[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 33 (Thursday, February 27, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E267-E268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      RECOGNIZING THE CONTRIBUTIONS TO OUR CITIZENS OF DIANE NASH

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 27, 2014

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, as we reflect on the events of the past 
month in celebration of the contributions made to our nation by African 
Americans, I would like to submit Diane Nash's story.
  Diane Judith Nash was born on Chicago's South Side on May 15, 1938. 
Diane's father, Leon Nash, migrated north from Mississippi and held a 
clerical job in the military during World War II. Dorothy Bolton Nash, 
Diane's mother, also migrated north from her Tennessee birthplace. 
Raised by her grandmother, Carrie Bolton, until she was seven, Diane 
was taught to turn a blind eye toward racial injustice and strive to be 
a polite and accepting girl. Growing up, she attended the Sisters of 
the Blessed Sacrament parochial school, which was operated by nuns who 
taught only minority students. Later she would attend public high 
school and go on to Washington, DC, to begin her college career at 
Howard University. In 1959, Diane decided to transfer to Fisk 
University in Nashville. It was in Nashville where she was first 
exposed to the full force of Jim Crow and its effect on the lives of 
African Americans--exclusion from restaurants, schools, and facilities 
common to everyday life.
  After experiencing such shocking discriminatory events, Diane decided 
to search for a way to challenge segregation. She began attending non-
violent civil disobedience workshops led by Rev. James Lawson. Rev. 
Lawson had studied Mahatma Gandhi's techniques of nonviolent direct 
action and passive resistance while studying in India. By the end of 
her first semester at Fisk, she had become one of Rev. Lawson's most 
devoted disciples.
  In 1960 at the age of 22, she became the leader of the Nashville sit-
ins, which lasted from February to May. Unlike previous movements, 
which were guided by older adults, this movement was led and composed 
primarily of students and young people. Students would sit-in at 
segregated lunch counters, accepting arrest in line with non-violent 
principles. Diane, with John Lewis, led the protesters in a policy of 
refusing to pay bail. While participating in the Nashville sit-ins, 
Diane first met one of her fellow protestors, James Bevel, whom she 
would later marry and raise two children, a son and a daughter.
  Diane helped found the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee 
(SNCC), and quit school to lead its direct action wing. In 1961, Diane 
and ten fellow students were arrested in Rock Hill, South Carolina for 
protesting segregation. Once jailed, they would not accept bail. 
Originally fearful of jail, Diane was arrested dozens of times for her 
activities. In 1962, although she was four months pregnant she faced a 
two year prison sentence for contributing to the delinquency of minors 
whom she had encouraged to become Freedom Riders and ride on the buses. 
``I believe that if I go to jail now,'' she wrote in an open letter, 
``it may help hasten that day when my child and all children will be 
free--not only on the day of their birth but for all their lives.''
  In September 1963, Diane and others were shocked by a church bombing 
in Birmingham which killed four young girls. After learning of this, 
they committed themselves to raising a non-violent army in Alabama. 
This plan eventually culminated in the Selma to Montgomery marches for 
voting rights in Alabama in early 1965. Marchers repeatedly attempted 
to cross the Pettus Bridge, only to be attacked by Alabama troopers 
armed with clubs and tear gas. The initiative culminated in the Voting 
Rights Act of 1965, which guaranteed the vote to citizens regardless of 
race. President John F. Kennedy appointed her to a national committee 
that prepared for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
  Diane also worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as an 
organizer, strategist, field staff person, race relations staff person, 
and workshop instructor. In 1965 Diane was awarded the Southern 
Christian Leadership Council's Rosa Parks Award for planning and 
carrying out the tumultuous campaign for voter registration in Selma, 
Alabama.
  In 2003, Diane received the Distinguished American Award presented by 
the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. A year later, the LBJ Award for 
Leadership in Civil Rights was bestowed on Diane by the Lyndon Baines 
Johnson Library and Museum. One of her most recent honors was the award 
of the National Civil Rights Museum's freedom Award in 2008.
  Diane Nash is an outspoken advocate of civil rights for African 
Americans, women, veterans and young people. She is one of the most 
iconic female leaders to emerge from the era now commonly known as the 
civil rights movement. She has spoken at countless colleges and 
universities, youth organizations and human rights conferences. She 
currently resides in Chicago, where she has worked for several decades 
in tenant organizing housing advocacy, and real estate. Diane's life 
work has been to empower young people to feel that they can bring 
awareness to any injustice they may be experiencing in their lives 
through non-violent means.
  Recently, Mrs. Nash traveled to Toledo, Ohio to speak at the 
University of Toledo's Aspiring Young Leaders Conference. She held the 
young audience spellbound as she related her life's story and quest for 
full equality of all people in our socity. At age 76, Diane Nash is 
inspiring the next generation and leading nonviolent advancement in 
American society. What an incredible and rare woman is she. Thank you 
Mrs. Diane Nash for your brave and effective life dedicated to highest 
principles of human progress.

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