[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 14, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H214]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING THE LEGACY OF MAMIE KIRKLAND

  (Mr. HIGGINS of New York asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. HIGGINS of New York. Madam Speaker, last month Buffalo's oldest 
resident, Mamie Kirkland, passed away at the age of 111. Mamie made 
Buffalo her home in 1923 after spending a lifetime outsmarting racism 
in Mississippi, Illinois, and Ohio. She fled rioting, burning of homes, 
and the shooting of residents by an angry racist mob. She witnessed the 
Ku Klux Klan burn a cross on the lawn of her family home.
  Through these memories she inspired the creation of both the Legacy 
Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice.
  Four years ago Ms. Kirkland was honored at a gala by the Equal 
Justice Initiative. When asked to speak on her journey, she said: ``I 
left Mississippi a scared little girl of 7 years old. Now I am 107--and 
I am not afraid anymore.''
  I rise to honor the fearless legacy of Ms. Kirkland for the citizens 
of Buffalo, a city honored to be Mamie's home.

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