[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 14608]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING ``MOTHER'' RUTH VILLIA JONES

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 17, 2006

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary life 
and work of Ruth Villia Jones of Oakland, California. Known to most 
simply as Mother Ruth, she has been a leader, an activist, and an icon 
in the Oakland community for decades, providing care and guidance to 
countless others throughout her life, and on July 16, 2006, the friends 
and family of Mother Ruth will gather to celebrate this remarkable 
woman's 100th birthday.
  Mother Ruth was born July 12, 1906 in Louisiana, soon after the great 
quake of San Francisco. She grew up during a time of extreme social and 
racial segregation, and learned about racial and gender discrimination 
from her family's experiences. These experiences shaped her resolve to 
challenge the status quo and begin her quest for social and human 
rights in the 1930s and as a Red Cross volunteer during World War II in 
the 1940s.
  Throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, Mother Ruth combined her deep 
spiritual commitment with her desire for social justice, becoming 
active in the civil rights movement and fighting to end racial 
discrimination in our country. She marched and worked with the Reverend 
Martin Luther King, Jr., Reverend Jesse Jackson, and the Reverend Cecil 
Williams. In the 1960s and 1970s Mother Ruth supported the work of a 
young group of African American activists, known as the Black Panthers, 
by joining them on picket lines, in the Free Breakfast Programs and 
Schools, eventually earning her the esteemed honor of ``Mother'' to 
these young men.
  As ``Mother Ruth,'' through her vision and activism, she has mentored 
and enriched the lives of many local leaders, such as Oakland Mayor 
Lionel Wilson, Congressman Ron Dellums, and myself when I was becoming 
politically active in the 1970s. Working with her helped to instill in 
me not only a deep sense of community, but also a fundamental 
commitment to fighting for social equity and social justice throughout 
my life. She has been a mentor and a friend to me throughout most of my 
life, and I am deeply thankful to her for sharing with me her wisdom, 
her compassion, and her support.
  Throughout the Bay Area, Mother Ruth is also known for helping to 
start the meals program at Glide Memorial Church, which continues to 
this day. In the 1980s and 1990s Ruth Villia Jones turned her energy 
and expertise to professional organizations, such as the Glide 
Foundation, the California Legislative Council for Older Americans, the 
Alameda County Advisory Commission on Aging, the Black Women Organized 
for Political Action, the Black Women Organized for Educational 
Development, the National Black Women's Resource Center, the National 
Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs to name a 
few. Through her various roles in these organizations, Mother Ruth has 
continued the fight for social justice and equality on numerous fronts, 
and inspired countless new leaders along the way.
  Mother Ruth Villia Jones has been awarded recognition and praise for 
her activism on many occasions, including being named one of the 2003 
Eternal Voices of the Oakland African Museum, the 1984 Ella Hill Hutch 
Award, the 1980 Glide Community Award, and many others.
  Mother Ruth Villia Jones has been a loving sister, mother, wife, a 
proud grandmother and great grandmother, a friend to many and a 
``Mother'' to us all. On this very special occasion, Oakland and the 
entire Bay Area community comes together to celebrate Mother Ruth 
Villia Jones' 100th birthday and honor her for a lifetime of pursuing 
peace and fighting for social justice. I am honored to add my voice, on 
behalf of California's 9th U.S. Congressional District, all those 
gathered here today to thank and salute Mother Ruth for her 
immeasurable contributions to her community, our country, and our 
world.

                          ____________________