[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 151 (Friday, October 16, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1477]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING MS. MAKANI THEMBA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 16, 2015

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Ms. Makani Themba for her 
extraordinary life work empowering historically marginalized 
communities.
  Ms. Themba's activism spans numerous roles and she has a strong 
history of advocating and organizing in grassroots engagement alongside 
underserved people of color.
  For the past 14 years, Ms. Themba has served as the Executive 
Director for The Praxis Project, a nonprofit organization based in 
Washington D.C., which helps communities use media and policy advocacy 
to advance health justice. Under her leadership, The Praxis Project has 
raised more than $24 million dollars for advocacy organizations 
nationwide. These initiatives include Communities Creating Healthy 
Environments (CCHE), a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson 
Foundation (RWJF), which sets out to prevent childhood obesity by 
increasing access to healthy foods and safe places to play in 
communities of color. The program will advance RWJF's efforts to 
reverse the childhood obesity epidemic by supporting diverse, 
community-based organizations and federally chartered tribal nations in 
the development and implementation of effective, culturally responsive 
policy initiatives to address the root causes of childhood obesity.
  Prior to her tenure at The Praxis Project, Ms. Themba directed the 
Grass Roots Innovative Policy Program (GRIPP) a national project where 
she effectively engaged in media and policy advocacy to address 
institutional racism in welfare and public education.
  Ms. Themba has published numerous articles and case studies on race, 
class, media, policy advocacy and public health. She is the author of 
Making Policy, Making Change, and co-author of Media Advocacy and 
Public Health: Power for Prevention, a contributor to the volumes 
Community Based Participatory Research for Health, Prevention Is 
Primary: Strategies for Community Well Being, We the Media along with 
many other editorial projects. Her publications have helped set the 
standard for policy advocacy work and contributed significantly to the 
field's current emphasis on media and policy advocacy to address health 
problems. Her latest book is a collaboration with The Praxis Project 
and includes contributions from Malkia Cyril and others. It is titled, 
Fair Game: A Strategy Guide for Racial Justice Communications in the 
Obama Era.
  Additionally, Ms. Themba has worked on international projects that 
build capacity among advocates to more effectively address structural 
racism. At Transnational Racial Justice Initiative (TRJI), she 
leveraged tools and best practices from around the world and co-
authored and edited a shadow report on institutional racism and white 
privilege--the first of its kind.
  Ms. Themba has also helped initiate numerous programs which have 
positively impacted communities facing national disasters. Through the 
Katrina Information Network, she connected more than 200,000 people 
displaced by the Katrina Hurricane to their families and friends 
through the use of informational technology.
  On behalf of the residents of California's 13th Congressional 
District, I salute Ms. Makani Themba, and thank her for a lifetime of 
service.

                          ____________________