[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 57 (Wednesday, April 21, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E604]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF REV. BENJAMIN LAWSON HOOKS

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. DIANE E. WATSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 20, 2010

  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, today we acknowledge the loss of one of the 
nation's legendary civil rights icon, Benjamin L. Hooks. Mr. Hooks led 
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People from 
1977 to 1992.
  Mr. Hooks grew up in the segregated South and was a vocal campaigner 
for civil rights in the United States.
  Hooks was a lawyer and an ordained Baptist minister who joined the 
Southern Christian Leadership Conference and led the NAACP for 15 
years.
  When Benjamin Hooks took over the helm of the NAACP, the organization 
was suffering from declining membership and prestige. During his 
tenure, the NAACP added several hundred thousand new members to its 
roster.
  Under his leadership, the NAACP worked with Major League Baseball on 
a program that expanded employment opportunities for African-Americans 
in baseball, including in positions as managers, coaches and in 
franchise executive offices.
  Hooks also worked with colleagues to set up a program in which more 
than 200 corporations agreed to participate in economic development 
projects in black communities.
  President George W. Bush awarded Hooks the Presidential Medal of 
Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, in November 2007.
  We join the nation, his family, friends, and colleagues in mourning 
the loss of this legendary leader.

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