[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 196 (Wednesday, November 18, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1049]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING THE LEGACY OF MS. JEAN D. THOMPSON

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CEDRIC L. RICHMOND

                              of louisiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 18, 2020

  Mr. RICHMOND. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the legacy and work of 
Louisiana Freedom Rider, Ms. Jean D. Thompson. Ms. Thompson made 
history by participating in the Freedom Rides that helped illuminate 
persistence segregation in the South despite Morgan v. Virginia and 
Boynton v. Virginia.
  Born in Lake Providence, Louisiana on January 13, 1942, Ms. Thompson 
was an active member of the NAACP and Congress of Racial Equality 
(CORE). Throughout her life, Ms. Thompson participated in a number of 
sit-ins, was active in Louisiana and Mississippi Freedom Summers, and 
contributed to anti-war and feminist efforts in San Francisco and 
Berkeley, California. Starting at the age of 19, her passion and 
determination made her one of the youngest trailblazers for racial 
equity.
  In response to the federal government's unwillingness to enforce the 
U.S. Supreme Court's decisions outlawing segregated interstate travel, 
the Freedom Riders rode integrated buses across state lines in the 
South to bring awareness to local laws that still required blacks and 
whites to use separate seating. These intentional actions played a key 
role in the Civil Rights Movement.
  Ms. Thompson is a daughter of New Orleans, and without her 
desegregation efforts, persistence against injustice, and fearlessness, 
many of us would not be where we are today. It is critically important 
that we give Ms. Thompson her flowers while she is still here with us 
so we can celebrate the strides she took to improve racial equality. 
May we always lift up her name and honor her legacy by continuing to 
advance equal rights and justice for African Americans and those of 
African descent all around the world.
  Madam Speaker, I celebrate the life and work of Ms. Jean D. Thompson.

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