[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.
____________________