[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 6, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E9]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING FORMER PHOENIX CITY COUNCILMAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER CALVIN 
                                C. GOODE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. GREG STANTON

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 6, 2021

  Mr. STANTON. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the life and legacy of a 
civil rights icon and progressive giant, former Phoenix City Councilman 
Calvin C. Goode, who passed away on December 23, 2020 at the age of 93. 
Calvin spoke softly but carried with him the moral authority of having 
fought--and won--many civil rights battles throughout his long career.
  Calvin was just 10 months old when his family moved from Oklahoma to 
Gila Bend, Arizona. The family relocated again to Prescott when the 
local school refused to enroll Calvin because of the color of his skin. 
He went on to attend Carver High School in Phoenix, Arizona's only high 
school built for Black students. After growing up attending segregated 
schools, Calvin devoted his life to improving education access in our 
community alongside his beloved late wife Georgie. He earned degrees in 
business and education from Phoenix College and Arizona State 
University, and served as an accountant for Carver and other Phoenix 
Union High School District schools for 30 years.
  First elected in 1971, Calvin served a record 22 years on the Phoenix 
City Council. During his time at City Hall, Calvin continued to be 
guided by his deeply held belief in the equality of all people. Known 
as the ``Conscience of the Council,'' his legacy of creating 
opportunity for all endures in Phoenix--from the early childhood 
education and jobs programs he championed to the anti-discrimination 
ordinance he helped broker. He was instrumental in pushing the City to 
recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day, paving the way for the holiday to 
be observed statewide.
  Even after his time on the Council, Calvin remained one of the most 
impactful leaders in the Phoenix community. He fought to protect the 
history of his beloved Eastlake Park neighborhood where he lived for 
most of his life--an area shaped by segregation and redlining that 
became a gathering place for civil rights leaders. In his later years, 
he was instrumental in turning his alma mater, the formerly segregated 
Carver High School, into a museum and worked to ensure the institution 
would survive and thrive to hold African American Arizonans' history 
for future generations.
  He was above all a man of quiet courage and unshakeable conviction, 
and we are all better because of his lifetime of service. Godspeed, 
Calvin.

                          ____________________