of history and this country. Their legacy is 
forever.
  There are also many unsung heroes from an earlier time in my district 
whom I want to acknowledge as well. On February 12, on the 200th 
anniversary of the birth of President Abraham Lincoln, in the 
celebration of his birth and his legacy, the Congressional Black Caucus 
were the guests of the National Archives for a special viewing of the 
original Emancipation Proclamation. It was truly a moving moment for 
those of us who were able to attend.
  Less known is the story of our journey to emancipation in the U.S. 
Virgin Islands. I will just recount two highlights--the first step, not 
the end, but the milestone that we reached in the mid-19th century.
  One of the earliest rebellions by enslaved Africans in this 
hemisphere took place in St. John. The names of the leaders, Kanta and 
Klaes, are known to us but unknown to my colleagues and fellow 
Americans. They and others led thousands of their fellow Africans to 
wrest freedom from the plantation owners of that time. They were able 
to hold onto the island for over 6 months, and when surrounded and at 
the point of defeat, they jumped from an Annaberg cliff to the rocks 
below to their deaths. We only know the names of a few of those who 
led, but we honor the many others who fought to the death for their 
freedom. All of them helped to start the spark of liberty burning in 
our hemisphere.
  Then on July 3, 1848, thousands of Africans still in slavery in St. 
Croix were led by Moses Gottlieb, known as General Buddhoe, to demand 
their freedom. Because of their numbers and their sheer determination, 
Governor Peter von Scholten of Denmark was compelled to declare ``all 
unfree in the Danish West Indies are today free.''
  We thank all of those forever unknown men and women brought in chains 
from Africa but who broke those chains and delivered emancipation to 
the people of the then Danish West Indies, now U.S. Virgin Islands, 
almost 15 years or more, really, before our sisters and brothers in the 
United States joined us.
  I just want to point out that men were not the only freedom fighters 
in the Virgin Islands. Those who fought in 1733 and those who planned 
and marched on the fort in 1848 certainly included many women. In fact, 
30 years after emancipation, it was five women

[[Page H1651]]

led by Queen Mary who led a famous and successful labor revolt in St. 
Croix and Queen Coziah who, with several hundred female coal workers, 
staged another successful strike in St. Thomas in 1892.
  There are many other unsung heroes. In fact, almost any of our local 
Virgin Island heroes, except for the many who also accomplished much 
here on the mainland, are unknown to most Americans, but I want to 
focus on two men whom I knew when I was growing up and who were close 
friends of my father's.
  Despite the many times in recent months and years that the Tuskegee 
Airmen have been honored, it is not well-known that there were two who 
came from the U.S. Virgin Islands--Henry E. Rohlsen, who was born on 
St. John, and Herbert H. Heywood, who was born on St. Croix.

  Herbert Heywood joined my father at Columbia University, where my 
father was attending law school, which was also Mr. Heywood's intended 
course of study. In 1943, at the age of 19, he interrupted his studies 
and enlisted in the Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet at Tuskegee 
Army Airfield in Alabama. He trained, and when he got his wings, he, 
too, flew the military P-39 and P-40 aircraft.
  Henry Rohlsen, after whom the St. Croix Airport is named, also 
enrolled in the Army Air Corps' pilot training program in 1943. He had 
been living in New York at the time. After he earned his wings, he flew 
the famed P-51 aircraft in addition to the P-39 and P-40.
  After honorable discharges, both eventually returned home and 
contributed to our community in significant ways. Both were elected to 
several terms in our early legislatures, and worked or volunteered in 
other capacities in government and community service.
  Mr. Speaker, in recognizing them, I also recognize once again and 
honor all of the Tuskegee Airmen who fought prejudice and injustice at 
the same time they fought the enemy in the defense of our country.
  Theirs was not an easy time to be a member of our armed services or 
even to be a black in America, before and after their service, but they 
persevered out of love and loyalty to this country. Their courage and 
contributions set the United States of America on the path to that 
``more perfect union'' that we continue to strive to become.
  Both Airman Herbert H. Heywood and Airman Henry E. Rohlsen have gone 
on to the eternal sky. We thank them. We thank their families for 
sharing these heroes with us and with our country.
  Ms. FUDGE. Thank you. What we now call Black History Month was 
originated in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson as Negro History Week. The 
month of February was selected in deference to Frederick Douglass and 
Abraham Lincoln, who were both born in that month. Further, the NAACP 
was founded in February and just celebrated its 100th anniversary.
  Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life 
and History in 1915 to train black historians and to collect, preserve 
and publish documents on black life and black people. He also founded 
the Journal of Negro History, Associated Publishers, and the Negro 
Bulletin. Woodson spent his life working to educate all people about 
the vast contributions made by black men and black women throughout 
history. Mr. Woodson died on April 3, 1950. Black History Month is his 
legacy.
  I am privileged to commend several trailblazers within the 11th 
District from the African American community. I would like to begin 
with Judge Jean Murrell Capers, who is a remarkable individual and a 
community icon. On the night of President Obama's inauguration, while 
the world celebrated change, we honored this stalwart in our community, 
who also helped to make that moment possible. Judge Jean Murrell Capers 
is one of those individuals who deserves to be recognized for her years 
of dedication to promoting diversity among elected officials and 
serving, protecting and upholding the laws of Ohio and this Nation.
  Judge Capers graduated from Case Western Reserve University in 1932. 
She began her career as an educator and earned her J.D. from Cleveland 
Law School in 1944. She was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1945, and began 
practicing law that same year. In 1949, she became the first African 
American woman elected to the Cleveland City Council. She was elected 
four subsequent times to 2-year terms. Beginning in 1964, Judge Capers 
began to work tirelessly for a black mayor. Though many doubted her 
efforts, she was audacious enough to hope. Cleveland's first black 
mayor, the Honorable Carl Stokes, was elected 3 years later. In 1977, 
Ms. Capers was appointed Cleveland municipal judge, and was reelected, 
but was forced to retire in 1986 because of an Ohio law that requires 
judges to retire at the age of 70.
  At the current age of 96, Judge Capers is the oldest active member of 
the National Bar Association in our district. She is still actively 
involved in the community, and mentors the next generation of leaders.
  It is my privilege to recognize my friend, my sorority sister, 
mentor, and an unsung hero. I want to say to her that she is so special 
to us that, on January 22, a flag was flown over our Nation's Capitol 
in her honor.
  I would like to as well recognize Dr. John B. Turner. John B. Turner 
was a Tuskegee Airman. He was the first black commissioner to be 
elected in east Cleveland, the first black dean at Case Western Reserve 
University and the first black dean of any school of social work across 
this country. He also served the State Department in Zambia, Ethiopia, 
Kenya, and Uganda early in his career. He was a Fulbright Scholar who 
led a voting drive for the National Council of Churches, and he also 
stumped for Carl Stokes as mayor of the City of Cleveland.

                              {time}  2130

  Mr. Speaker, there is another.
  There is Dr. William O. Walker, who was a prominent journalist, 
publisher and political leader in Cleveland, Ohio, for much of the mid 
to late 20th century.
  W.O. Walker was born in 1896 in Selma, Alabama. He studied at 
Wilberforce University and Oberlin Business College and began a career 
in journalism. In 1932, he became the publisher and editor of the 
Cleveland Call and Post, one of the most influential African American 
newspapers in the United States. Walker used this weekly paper to 
educate the community about racial injustices occurring in both 
Cleveland and across the United States.
  He built the newspaper into one of the largest black weeklies in the 
Nation. As a publisher, he became a power in Cleveland, speaking out 
for civil rights and exposing discrimination and wrongdoing.
  Besides being an editorial voice, he was a mighty political force in 
the Republican Party. He was a councilman in the 1940s, and in the 
1950s became Ohio's first black cabinet member as industrial relations 
director for Governor James A. Rhodes. At the time of his death, he was 
under consideration by President Ronald Reagan to become chairman of 
the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.
  And lastly, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize Mr. Wayne Embry.
  Wayne Richard Embry was born in 1937 in Springfield, Ohio. He is a 
retired basketball player. He was a center forward whose 11-year-career 
spanned from 1959 to 1969. He played for the Cincinnati Royals, the 
Boston Celtics, and the Milwaukee Bucks, all of the NBA. He attended 
Miami University and Tecumseh High School in New Carlisle, Ohio, before 
that. He played in the NBA All-Star game for five consecutive seasons 
from 1961 to 1965 and won the NBA championship with the Celtics in 
1968.
  After retiring as a player, he became the first African American NBA 
general manager managing the Milwaukee Bucks from 1971 through 1979, 
the Cleveland Cavaliers from 1986 to 1999, and the Toronto Raptors in 
2006. He was selected NBA Executive of the Year in 1992 and 1998.
  He was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999, not as a 
player but as a contributor. Mr. Embry is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, 
the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for 
African Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all of my colleagues for their 
participation in this evening.
  Again, Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to my colleague, the 
gentlelady from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen).

[[Page H1652]]

  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Congresswoman Fudge.
  We prepared a few more just in case we had some extra time left in 
the hour.
  So I'd like to also recognize and pay tribute to some Virgin Island 
pioneers in the area of environmental awareness and energy 
conservation: Mr. Onaje Jackson, Ms. Ann Marie Gibbs, Mr. Bevan Smith, 
Mr. Jesus Espinosa, Mr. Mario Francis, and Mr. Olasee Davis. And those 
are just a few.
  Mr. Onaje Jackson is best known in the Virgin Islands and Caribbean 
region as a community partner who tirelessly promotes earth-friendly 
infrastructure and facility design, engineering, and implementation. He 
began his work when he realized that bad solutions for development in 
the Caribbean were leading to divisions in communities and 
environmental damage. Deep down, he knew that a lot of it had to do 
with developers not being armed with better solutions and designs at 
the outset of their conception process.
  With this, Mr. Jackson set out to bring about a more holistic 
approach to planning, design, and engineering of island infrastructure; 
and over the years, he has continually collaborated with a broad cross-
section of our community to design environmentally friendly solutions 
for our rapidly developing region. Individuals, local businesses, and 
international organizations all enlist Mr. Jackson's assistance when 
seeking to incorporate the latest in sustainable and renewable 
technology to their large- and small-scale development projects.
  But Onaje has not worked alone. Along with many others, he has worked 
tirelessly with others that I named before: Bevan Smith, the director 
of the Virgin Islands Energy Office; Olasee Davis, community 
conservationist, activist, and professor at our university; Ms. Ann 
Marie Gibbs, a high school science teacher; community activist Jesus 
Espinosa, and Mario Francis, who have each worked to educate our entire 
community, but particularly our children, about the importance of 
conservation.
  Each of these valued members of our community go above and beyond the 
call of duty to challenge our youth, to break through the walls of 
ignorance and profit to become stewards and protectors of our 
environment for generations to come.
  So it's without reservation that I submit Mr. Jackson, Mr. Smith, Ms. 
Gibbs, Mr. Espinosa, Mr. Davis, and Mr. Francis as unsung heroes as 
they are environmental pioneers of the Virgin Islands community; and I 
am convinced that they will remain at the forefront of our community's 
efforts to preserve and conserve the natural resources that make the 
U.S. Virgin Islands the precious jewel that they are.
  Their work, and that of others, has prepared us to use the 
opportunities that have been recently presented to us in the recently 
passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and others that I am sure 
will be a part of our President's promise of change.
  And since we have some time left, I want to pay tribute to someone 
who is not only a local hero in the U.S. Virgin Islands but my personal 
one, my father.
  Born at home and largely raised by his grandmother while his mother 
taught just about everyone in St. Croix in those days, it was not easy 
for him to go to college. He began at the most accessible one 
geographically and financially, although it is also an outstanding 
institution, the University of Puerto Rico. He later transferred to 
Colombia University in New York and was in their school of law.
  It was then in his first year that he was drafted into the Army, 
probably around 1943 also, just like Tuskegee Airman Herbert Heywood. 
And after graduating from Officer Candidate School at Camp Davis, North 
Carolina, was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Coast 
Artillery Corps and participated in the Normandy campaign and Pacific 
Theater operations.
  After the war, he completed his studies at Colombia and took his 
family--my mother and I--back home where he embarked on what became a 
distinguished legal career. He was admitted to practice before the 
Third Court of Appeals in 1950 and the U.S. Supreme Court in 1955.
  He practiced law privately and often for free or for chickens or for 
fish until 1962 when he was tapped by President John F. Kennedy to be 
our U.S. Attorney for the U.S. Virgin Islands. He was reappointed to a 
second term by President Lyndon Johnson.
  But the most not just nonpartisan but apolitical person I know of, he 
was soon appointed to serve as the first native-born judge of the 
District Court of the Virgin Islands by then President Richard Nixon, 
and he retired from that post after serving several terms.
  In his time on the bench, some of his decisions were groundbreaking 
in Virgin Islands jurisprudence such as Red Hook Marina v. Antilles 
Yachting Corp., which resulted in the Open Beach Law in the Virgin 
Islands; and another case, Hosier v. Evans and Chapman v. Gerard, which 
he championed the constitutional right of children from other Caribbean 
islands whose parents were brought in under legal arrangements to work 
in the Virgin Islands temporarily. But he championed the rights of 
those children to attend public school in the U.S. Virgin Islands. 
Others of his decisions set legal precedents which are referred to in 
cases up to this day.

  I am justifiably proud of my father, but so are the people of the 
Virgin Islands, and judges, and attorneys who came in contact with him 
throughout his long career. For the rest of the United States, he is an 
unsung hero. So I'm proud to have had this opportunity to present this 
very brief and very incomplete synopsis of his life here this evening.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time
  Ms. FUDGE. Mr. Speaker, I will close with this last unsung hero, Dr. 
Julian Earls.
  He has been referred to as a Renaissance Man, holding eight 
university degrees. He earned a bachelor's degree in physics from 
Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia; a Master's degree in 
radiation biology from the University of Rochester School of Medicine 
and Dentistry in Rochester, New York; and a Doctorate degree in 
radiation physics from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, 
Michigan. He completed the equivalent of the Master's degree in 
environmental health at the University of Michigan and is a graduate of 
the Program for Management Development at Harvard Business School.
  He was awarded the honorary Doctor of Science degree by the Vaughn 
College of Aeronautics in New York, the honorary Doctor of Pedagogy 
degree by Nova Southeastern University in Florida, the honorary Doctor 
of Humane Letters degree by North Carolina A&T State University, 
Norfolk State University, and Wilberforce University in Ohio.
  In January 2006, Dr. Earls retired as Director of the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration's Glenn Research Center at Lewis 
Field in Cleveland, Ohio, after a career spanning more than 40 years. 
As director of NASA Glenn from 2003 to 2005, he managed a budget in 
excess of 600 hundred million and a workforce of over 3,000 employees.
  He was responsible for planning, organizing, and directing the 
activities required to accomplish the center's mission which included 
research, technology, and systems development programs in aeronautical 
propulsion, space propulsion, space power, space communications, and 
microgravity sciences in combustion and fluid physics.
  He is the author of 30 publications and has been a distinguished 
Honors Visiting Professor at numerous universities.
  As a NASA executive, he has received medals for outstanding 
leadership, exceptional achievement, and distinguished service. He 
received the Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award from 
President William J. Clinton in 1999 and from President George Bush in 
2004.
  Dr. Earls has received many humanitarian awards and founded an 
organization that provides college scholarships for black students. As 
a mentor, he has guided many students through college and the 
professions. Recognized internationally for his oratorical skills, Dr. 
Earls is a Jennings Foundation Distinguished Scholar Lecturer.
  In addition to his many scholarly and work-related accomplishments, 
Dr. Earls is an athlete. He has completed 25 marathons, including the 
Boston Marathon, and was honored to carry

[[Page H1653]]

the Olympic torch on its route through Cleveland for the 2002 Olympic 
Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is a member of Tau Boule and holds 
life memberships in Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and the NAACP.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank you. I thank my colleagues, and again, I thank 
this Nation for recognizing that black history is indeed American 
history.

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