[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 130 (Thursday, July 23, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E672]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       IN MEMORY OF REVEREND DOCTOR CORDY TINDELL ``C.T.'' VIVIAN

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 23, 2020

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Madam Speaker, it is with a heavy heart and 
solemn remembrance that I rise today to pay tribute to an outstanding 
Man of God, iconic civil rights pioneer, dedicated leader, and dear 
friend of longstanding, Rev. Dr. Cordy Tindell ``C.T.'' Vivian. Sadly, 
Rev. Vivian transitioned from labor to reward on Friday, July 17, 2020, 
at the age of 95. He leaves in his wake many heavy hearts among his 
family, friends, community, and across the nation. A homegoing service 
celebrating his life was held Thursday, July 23, 2020, at Providence 
Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.
  Cordy Tindell Vivian, or ``C.T.'' as he was affectionately known, was 
born on July 30, 1924, in Boonville, Missouri to the late Mr. Robert 
Cordie and Ms. Euzetta Tindell Vivian. In 1930, his mother and 
grandmother moved to Macomb, Illinois to allow C.T. to attend non-
segregated schools and a local college. He attended Macomb High School, 
where he graduated in 1942, before matriculating at Western Illinois 
State Teachers College (now Western Illinois University). At Western 
Illinois, he planned to major in English literature, but when he was 
prohibited from joining a club for English majors, he withdrew from 
school in protest. He then moved to Peoria, Illinois to work at the 
Carver Community Center as a Recreation Director. While in Peoria, he 
participated in his first series of sit-in demonstrations, which 
resulted in the successful integration of Barton's Cafeteria in 194 7.
  While studying for the ministry at American Baptist Theological 
Seminary (now called American Baptist College) in Nashville, Tennessee, 
in 1959, he met Rev. James Lawson and some of his ``disciples'' 
including Diane Nash, Bernard Lafayette, James Bevel, and John R. 
Lewis. He and his fellow disciples led a months-long, nonviolent 
desegregation protest at public facilities that forced the city to 
change its policy. After spearheading the campaign in Nashville, Rev. 
Vivian served as a replacement for an injured member of the Congress of 
Racial Equality (C.O.R.E) on the Freedom Ride to Mississippi. Later, he 
helped organize Tennessee's contingent for the 1963 March on Washington 
and was invited to join the staff of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 
By 1965, Rev. Vivian had become the Director of National Affiliates for 
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a close ally of 
Dr. King, and a key figure in organizing nonviolent civil rights 
protests throughout the South. That same year, he led a group of 
protesters to the steps of the Dallas County courthouse in Selma, 
Alabama, where he encountered Sheriff Jim Clark, who blocked the group 
and responded by knocking him down with a billy club in front of live 
cameras. Rev. Vivian, nonviolently, stood up and continued to preach 
and advocate for the right to vote. The footage from that incident and 
others including one involving John Lewis were broadcasted on national 
television creating outrage and widespread support for the movement and 
ultimately resulting in the passage by Congress of the Voting Rights 
Act 1965.
  Yet, Madam Speaker, Dr. Vivian's profound servant leadership did not 
stop there. In 1972, Dr. Vivian became Dean of the Chapel at Shaw 
University and National Director of the Seminary Without Walls. He 
worked with the Community Organization for the National Council of 
Churches, for a division of overseas ministries, and participated in a 
number of agricultural missions. He served on the United Nations 
Commission on Human Rights Education where he organized the National 
Center for Human Rights Education. He then returned to lead the SCLC in 
2012 as its Interim President helping to restore and enhance its 
credibility. He received numerous awards, but the most prestigious was 
the Presidential Medal of Freedom presented by President Barack Obama 
in 2013.
  Rev. Vivian accomplished much in his life, but none of it would have 
been possible without the Grace of God and the love and the support of 
his late wife, Octavia Geans Vivian; his children, Jo Anna, Denise, 
Cordy Jr. (deceased), Kira, Mark, Anita, and Albert; and other loved 
ones, all of whom will miss him dearly.
  Rev. Vivian once said ``Leadership is found in the action to defeat 
that which would defeat you . . . You are made by the struggles you 
choose.'' To that end, he founded the C.T. Vivian Leadership Institute 
in 2007 with the sole purpose of educating visitors on the correlation 
between the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. and contemporary Human 
Rights Movements across the globe.
  Madam Speaker, my wife, Vivian, and I, along with countless others 
throughout Georgia and the nation salute Reverend Doctor C.T. Vivian 
for his outstanding accomplishments in the ministry and his life of 
service and sacrifice for the betterment of humankind. I ask my 
colleagues in the House of Representatives to join us in extending our 
deepest condolences to Reverend Vivian's family, friends, loved ones, 
and all who grieve his loss. We pray that they will be consoled and 
comforted by an abiding faith and the Holy Spirit in the days, weeks, 
and months ahead.

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