[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 6] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages 8542-8543] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]DAMU SMITH INTERNATIONAL RENOWNED ACTIVIST DIES AT AGE 54 ______ HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL of new york in the house of representatives Wednesday, May 17, 2006 Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Damu Smith, who died May 5, 2006, and to enter into the record an article by Makani Themba-Nixon entitled Damu Smith, popular activist, dies at 54 which appeared on May 13, 2006 as a special to The Washington AFRO American. Damu Smith was a people's activist who put his heart and energy into more than one cause. He was a St. Louis native and long-time Washington, D.C. resident, but he was renowned internationally as a great organizer and a man of ideas. He was a co-founder with Donelle Wilkins of the National Black Environmental Justice Network, NBEJN, in 1999. As the first coordinator for Southern Organizing Committee for Economic and Social Justice, Smith revealed the practice of some corporations that targeted poor African American Communities. He organized Toxic Tours in the South to help bring national attention to this very serious problem. The story of this successful campaign to force a PVC plant out of Norco, La., was made into Lifetime cable movie, Fenceline: A Company Town Divided. Smith was a leader and co-founder of several social justice initiatives including Artists for a Free South Africa and Black Voices for Peace. For over 30 years, Smith worked to bring justice to all. When Smith first became ill, his many friends and followers from many peace, environmental and social justice movements rallied around him to give him their full support as a way of showing their love and gratitude for everything he had done to promote peace, justice and preservation of our mutually shared planet. Among the many projects Smith was involved in was promoting a national Martin Luther King Jr., Holiday. In the 1990s he joined Greenpeace USA and monitored corporate pollution on the Gulf Coast. He coordinated the first National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in 1991, helping to link the civil rights movement to the environmental movement for the first time, colleagues said. Born LeRoy Wesley Smith, he came to Washington in 1973. He later took the name Damu, which the Associated Press of May 8, 2006 reported means blood, leadership and strength in Swahili. Damu Smith was a leader of great strength and passion. His causes were many and varied but all of them were about social justice and civil rights. Smith was an activist for 30 years. During this time, he was a co-founder of Artists for a Free South Africa and Black voice for Peace. His efforts ranged from a stint as executive director of the Washington Office on Africa during the anti-apartheid movement to work on gun violence and police brutality with the United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice. According to the Afro American article, Ron Daniels founder and president of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century, reflected that Smith was an incredible organizer, an incredible leader and teacher. He was also an incredible human being. I certainly second that assessment. Journalist George E. Curry wrote that Damu Smith who died at age 54, crammed more into his 54 years on earth than people who live twice as long. Yet, the feeling lingers that he left us too soon. Curry wrote that Smith was a man of integrity and he was a visionary. Those are words of high praise and they are true in describing Damu Smith. I want to add, he was a man with a great heart who spent his life working for those who most needed him. Damu Smith loved his one child very much. His many friends knew how much and how deeply he loved Asha Hadia Vemice Moore Smith, his 14- year-old daughter. They have set up a trust fund so she will have the opportunity for the education he wanted for her. I believe if Asha has inherited his heart and his character Damu Smith's daughter will be a light in the world just like her father. [From the AFRO American News, May 10, 2006] Damu Smith, Popular Activist, Dies at 54 (By Makani Themba-Nixon) Damu Smith, internationally renowned activist and a founder of the environmental justice movement, passed away early on May 5 at George Washington Hospital. Surrounded by a crowd of friends and family that spilled down hospital corridors, Smith, 54, succumbed after a year long bout with colorectal cancer. Smith was a dedicated organizer who even at the height of his health challenges found time to support social justice work. In recent months, Smith addressed the Millions More March and a capacity crowd for a TransAfrica forum, despite his ailing health. ``He loved his people,'' says Donelle Wilkins, co-chair of the National Black Environmental Justice Network (NBEJN) an organization she and Smith founded in 1999. ``You may have seen him at the big podiums and the big meetings but he was also in the country corners, the small towns, the little places. He rolled up his sleeves. He got his hands dirty.'' A St. Louis native and long time Washington, D.C. resident, Smith was a leader and co-founder of several social justice initiatives including Artists for a Free South Africa and Black Voices for Peace. A consummate organizer and bridge builder, Smith's work extended over 30 years and several issues. ``He was about bringing justice wherever it was needed,'' said Wilkens. Smith's efforts ranged from a stint as executive director of the Washington Office on Africa during the anti-apartheid movement to work on gun violence and police brutality with the United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice, the National Wilmington 10 Defense Committee and the National Black Independent Political Party. An outspoken activist on peace and disarmament, Smith served as associate director of the Washington Office of the American Friends Service Committee and traveled internationally to support movements for peace and justice around the world. ``He was undoubtedly one of the most important activists of our time,'' reflected Ron Daniels, founder and president of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century. ``He was an incredible organizer, an incredible leader and teacher. He was also just an incredible [[Page 8543]] human being.'' Perhaps Smith is best known for his groundbreaking work to establish the environmental justice movement. As national associate director and national toxics campaigner for Greenpeace USA, he helped carve out the racial justice analysis that helped distinguish environmental justice from the ``green space'' focus that typified environmental work of the day. As the first coordinator for environmental justice for the Southern Organizing Committee for Economic and Social Justice, Smith gained firsthand experience of the corporate pollution practices that target poor and African American communities. He organized Toxic Tours in the South to help bring national attention to the issue, taking celebrities Alice Walker, Haki Madhubuti and others to the infamous area in Louisiana dubbed Cancer Alley. ``The work in Cancer Alley was his heart. He didn't think anything about his well being. He stood in the face of the threats, of the violence, of the toxics. He set an example for what was possible. It gave his community a sense of strength, a sense that together they can make a difference. And they did. It was profound,'' said Wilkens. The campaign to force a PVC plant out of Norco, La. was eventually the subject of a Lifetime cable channel movie, {Fenceline: A Company Town Divided}. Smith's efforts helped draw attention to the disproportionate toxic dumping in African-American communities nationwide, which led him to help found the National Black Environmental Justice Network. ``It was his vision to bring Black people together from all over the country to unite us around this issue,'' Wilkins said. ``He single-handedly brought together folk from more than 30 states--welfare moms to PhDs--to give birth to this network. Damu's leadership and commitment was relentless.'' Although Smith remained executive director of the network until his death, his primary campaign over the last year was his own survival. Friends launched the Spirit of Hope campaign to support Smith with living and healthcare expenses as years of organizing work left him with little resources and without health insurance. His wide network responded with an outpouring of support including a star studded gala last July that brought together artist activists Danny Glover, Bernice Reagon and Sonia Sanchez. ``These resources went to support Damu in acquiring the care he needed,'' said Sandra Rattley, Spirit of Hope coordinator. ``Damu was so grateful. The doctors were saying he only had three months last year but the community came together and literally extended his life. And every month he had, he continued to give back.'' Survivors include his daughter Asha Hadia Vernice Moore Smith, 13. He is also survived by a sister Sylnice Williams; two brothers Richard Anthony Smith and Leslie Dudley Smith; a significant other Adeleke Foster, two nephews, six nieces and thousands of friends and fellow soldiers in the battle for peace and justice. Rattley said the community is rallying to ensure that Asha is provided for. Smith often referred to his daughter as the crown jewel of his life and once boasted had started a Black Kids for Peace organization. Friends and colleagues often remarked on what a devoted and caring father Smith was. ``I know that Damu wanted to make sure that Asha is alright,'' says Rattley. A memorial service is scheduled for 5 p.m. May 20 at Plymouth Congregational Church, 5301 North Capitol St., N.W. in Washington, D.C. In lieu of floral arrangements, the family requests all donations be made to the Asha Moore Smith Trust, 1750 Columbia Road, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009 or online at www.damusmith.org. ____________________