[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 37 (Wednesday, March 4, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E300]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING DR. LOUIS CHARLES ROUDANEZ

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CEDRIC L. RICHMOND

                              of louisiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 4, 2015

  Mr. RICHMOND. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. Louis Charles 
Roudanez, founder and publisher of the first daily African American 
newspaper in the United States, on the 125th anniversary of his death.
   Dr. Roudanez, a free man of color and native Louisianian from St. 
James Parish, founded the New Orleans Tribune to serve as an outspoken 
voice for the interests of African Americans during a period of turmoil 
and uncertainty during the final year of the Civil War and early 
Reconstruction. The Tribune aggressively advocated for civil rights, 
black suffrage, desegregated public education, and better wages and 
working conditions for freed slaves. It operated under the radical 
philosophy that ``freedom without equality before the law and at the 
ballot box is impossible.'' Although primarily a lens to conditions in 
Louisiana, the paper worked towards reforming all of Southern society 
by sending a copy of each issue to every Member of Congress. It quickly 
received national recognition, and its editorials were often read here 
on the floor of Congress.
   Though the Tribune ceased publishing in 1870, its spirit of 
advocacy, justice, fairness and uncompromising purpose was invoked in 
1985 by Dr. Dwight and Beverly Stanton McKenna, when they began their 
newspaper and named it in honor of Dr. Roudanez's Tribune. The modern-
day Tribune continues to offer an invaluable voice on issues affecting 
the Black community in New Orleans and around the country.
   To honor Dr. Roudanez, I would like to share part of the Tribune's 
mission statement, published in July 1864 on the front page of its 
first issue: ``Under the above title we publish a new paper devoted to 
the principles heretofore defended by the Union. Convinced that a 
newspaper, under the present circumstances, representing the principles 
and interest which we propose to defend and advocate was much needed in 
New Orleans, we shall spare no means at our command to render the 
Tribune worthy of public confidence and respect.'' Today we recognize 
the fulfillment of Dr. Roudanez's mission. In commemoration of his life 
and achievements, a monument has been dedicated to Dr. Roudanez at the 
building that housed the Tribune.

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