[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 154 (Tuesday, September 24, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1202-E1203]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN HONOR OF THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE AND LEGACY OF MRS. JUANITA ABERNATHY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. TERRI A. SEWELL

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 24, 2019

  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
remarkable life and legacy of Mrs. Juanita Abernathy, a selfless and 
determined leader in the struggle for civil rights, whose direction and 
tireless engagement were integral to the progress of the movement. From 
the Montgomery bus boycott to the marches from Selma to Montgomery and 
on Washington, D.C., and beyond, Mrs. Abernathy played a key role in 
our nation's proudest instances of citizen activism. She fought boldly 
alongside her husband, the Reverend Dr. Ralph Abernathy, and their dear 
friends and fellow architects of the movement, the Reverend Dr. Martin 
Luther King, Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, to enact necessary and 
meaningful change, whose effects reverberated throughout our country. 
While many male leaders of the civil rights movement have rightfully 
become household names, the women whose struggles and sacrifice were 
equal and whose participation was necessary, have not enjoyed the same 
recognition. Mrs. Juanita Abernathy was a brilliant, courageous leader 
in her own right, and today we recognize her remarkable and distinct 
contributions.
  Mrs. Abernathy was born on December 1, 1931 in Uniontown, Alabama, 
the youngest of Alexander and Ella Gilmore Jones' eight children. Mr. 
and Mrs. Jones, who made their living as dairy, beef and cotton 
farmers, did well for themselves, and were named the most successful 
farmers in the Black Belt by Tuskegee Institute in the 1940s. At an 
early age, Mrs. Abernathy was sent to live with her older sister to 
attend an African American boarding school, Selma University Prep 
School, from kindergarten through graduation. In the ninth grade, she 
met her future husband, the Rev. Dr. Ralph Abernathy, who wrote in his 
memoir that he was impressed by her audacious spirit and inherent 
dignity. Both were on display at the local grocery store when a white 
clerk refused to carry Mrs. Abernathy's groceries to her car. She 
replied that if he was unable to carry her groceries to the car, he 
should instead go ahead and return the groceries to the shelves. In 
1952, after Mrs. Abernathy completed her B.S. in business education at 
Tennessee State University in Nashville, she and Dr. Abernathy were 
married.
  Mrs. and Dr. Abernathy moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where she became 
a secretary for the Alabama chapter of the NAACP and taught high school 
courses on business education, while Dr. Abernathy served as pastor of 
the First Baptist Church on Ripley St. In 1954, the couple hosted a new 
pastor, who had been brought in to lead the Dexter Avenue Baptist 
Church, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his wife, Coretta Scott King. 
In 1955, around the family dining room table, Mrs. Abernathy wrote the 
business plan for the Montgomery bus boycott, a plan which later served 
as a blueprint for the Civil Rights Movement. Meant to last only one 
day, the boycott went on for 381 days, eventually leading to the courts 
desegregating public transit and the country. In retaliation to the 
success of the Montgomery bus boycott, the Abernathy house was bombed 
while Dr. Abernathy was in Atlanta with Dr. King, establishing the 
Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Thankfully, Mrs. Abernathy, 
who was home with her oldest daughter Juandalynn, and pregnant with her 
youngest, Donzaleigh, was safe, though firefighters said that if the 
bomb had landed only a foot away, it would have exploded the house's 
main gas line. That same night Dr. Abernathy's church was bombed. Over 
the years, Mrs. Abernathy endured terror, harassment and unbridled 
hatred from white supremacists in her community and beyond; and yet, in 
the face of unimaginable threats, Mrs. Abernathy maintained her innate 
dignity and bravery.

[[Page E1203]]

  In 1961, Mrs. Abernathy and her husband moved to Atlanta, Georgia 
where she worked closely with the Kings to integrate Atlanta's public 
schools. Upon learning that Spring Street Elementary School was the 
school favored by the children of Georgia Tech professors, Mrs. 
Abernathy sent her children Donzaleigh, Juandalynn and their late 
brother Ralph Abernathy III, who became some of the first children to 
integrate, alongside two of the Kings' children. Mrs. Abernathy took 
great pride in her children's cultural and classical education, 
bringing them to Europe and, in Atlanta, to attend the opera. At this 
same time, understanding the inextricable link between racial and 
economic inequality in this country, Mrs. Abernathy fought to establish 
a National Food Stamp Program for low-income families and a National 
Free Meal Program for public school children.
  Mrs. Juanita Abernathy was perhaps the last living member of Dr. 
King's inner circle, but her legacy supersedes even such prominent 
relationships. In addition to her work during the Civil Rights 
Movement, Mrs. Abernathy has travelled around the world three times on 
peace missions, served on the board of MARTA for over a decade and 
became a national sales director for Mary Kay Cosmetics, ranking second 
in the nation in recruitment. A true servant leader, Mrs. Abernathy's 
brilliant mind, full heart and resilient spirit should serve as a 
reminder to us all of what constitutes a life well lived. When she sat 
at President Barack Obama's inauguration, it was in a place of honor, 
directly behind former President Bill Clinton.
  On a personal note, I was honored to get to know Mrs. Abernathy 
during her many pilgrimages to my hometown of Selma, Alabama for the 
annual commemorations of ``Bloody Sunday'' and the March from Selma to 
Montgomery. She was a powerful force for change and a proud product of 
Alabama's Black Belt, who passionately protected the legacy of her 
husband and their lifelong work to advance civil rights in this nation. 
Mrs. Abernathy graciously encouraged me to run for Congress and honored 
me with her presence in Selma on election night when I won in November 
2010. I saw in her face that night the pride she felt witnessing the 
election of Alabama's first black Congresswoman. It was a time that had 
come because of her personal courage and sacrifices to pave the way for 
future generations of black children like me to succeed. I know there 
comes great responsibility in standing on her broad shoulders and I 
seek to honor that privilege every day in my efforts to protect and 
further the progress made and legacy of the Freedom Fighters for 
Justice like Mrs. Juanita Abernathy. To her family, I thank them for 
sharing their parents with the world. Their mother's passion, courage 
and determination will always live on in the hearts and actions of 
those she touched.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute and 
honor to Alabama native Mrs. Juanita Jones Abernathy on the passing of 
this Civil Rights icon and true American heroine whose tremendous 
efforts helped this nation on its path towards a more perfect union.

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