[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 37 (Wednesday, March 5, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E307]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO MAYOR CHOKWE LUMUMBA

                                  _____
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 5, 2014

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize 
the life and legacy of Mayor Chokwe Lumumba of Jackson, Mississippi.
  Mayor Chokwe Lumumba was born August 2, 1947, in Detroit, Michigan. 
He was the second of eight children born to Lucien and Priscilla 
Francis Taliaferro. Mayor Lumumba earned his Bachelor's degree in 
Political Science from Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He 
later finished first in his law school freshman class before graduating 
cum laude from Wayne State University Law School.
  Mayor Lumumba was a nationally renowned attorney who was licensed in 
Mississippi, Michigan and U.S. Federal Courts. He has represented 
clients in over 16 jurisdictions, including Canada and the Choctaw 
Court. Mayor Lumumba has won settlements and/or judgments for victims 
of medical malpractice, employment discrimination, sexual harassment 
and police misconduct. He has worked in high profile cases such as the 
representation of the late Tupac Shakur. In 2011, he helped win the 
release of the Scott Sisters who had served 16 years of double life 
prison sentences for an $11.00 (eleven-dollar) robbery. He successfully 
represented Lance Parker who was falsely accused of assault during the 
1992 Los Angeles uprising which followed the brutal beating of Rodney 
King.
  Since 1968, Mayor Lumumba has crisscrossed the globe to fight for 
``Human Rights for Human Beings.'' He supported the survivors of 
Katrina by serving on the Board of the People's Hurricane Relief Fund 
and organizing other activists to form the Mississippi Disaster Relief 
Coalition and co-organizing the Gulf Coast Survivors Assembly. Mayor 
Lumumba's work as a community activist has spanned over four decades. 
He has worked with organizations such as the Jackson Human Rights 
Coalition, which pressured the State to retry the person who murdered 
Medgar Evers. He has worked for over twenty years organizing, 
directing, coaching, and mentoring youth through programs such as the 
Jackson Panthers Basketball Organization. He was also a devout member 
of Word and Worship Christian Church.
  Prior to his election as Mayor, Mr. Lumumba served as Jackson City 
Councilman for Ward 2. Widowed by his late wife Nubia Alake, Mayor 
Lumumba was a loving and devoted father to his three children, Kambon 
Mutope, Rukia Kai and Chokwe Antar Lumumba. He was also the proud 
grandfather of Qadir Lumumba-Benjamin.
  Mr. Speaker, I take great pride in recognizing Mayor Chokwe Lumumba 
as a bright, caring, and humble individual. I commend his outstanding 
and historical contributions to the City of Jackson, the State of 
Mississippi, the Civil Rights Movement, and national politics.

                          ____________________