[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 57 (Tuesday, April 10, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E425-E426]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  REMEMBERING DR. RITA JACKSON SAMUELS

                                  _____
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 10, 2018

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart and 
solemn remembrance that I rise today to pay tribute to an outstanding 
businesswoman, dedicated public servant, mentor to many, trailblazer, 
and one of Georgia's most prolific women's rights advocates, Dr. Rita 
Jackson Samuels. Sadly, Dr. Samuels passed away on Tuesday, March 27, 
2018, at the age of 72. Her funeral service was held on Saturday, April 
7, 2018, at noon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.
  A native of Forsyth, Georgia, Dr. Samuels attended Claflin 
University, Morris Brown College, and Georgia State University and 
received her Business & Secretarial Science Certification from Dimery's 
Business College in Atlanta, Georgia.
  As a young woman, she worked as a secretary for the Southern 
Christian Leadership Conference under the administrations of several 
influential individuals and alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 
1971, Dr. Samuels became the first African-American female in Georgia's 
history to serve on the personal staff of a Georgia Governor as then-
Governor Jimmy Carter's Coordinator of the Governor's Council on Human 
Relations. Governor Carter personally selected her to oversee the 
hanging of the Martin Luther King, Jr. portrait in the Georgia State 
Capitol. After Carter became president, she worked as a consultant with 
his

[[Page E426]]

White House Staff in 1977. In 1983, served as Director of the Office of 
Citizens & Community Affairs under former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young 
and on the national board of a National Anti-Poverty Rural Development 
Agency.
  Dr. Samuels was not only a dedicated public servant but also a strong 
and passionate innovator and activist who fought tirelessly to preserve 
women's history and made sure that the achievements of African-American 
women were properly recognized. She founded the Georgia Coalition of 
Black Women, Inc. in 1981; advocated for the creation of the Georgia 
Commission on Women in 1991 and the Atlanta Commission on Women in 
2001; and was the co-founder of the Georgia Coalition for the People's 
Agenda and Women Flying High, LLC, a 100 percent female-owned business 
enterprise that is dedicated to increasing women's share of public and 
private sector contracts, in 2005. She also founded ``The Ballot 
Power'' of Women Voters Lecture Series and the Women in Government 
Internship and produced ``Sisterhood Voices'' on the Air Radio Show. 
She helped to launch the careers of several African-American woman 
leaders from rural Georgia counties who would go on to serve as mayors, 
commissioners, and judges.
  Over the course of her life, she served as on a variety of boards and 
in a number of organizations at the local, state, and national levels. 
She also received numerous awards and commendations, including ``Keys 
to the City'' of several cities, including her hometown of Forsyth, 
Georgia. Governor Joe Frank Harris appointed her to the State Martin 
Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission and appointed her as the first 
African American to serve on the Georgia State Election Board. She was 
subsequently reappointed to the King Commission by Governors Zell 
Miller and Roy Barnes.
  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, ``Life's most persistent and 
urgent question is, `What are you doing to help others?' '' Dr. Samuels 
undoubtedly lived by this philosophy as she committed a prodigious 
amount of time and love in service to others and shared her enthusiasm 
and wisdom to better those around her. Moreover, The great Agricultural 
chemist George Washington Carver once said that, ``It does not matter 
how much money you have in the bank; it does not matter what kind of 
car you drive; it does not matter how big the house is that you live 
in; it does not matter what type of profession you might be involved 
in; what matters in this life and what we all will be judged by is what 
we have done in this life as far as service to humanity.'' Rita served 
humanity well and carried out God's purpose for her life.
  Rita leaves behind her loving husband of many years, Stanley, and a 
host of family and friends who will miss her deeply. She was a longtime 
member of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.
  On a personal note, Rita was a dear friend of longstanding and valued 
supporter. I will miss the very sage counsel that she imparted to me 
over the years.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join my wife Vivian and me, along 
with the more than 730,000 people of the Second Congressional District, 
in paying tribute to Dr. Rita Jackson Samuels, for her legacy of 
service to the state of Georgia, and extending our deepest condolences 
to Rita's family and friends. We pray that they will be consoled and 
comforted by an abiding faith and the Holy Spirit in the days, weeks, 
and months ahead.

                          ____________________