[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 117 (Thursday, July 12, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1003]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TRIBUTE TO JOHN MACK

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 12, 2018

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great 
American and South Carolina native, John Mack. John, the former 
longtime President of the Los Angeles Urban League who spent eight 
years on L.A.'s Police Commission passed away June 21st after a long 
battle with cancer. He was 81 years old and will be sorely missed.
  The Los Angeles Times recently wrote John Mack was ``one of L.A.'s 
most influential black figures'' on the subject of police reform. He 
led the Los Angeles Urban League through wide-ranging and significant 
changes for nearly 36 years. He saw the election of the first black 
mayor in Tom Bradley, the advancement of African Americans in prominent 
positions in the city and the emergence of a growing black-Latino 
coalition, and gained international recognition in 1992 when leading 
then-President George H.W. Bush on a tour after the 1992 Los Angeles 
riots that were precipitated by the arrest and videotaped beating of 
Rodney King by members of the Los Angeles police Department; and called 
for the resignation of then-Police Chief Daryl F. Gates.
  The Times continued, ``[t]hrough the Urban League he offered services 
to some of L.A.'s most disenfranchised citizens'' and ``improved the 
lives of countless black and brown people in the city.'' Even after his 
retirement from his official duties, Mack remained influential behind 
the scenes and recently played a key role in the hiring of a new police 
chief strong on police reform and the effort to eradicate police 
brutality and racism within the LAPD.
  John Mack was born in Kingstree, South Carolina on January 6, 1937, 
and grew up in Darlington, South Carolina. His father was a Methodist 
minister and his mother a public school teacher. Being PKs (preacher's 
kids), was a bond we shared throughout our many years of friendship. He 
attended North Carolina A&T State University, where he was the 
president of the NAACP chapter. He graduated in 1958 with a degree in 
applied sociology. He later earned a master's degree in social work 
from Clark Atlanta University.
  John began his professional career in Oxnard, California at the 
Camarillo State Mental Hospital. He later served as the executive 
director of the Flint Urban League in Flint, Michigan from 1964 to 
1969. He returned to California for good in 1969.
  In 1959, John married Harriet Johnson Mack, an elementary school 
teacher, who preceded him in death. They had three children.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the House to join me in acknowledging the work and 
leadership of the late great John Mack.

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