[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 55 (Monday, April 19, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2429-S2431]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF DR. BENJAMIN L. HOOKS
Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 489, which was submitted
earlier today.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk
will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 489) honoring the life and
achievements of Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, on April 15, Benjamin Hooks died in
the city where he was born 85 years ago, the city of Memphis. Later
this afternoon, Senator Burris, Senator Corker, and I will introduce a
resolution honoring the life and achievement of Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks.
Benjamin Hooks was certainly one of Tennessee's most distinguished
citizens and one of America's leaders in this last half century. He was
a patriot, a family man, a visionary, a lawyer, a storyteller, a
preacher, and for my wife and me, he and his wife Frances were close
and good friends.
There will be a funeral service in Memphis on Wednesday. I will
attend it and will make remarks there. But I wanted to say a few words
about my friend Dr. Hooks on the floor of the Senate today.
Ben Hooks was born January 31, 1925. He leaves his wife Frances and
his daughter Patricia Gray and two grandsons. He was the fifth of seven
children born to Robert B. and Bessie Hooks. Right from the beginning,
he was part of a pioneering family. He was the grandson of Julia Hooks,
the second Black woman in the United States to graduate from college.
Young Ben Hooks went on to LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis and
graduated from Howard. He served in the U.S. Army. He was a patriot.
While in the Army, he learned something more about injustice when he
found that some of the prisoners of war he guarded had more rights than
he did to eat in a restaurant. His pioneering continued when he went
back home to Memphis after the war.
First, he had to get a law degree. At that time, no Tennessee law
school would accept an African-American law student. It was the same in
Arkansas. I remember George Haley, the brother of Alex Haley--that is
another Tennessee family, the Haleys--George Haley was able to go to
the University of Arkansas at about the same time and was required to
sit by himself in a separate room because they simply didn't know what
to do with an African-American student.
Ben Hooks choose to go to DePaul University in Chicago, where he
received his law degree in 1984, and came back to Memphis. He kept
pioneering. He was one of the few African-American lawyers to set up
his own practice in Memphis. He was appointed to the Shelby County
Criminal Court by Governor Frank Clement of Tennessee in 1965, making
him the first Black criminal court judge in the history of our State.
He and Dr. Martin Luther King worked together. He lived to see Dr.
King go over from being someone who was reviled to someone who was
honored by having a national holiday in his name.
In 1972, Benjamin Hooks became the first Black appointee to the
Federal Communications Commission. That was at the recommendation of
Senator Howard Baker, a Republican Senator, and a Republican President,
Richard Nixon. Ben Hooks was able to support leaders of both parties.
He supported the 1972 Presidential Republican ticket. He supported
Senator Baker in his
[[Page S2430]]
races. His wife Frances supported me every time I ran for public office
in Tennessee, which has been a lot, five different times. Everybody
knew that Frances Hooks would not have been supporting me if Ben Hooks
did not know about it. In fact, it is hard to think of Ben Hooks
without Frances. I cannot think of a time I talked with him when I did
not start with her. She was his sweetheart, his ally, his secretary,
his assistant, his adviser, and all of us send to her and her family
our thoughts during these days. I talked with her for a few minutes a
while ago.
Benjamin Hooks became best known in this country when he was elected
executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People, NAACP, in 1976. He served in that role until 1992.
During that time the NAACP grew by hundreds of thousands of members due
to Ben Hooks' leadership.
Ben Hooks was an ordained minister. He delivered sermons for more
than half a century. They were sermons well worth hearing. Ben Hooks
had the combined gifts of a Southern preacher, a Southern lawyer, and a
Southern politician, and he could turn a phrase and turn the audience
inside out and upside down with his phrases as well as anyone I have
ever heard.
One of his most touching speeches was his eulogy at the funeral of a
former Tennessee Senator, Albert Gore, Sr., which I heard in Nashville.
In March of 2001, Benjamin and Frances Hooks renewed their wedding
vows after almost 50 years of marriage.
In November of 2007, just about 2\1/2\ years ago, Benjamin Hooks was
awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor
in the United States, by President George W. Bush.
He helped to establish, in his hometown of Memphis, the Benjamin
Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis. In
talking with some of the faculty members at that institute a few years
ago, one of them said Ben Hooks understands our country is a work in
progress. He had seen the hard parts of it. He had seen the injustice
of it. Before he died, he was still sad and angry about some of the
injustices that exist today. But he had also seen the promise of it as
well. Through his lifetime, he had lived through the King days; the
sit-ins; the days of the first Black criminal court justice, where it
was commonplace for African Americans to graduate from law school; the
election of the first African-American President; the rise of the
NAACP. Ben Hooks saw the great promise of American life.
After he was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 2007 by the President, I
hosted a lunch for him in the Senate Dining Room downstairs. Those who
come to the Senators' dining room are accustomed to seeing
distinguished visitors. In fact, that is why most people go the
Senators' dining room--to be seen. But that day Ben Hooks took over the
dining room. He was by far the most distinguished visitor there. Some
very well known people came to pay respect to him. One of them was the
late Jack Kemp, who worked with Dr. Hooks on civil rights issues for
many years. But the greatest commotion was caused by the people who
work in the Senators' dining room--those who serve, those who wait
tables, those who cook in the kitchen. They all wanted to shake Ben
Hooks' hand. They wanted to say hello to him. They wanted his
autograph. And most wanted his picture.
We will miss Ben Hooks' leadership. We will miss his vision. We will
miss his capacity to work with Republicans as well as Democrats.
Tennessee has lost one of its most distinguished citizens. But we are
grateful for that life, and in Memphis on Wednesday we will celebrate
the life of Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks.
Mr. CORKER. Madam President, I do want to say that Tennessee has lost
a great human being in Dr. Benjamin Hooks, and I want to join with my
friend and colleague from Tennessee, Senator Alexander, in being part
of a resolution to talk about his wonderful life. I know we will be
having ceremonies in Tennessee this Wednesday, but certainly he was a
wonderful individual who did much to benefit our country, and we all
are saddened by his passing.
Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I rise today to honor the life of the
Reverend Benjamin Lawson Hooks. I join all Americans in expressing my
sadness at his passing and gratitude for his lifetime of service. Ben
Hooks was a man of faith who was dedicated to nonviolent change. He
will be remembered as one of the great civil rights champions of our
time.
Ben Hooks was born in Memphis, TN, at the height of the Jim Crow era
in 1925. During World War II, he enlisted in the Army to fight for his
country, a segregated nation that denied him access to many public
venues. Stationed in Italy, he was ordered to guard Italian prisoners
of war, and like so many African-American soldiers at that time, he was
utterly shocked to find that the very prisoners he guarded were
admitted to the all-White cafeteria, while he had to eat elsewhere.
Upon returning to the United States, Ben Hooks completed his studies at
Howard University and attended DePaul University College of Law in
Chicago.
But he never forgot his roots or the civil rights violations that he
had witnessed. After the war, he returned to his hometown of Memphis,
TN, to open up a law practice and dedicate himself to the fight for the
equality of all Americans. Of those years, he recalled: ``At that time
you were insulted by law clerks, excluded from white bar associations
and when I was in court, I was lucky to be called `Ben.' Usually it was
just `boy.' '' He also became a Baptist minister, joined the NAACP and
participated in many civil rights protests. He joined Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which went on to
spearhead the civil rights movement through famous nonviolent protests.
By 1965, Ben Hooks had made his mark on his home State, and was
appointed to the Tennessee Criminal Court, making him the first Black
judge since Reconstruction in a State trial court anywhere in the
South. In years to come he would capture the attention of lawmakers in
Washington, and in 1972, President Nixon nominated Hooks to the Federal
Communications Commission. He became the first Black Commissioner on
the FCC, and served for 5 years. During his time there, he fought for
underrepresented minorities in the media and helped to increase the
number of African-Americans employed at the FCC.
Despite all these accomplishments, Ben Hooks is likely to be best
remembered for his 15 years as executive director of the NAACP. In
2007, when President Bush presented him with the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, one of our country's highest civilian honors, saying: ``Dr.
Hooks was a calm yet forceful voice for fairness, opportunity and
personal responsibility. He never tired or faltered in demanding that
our Nation live up to its founding ideals of liberty and equality.''
His time at the NAACP was transformative. When he first arrived,
membership was down and the organization was saddled with debt, but he
declared ``the civil rights movement is not dead. If anyone thinks that
we are going to stop agitating, they had better think again. If anyone
thinks that we are going to stop litigating, they had better close the
courts. If anyone thinks that we are not going to demonstrate and
protest, they had better roll up the sidewalks.'' When he retired in
1992, membership had dramatically increased and the organization had
been completely reinvigorated and continues to be at the forefront of
the civil rights movement today.
The Reverend Jesse Jackson eloquently noted: ``Ben Hooks did it all,
did it well, and he did it over a long period of time. He fought
tirelessly to tear down walls that make today's bridges possible. He
took us from racial battleground to economic common ground, across
lines of race and religion.''
Today, I add my voice to the chorus of praise for Ben Hooks. He was
an honorable man who fought for equality and justice for all Americans
and to fulfill the promise of our great Nation.
Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to
reconsider be laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The resolution (S. Res. 489) was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
[[Page S2431]]
The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:
S. Res. 489
Whereas Benjamin Hooks was born in Memphis, Tennessee on
January 31, 1925;
Whereas Benjamin Hooks died April 15, 2010, at the age of
85 in Memphis, Tennessee, and is survived by his wife,
Frances Hooks, his daughter, Patricia Gray, and 2 grandsons;
Whereas Benjamin Hooks was the fifth of 7 children born to
Robert B. and Bessie Hooks, and was the grandson of Julia
Hooks, the second Black woman in the United States to
graduate from college;
Whereas Benjamin Hooks attended LeMoyne-Owen College in
Memphis and, in 1944, graduated from Howard University;
Whereas Benjamin Hooks joined the United States Army during
World War II and was promoted to staff sergeant;
Whereas in 1948, Benjamin Hooks received his law degree
from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois and returned to
Memphis, Tennessee to help breakdown segregation;
Whereas Benjamin Hooks set up his own law practice and was
one of a few Blacks practicing law in Memphis from 1949-1965;
Whereas Benjamin Hooks was appointed to a vacancy on the
Shelby County criminal court, by Governor Frank G. Clement in
1965, making him the first Black criminal court judge in the
history of Tennessee;
Whereas Benjamin Hooks was a leader in the civil rights
movement and joined the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference of Reverend Martin Luther King in 1956;
Whereas Benjamin Hooks became the first Black appointee to
the Federal Communications Commission in 1972, when he was
appointed by President Richard Nixon, and, in that capacity,
worked towards minority employment and involvement in
broadcasting;
Whereas Benjamin Hooks was elected executive director of
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP) on November 6, 1976, and served in that role
until 1992;
Whereas Benjamin Hooks was an ordained minister and
delivered sermons for 52 years at the Greater Middle Baptist
Church and as pastor at Greater New Mountain Moriah
Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit;
Whereas Benjamin Hooks was honored in 1996 with the
dedication of the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social
Change at the University of Memphis, which he helped to
create;
Whereas Benjamin Hooks and Francis Hooks renewed their
wedding vows on March 24, 2001, after almost 50 years of
marriage;
Whereas in November 2007, Benjamin Hooks was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in
the United States, by President George W. Bush; and
Whereas the passing of Benjamin Hooks is a great loss: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes the outstanding contributions of Dr.
Benjamin L. Hooks to the civil rights movement, the ministry,
his family, and the community of Memphis, Tennessee; and
(2) pays tribute to Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks, his passion for
life, dedication to service, and commitment to equality.
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