[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 155 (Wednesday, September 25, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H7908-H7909]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
          TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF JUANITA ABERNATHY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Alabama (Ms. Sewell) for 5 minutes.

[[Page H7909]]

  

  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Madam Speaker, today, I rise to honor the 
remarkable life and legacy of Mrs. Juanita Abernathy, a selfless leader 
in the struggle for civil rights whose direction and tireless 
engagement was an integral part in the movement of civil rights and 
voting rights in America. She, sadly, passed earlier this month.
  From the Montgomery bus boycott to the marches from Selma to 
Montgomery and onward to Washington, D.C., and beyond, Mrs. Abernathy 
played a key role in our Nation's proudest instance of civic 
engagement. She fought boldly alongside her husband, Reverend Dr. Ralph 
Abernathy, and her dear friends and fellow architects of the movement, 
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mrs. Coretta Scott King.
  While many male leaders of the civil rights movement have rightfully 
become household names, the women of the movement, whose struggles and 
sacrifices 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. 
She was the youngest of eight children born to Alexander and Ella 
Gilmore Jones. In the ninth grade, she met her future husband, Reverend 
Dr. Ralph Abernathy, who wrote in his memoir that he was impressed by 
her audacious spirit and her inherent dignity. In 1952, after Mrs. 
Abernathy finished her B.S. in business education at Tennessee State 
University, she and Dr. Ralph Abernathy were married.
  Mrs. and Reverend Abernathy moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where she 
became the secretary for the Alabama chapter of the NAACP and taught 
high school courses on business education while Reverend Abernathy 
became the pastor of the First Baptist Church on Ripley Street.
  In 1955, around the family dining room table, Mrs. Abernathy wrote a 
business plan for the Montgomery bus boycott, a plan that later served 
as a blueprint for the civil rights movement. Meant to last only 1 day, 
the Montgomery bus boycott went on for 381 days, eventually leading to 
the courts desegregating public transit.
  In retaliation to the success of the Montgomery bus boycott, the 
Abernathy home was bombed. Reverend Abernathy was in Atlanta at the 
time, but it was said that Mrs. Abernathy and her children only 
survived because the bomb landed off by 2 feet.
  Over the years, Mrs. Abernathy endured terror, harassment, and 
unbridled hatred from white supremacists in her community and beyond. 
Yet, in the face of unimaginable threats, she maintained her innate 
dignity and bravery.
  In 1961, Mrs. Abernathy and her husband moved to Atlanta, Georgia, 
where she worked closely with the King family to integrate Atlanta's 
public schools.
  At this same time, understanding the link between race 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 schoolchildren.
  A true servant leader, Mrs. Abernathy's brilliant mind, full heart, 
and resilient spirit should remind all of us of what constitutes a full 
and wonderful life.
  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 commemoration of Bloody Sunday and the Selma to Montgomery 
marches.
  She was a powerful voice for change and a proud product of Alabama's 
Black Belt who passionately protected the legacy of her husband and 
their lifelong work together to advance civil rights.
  Mrs. Abernathy graciously encouraged me to run for Congress and 
honored me with her presence in my hometown of 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. I 
prevailed because of her personal courage and sacrifice that paved the 
way for future generations of Black children like me to succeed.
  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 propel our Nation toward a more perfect Union.

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