[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 36 (Thursday, March 10, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E457]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       A TRIBUTE TO DAVID RONALD REED, SR.: AN AMERICAN ORIGINAL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOBBY L. RUSH

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 10, 2011

  Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to acknowledge 
the loss of a gifted man who loved his country, his family, and his 
fellow man and who, throughout his life, moved seamlessly through 
diverse cultural and political communities all with a focus on making 
our country a better place to live. I'm speaking of my dear friend and 
former political colleague, David Ronald Reed, Sr., whose life on Earth 
ended on March 4, 2011. David's legacy, however, lives on through his 
dear wife, Judith Reed, and the family and friends he leaves behind 
throughout our nation. David spent the early part of his life in 
Chicago and the political footprint he left in our city and state still 
resonates in the lives of thousands of grateful Chicagoans and others, 
throughout our state, whose lives he touched during an important time 
in the rise of African-Americans and other progressive communities in 
the State of Illinois.
  I first got to know David by observing his friendship with my 
brother, Fred. Aside from their friendship and their competitive 
spirits, I watched this brilliant man look at problems and see 
opportunities. David's quick mind and determination to succeed led him 
to step way beyond the cultural and political boundaries that, in the 
1960s, so often defined the life experience of middle-class African-
Americans.
  David was born in Chicago, Illinois, on February 20, 1941. He was 
educated in the Chicago Public Schools where he attended Willard 
Elementary School and DuSable High School. While a student at DuSable, 
David honed his skills as an accomplished basketball player. Upon 
graduation from DuSable in 1959, his skills on the basketball court 
allowed him to gain a full basketball scholarship to Drake University 
in Des Moines, Iowa. While at Drake, David became a member of Kappa 
Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. He graduated from Drake University in 1964 
with a Bachelors of Science degree in Political Science.
  David returned to Chicago where all that he had learned--in the 
classroom and on the basketball courts--would serve him well in the 
rough and tumble world of Chicago politics. After graduating from 
college, David worked for People's Gas Light & Coke Company for almost 
two years until his entry into politics in 1966.
  While for the better part of his life David was a Democrat, he first 
came to prominence on the national stage as a young, 25-year-old 
Republican. Like many African-American youth in the 1960s, David and a 
talented group of his friends chafed at some of the old guard, 
``machine'' politics of Illinois' Democratic Party. In response, David 
and some of his friends formed a political group, the ``New Breed 
Committee,'' that represented forward thinking African-American youth. 
Only months after they were formed, their brilliance and boldness of 
spirit captured the hearts and minds of a whole new generation of young 
African-American political activists, including me.
  In 1966, in what was then a stunning political move that inspired me 
and so many other young people who believed in America's political 
process, 25-year-old David Reed--who, as a community activist, was 
admired in Chicago's black community for his brilliance, his organizing 
skills, his articulate speech, and his comfort in speaking truth to 
power--responded to a call from, then, candidate for the U.S. Senate, 
Charles Percy, to switch from the Democratic Party to the Republican 
Party! It was a strategically inspired move aimed at defeating the 
intransigent political forces of the long-time incumbent Congressman 
William L. Dawson and other factions of the Democratic machine. Shortly 
after David filed as a ``New Breed'' Democratic challenger to Dawson, 
Percy's senate campaign reached out to David and his supporters. 
Illinois' statewide Republican Party recognized David's passion and the 
opportunity to help elevate a younger generation of African-Americans 
while also boosting Republican Party fortunes--in Illinois and across 
the nation. Percy and leaders of his political organization appealed to 
David and his forces and told him he'd have a better opportunity to 
unseat Dawson if he joined the Republican ticket. David and his 
supporters agreed and they folded the ``New Breed Committee'' into the 
Republican Party's political apparatus. And the result was electric!
  While David's candidacy ultimately fell short, David was part of a 
broader trend among African-American voters, in 1966, that led to some 
of the largest gains by the national Republican Party among black 
voters in a generation. Not only did Percy win his first campaign for 
the U.S. Senate that year, but 1966 was the year the U.S. Senate gained 
its first African-American Senator in a generation. Edward Brooke, from 
Massachusetts, became the first African-American to be elected to the 
Senate since reconstruction. Although David lost his election contest, 
Percy and others in Illinois' Republican Party recognized his talent. 
Only weeks after the election, David became one of the first, top 
leadership appointments by the Republican President of the Cook County 
Board, Richard V. Ogilvie.
  David's leadership exploits brought national pride and acclaim to 
millions of African-Americans and others of goodwill throughout our 
nation. His accomplishments were profiled in the December 22, 1966 
edition of Jet magazine who described him this way, ``David R. Reed, 
25, the ``New Breed'' Republican who challenged Congressman William L. 
Dawson on Chicago's South Side was one of the first five people Richard 
V. Ogilvie, newly elected President of the Cook County Board, appointed 
to his administrative team. Reed, a native Chicagoan and former Drake 
University basketball star, was named an administrative assistant in 
the President's office. . .The members of the New Breed are mostly 
young, militant Negroes who are college graduates and many are Vietnam 
Veterans.'' From 1967 to 1971, David worked as a chief administrative 
aide to Ogilvie during his tenure as President of the Cook County Board 
and, later, during his statewide run for Illinois Governor.
  In the 1970s, David returned to the Democratic Party and was active, 
for years, in progressive grassroots politics. David went on to play a 
leading role in helping to elect Chicago's first African-American 
Mayor, Harold Washington, in 1983. After the Mayor's death in 1987, 
David became chair of the Harold Washington Party where, for years, he 
worked tirelessly to help other African-American candidates reach their 
political dreams.
  By the mid-1970s, David left government and launched a string of 
successful entrepreneurial pursuits--it was a level of work and success 
that would span four decades. Most of those businesses were based in 
Chicago and focused on various industries including a restaurant 
(Seafood Safari), a skating rink (Rolla World), a security agency (Best 
Security) and other business interests in real estate and construction. 
Over the years, David's consulting practice grew and he served several 
leading clients and companies throughout metro Atlanta, where he spent 
the latter part of his life.
  With all that David meant to Chicago, the state of Illinois, our 
nation, and especially my wife, Carolyn, and I, he was so much more. He 
and his adoring wife, Judith, were life-long friends and adoring life 
partners. David and his wife, who was his high school sweetheart, led a 
life of passion, joy, service, and style that set an example for our 
nation. Over the years that I got to know him in Chicago, David 
remained a very dear friend. The two of us, and our wives, shared many 
joyous moments, and a few sorrows, along the path of life we walked 
together. I can truly say that the love and devotion David and Judy 
shared is a classic American love story that, in and of itself, is 
worthy of acclaim.
  David was a tremendous inspiration to me, not only because of his 
brilliance and political skills but because of the way he carried 
himself. He was comfortable speaking truth to power but he did it with 
dignity, class, and in a way that made me, and generations of African-
American men and women like me, so very, very proud.
  In addition to his wife, Judy, David's legacy endures through their 
two children, Karren Grant who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and David 
Reed, Jr., who currently resides in Denver, Colorado.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of a grateful city, state and nation, it is my 
privilege to enter into our nation's permanent record the inspired life 
story of my friend, David Ronald Reed, Sr., a man whose contributions 
to our nation are worthy of recognition. May his soul rest in peace. 
And, as I close, I want Judy and his children to know that they will 
always have the love and support of Carolyn and me as well as a large 
and loving extended family in Chicago, and the State of Illinois, whose 
lives they so magnificently touched. May God bless all of you.