[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
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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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