[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 37 (Monday, February 27, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E156-E157]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING 18 INCREDIBLE INDIVIDUALS IN HONOR OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MICHAEL LAWLER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 27, 2023

  Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize 18 incredible 
individuals from my community in honor of Black History Month.
  The 17th Congressional District and New York State are home to much 
of this rich history. The Hudson River was once one of the main 
arteries of the Underground Railroad, illuminating a pathway to freedom 
for enslaved people. In Hillburn, we saw the precursor to one of the 
Supreme Court's landmark cases, Brown vs. Board of Education, which 
paved the way for the fall of segregation and a full bill of civil 
rights to be passed at the federal level.
  Last week, I held a ceremony to honor Vedeta Hanley, Jennifer 
Ogilvie, Pastor Jean Claude Dorcely, Roxanne Watson, Joyce

[[Page E157]]

Sharrock Cole, Cassandra Dobson, Virginia Norfleet, Sonia Tracey, 
Pastor Greg Merriweather, Quacy Evelyn, Pastor Everett Newton, Alice 
Roker, Dr. Edmund Gordon, Jacqueline Baker, Dr. Winsome Downie, Dr. 
Philip Ozuah, Mel Johnson, and Nzhinga Milanes, who are continuing the 
history of black excellence in the Hudson Valley.

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