[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 55 (Thursday, April 5, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E396]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     IN REMEMBRANCE OF LINDA BROWN, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER, PILLAR OF 
 COMMUNITY, AND LEAD PLAINTIFF IN LANDMARK BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION 
                       CASE THAT CHANGED AMERICA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 5, 2018

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in remembrance of a civil rights 
icon, Linda Brown, a schoolchild who transformed the country.
  Linda Brown was born on February 20, 1942, in Topeka, Kansas, to 
Leola and Oliver Brown.
  As a schoolgirl Linda Brown, was at the center of the landmark U.S. 
Supreme Court case that rejected racial segregation in American 
schools.
  Linda Brown was 9 years old in 1951 when her father, Oliver Brown, 
tried to enroll her at Sumner Elementary School, then an all-white 
school near her Topeka home.
  When the school blocked her enrollment, Oliver Brown partnered with 
the NAACP and a dozen other plaintiffs to file a lawsuit against the 
Topeka Board of Education becoming the landmark Supreme Court case, of 
Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
  By the time of the ruling, Linda Brown was in junior high, a grade 
level that had been integrated before the 1954 court ruling.
  Linda Brown went on to attend Washburn and Kansas State universities.
  Linda Brown was always conscious of the importance of standing up for 
one's Constitutional rights.
  Linda Brown realized that with rights, come responsibilities that is 
why Linda Brown toured the country telling her story and advocating for 
increased educational opportunity for all Americans.
  Faith was also important to Linda Brown because as she knew as the 
gospel hymn goes, ``we've come this far by faith.''
  While Linda Brown's faith and devotion could be found on display at 
St. Mark's African Methodist Episcopal Church, where she played piano 
and taught children how to play.
  While Linda Brown's name will forever be a part of American civil 
rights history, her contributions to the community after the case 
should be remembered as part of her legacy.
  Linda Brown continued to speak out against racial segregation and 
reopened the Topeka case with the American Civil Liberties Union in 
1979, arguing that the district's schools still were not desegregated.
  Linda Brown will be missed greatly, but her contributions to America 
will live on forever.
  I ask the House to observe a moment of silence in memory of Linda 
Brown.

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