[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 186 (Wednesday, November 20, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H9103-H9104]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1745
                        HONORING FAHARI JEFFERS

  (Ms. WATERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, my friend Fahari Jeffers' legacy as a civil 
rights and labor rights leader in American history had its beginning in 
the Black Power movement. She joined the San Diego chapter of the U.S. 
organization in 1967 and served as a teacher in the weekend School of 
Afro-American Culture for Children.
  A dedicated civil rights advocate and cultural rights powerhouse, she 
became involved in labor union organizing, having convened the major 
African People's gatherings in the 1970s and worked with the NIA 
cultural organization in San Diego.
  Fahari was proud of her roots in the Black Power movement. Her early 
work prepared her for the work that Cesar Chavez recruited and trained 
her and her husband, Ken Msemaji, to do in founding and building the 
United Domestic Workers of America. Today, over 200,000 California 
homecare workers and nearly 2 million nationally work under union 
contracts. Her model of collective bargaining rights law is now 
patterned across the Nation. On Sunday, March 18, 2018, Fahari Jeffers

[[Page H9104]]

was inducted into the San Diego Women's Hall of Fame for her work in 
cofounding the United Domestic Workers of America.
  With her passing, the State of California and our Nation suffered a 
tremendous loss. She will be remembered for her ``si, se puede'' 
attitude and for exemplifying the meaning of her Swahili given name, 
Fahari, which means magnificent, and magnificent she was.

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