[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 16540-16541]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING LAWRENCE THOMAS GUYOT, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 5, 2012

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute 
to Mr. Lawrence Thomas Guyot who stood as the ideal example of a 
politically-engaged activist with a relentless desire to change 
history. Mr. Guyot's noble contributions to the Civil Rights movement 
gained him notoriety as one of the great champions for justice and 
equality in this country.
  Born July 17, 1939 in Pass Christian, Mississippi, Mr. Lawrence 
Thomas Guyot Jr. earned his high school diploma in 1957 from Randolph 
High School where he was a member of the debate and basketball teams. 
He later attended Tougaloo College, where he earned his Bachelor of 
Science degree in Biology and Philosophy in 1964.
  Mr. Guyot's interest in social justice issues developed while he was 
a student at Tougaloo College which, at that time, stood for many as a 
safe haven during the Civil Rights movement. Mr. Guyot, along with 
several other students took an active role in combating the 
mistreatment and exclusion of African Americans who were pursuing their 
right to vote; demonstrating their adamant objection to these social 
ills.
  Mr. Guyot became an original member of the Student Nonviolent 
Coordinating Committee (SNCC) where he served as a field secretary 
working on voter education and registration throughout Mississippi. Mr. 
Guyot was repeatedly challenged, jailed and often beaten as he helped 
lead fellow members of the SNCC and student volunteers from around the 
nation in organizing African Americans to vote. His works impacted many 
of the state's counties where no African Americans were ever 
registered.
  Through the difficult times and constant opposition, Mr. Guyot 
courageously continued his work in civil rights. In 1964, Mr. Guyot 
served as director of the 1964 Freedom Summer Project which brought 
thousands of young people to the state to register African Americans to 
vote in opposition to the state's traditional habits of excluding most 
African Americans from voting through acts of violence and intimidation 
by authorities. In the same year, Mr. Guyot further pushed the campaign 
for greater African American participation in politics by serving as 
chairman of the integrated Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. It 
lost its challenge to the established Mississippi party at the 
Democratic National Convention in 1964, but its efforts were seen as 
paving the way for the landmark passage of the Voting Rights Act of 
1965. Later that year, Guyot was elected as delegate to the 1964 
Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Atlantic City, New Jersey which 
he was unable to attend due to having been jailed following a meeting

[[Page 16541]]

held to register a group of African American voters. However, the 
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party's actions and involvement at the 
convention would charter in the desegregation of future conventions and 
an expansion on the inclusion of minorities within the Democratic 
Party.
  After serving as a delegate of Mississippi's first integrated 
delegation to the Democratic National Convention in 1968, Guyot 
graduated from Rutgers Law School in Newark, New Jersey, served as an 
Advisory Neighborhood Commissions' (ANC) Commissioner in Washington, 
District of Columbia, and continued his efforts as a Civil Rights 
activist working tirelessly to educate numerous young people about the 
importance of voting and voting rights up until his death on November 
23, 2012.
  Mr. Guyot was a soldier of the people and a mentor of the youth. He 
spent a lifetime vigorously fighting to increase access to the voting 
booth and the rights of all to have their voice heard in the electoral 
process.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to the 
outstanding life time achievements and legacy of Mr. Lawrence Thomas 
Guyot, Jr. His dedication and unwavering service to the underserved, 
underprivileged and the youths of tomorrow is laudable and more than 
worthy of our recognition.

                          ____________________