[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 83 (Tuesday, May 14, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E491-E492]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     HONORING THE LIFE OF ZACH POLETT, THE `ORGANIZER'S ORGANIZER'

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JAMIE RASKIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 14, 2024

  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate the life and 
achievements of Zach Polett, one of our Nation's greatest recent 
community organizers. A humble and unassuming figure, Zach was a 
brilliant political strategist and dedicated activist who--among other 
accomplishments--helped organize the first health care workers' union 
in the South, pass statewide minimum wage and campaign finance ballot 
initiatives, design nationwide voter registration programs and 
cultivate a new generation of community activists. The loss of Zach in 
September 2023 has been deeply felt by those fighting for social 
justice across the country.
  The soul of our democracy is sustained by people like Zach, who 
believe in the fundamental dignity of every human being and the power 
of collective action to address our most pressing challenges. Though 
active in many social movements in college to oppose the Vietnam War 
and support the Civil Rights Movement, Zach originally set out to study 
medicine at Harvard University and Stanford Medical School. It turns 
out that his career as an organizer wouldn't stray too far from his 
original intent. Instead of treating people, Zach treated the 
structural ills that afflict our communities. He set out to heal the 
world.
  After medical school, Zach moved to Little Rock for an internship 
with a small nonprofit called Arkansas Community Organizations for 
Reform Now (ACORN). That internship would change his life and the lives 
of so many others. Through ACORN, Zach quickly found his calling to 
help Americans from all walks of life channel their desire for change 
into community power. Zach was uniquely talented in the

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nuts and bolts of organizing, like forging strong connections with 
people from all walks of life, formulating the hard-nosed political 
strategy required to win change and managing the administrative tedium 
essential to the functioning of any organization. His talents were 
recognized when he was asked to establish ACORN's activities in 
Louisiana, California and Florida. He helped organize the South's first 
union of health care workers. He oversaw Project Vote's campaign to 
register millions of voters. And he created a strategy to pass a ballot 
initiative raising the minimum wage for hardworking Arkansans in 2014. 
When he eventually served as Senior Vice President of the Public 
Interest Network, Zach refused to leave his adopted home state because 
of his commitment to the people of Arkansas.
  Zach met the love of his life, Mary Mayeaux, while searching for 
ACORN volunteers in Louisiana. He and Mary raised their two sons Mark 
and David in Little Rock, and became the loving grandparents of Kian, 
Luka, Luna, and Vera. Zach's family and his chosen family of 
progressive organizers across America continue to feel the pain of his 
loss as a husband, father, grandfather, and leader. In his honor, we 
must continue his life's work to defend our democracy, build power from 
the ground up and steer our course towards a freer and more just future 
for all.

                          ____________________