[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 3643]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                IN COMMEMORATION OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 28, 2014

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, this February we recognize and 
celebrate the 38th commemoration of Black History Month.
  This month we celebrate the contributions of African Americans to the 
history of our great nation, and pay tribute to trailblazers, pioneers, 
heroes, and leaders like Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Supreme 
Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, U.S. Senator Blanche Kelso Bruce, U.S. 
Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland, 
Astronauts Dr. Guion Stewart Bluford Jr. and Mae C. Jemison, Frederick 
Douglass, Booker T. Washington, James Baldwin, Harriet Tubman, Rosa 
Parks, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Gwendolyn Brooks just to name a 
few of the countless number of well-known and unsung heroes whose 
contributions have helped our nation become a more perfect union.
  The history of the United States has been marked by the great 
contributions of African American activists, leaders, writers, and 
artists.
  As a member of Congress, I know that I stand on the shoulders of 
giants whose struggles and triumphs made it possible for me to stand 
here today and continue the fight for equality, justice, and progress 
for all, regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
  The greatest of these giants to me are Mrs. Ivalita ``Ivy'' Jackson, 
a vocational nurse, and Mr. Ezra A. Jackson, one of the first African-
Americans to succeed in the comic book publishing business. They were 
my beloved parents and they taught me the value of education, hard 
work, discipline, perseverance, and caring for others. And I am 
continually inspired by Dr. Elwyn Lee, my husband and the first tenured 
African American law professor at the University of Houston.
  Mr. Speaker, I particularly wish to acknowledge the contributions of 
African American veterans in defending from foreign aggressors and who 
by their courageous examples helped transform our nation from a 
segregated society to a nation committed to the never ending challenge 
of perfecting our union. Earlier this week, I was honored to join my 
colleagues, Congressmen John Lewis and Congressman Charles Rangel, a 
Korean War veteran, in paying tribute to surviving members of the 
Tuskegee Airmen and the 555th Parachute Infantry, the famed ``Triple 
Nickels'' at a moving ceremony sponsored by the U.S. Army commemorating 
the 50th Anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
  The success of the Tuskegee Airmen in escorting bombers during World 
War II--achieving one of the lowest loss records of all the escort 
fighter groups, and being in constant demand for their services by the 
allied bomber units--is a record unmatched by any other fighter group. 
So impressive and astounding were the feats of the Tuskegee Airmen that 
in 1948, it helped persuade President Harry Truman to issue his famous 
Executive Order No. 9981, which directed equality of treatment and 
opportunity in all of the United States Armed Forces and led to the end 
of racial segregation in the U.S. military forces. It is a source of 
enormous and enduring pride that my father-in-law, Phillip Ferguson 
Lee, was one of the Tuskegee Airmen.
  Clearly, what began as an experiment to determine whether ``colored'' 
soldiers' were capable of operating expensive and complex combat 
aircraft ended as an unqualified success based on the experience of the 
Tuskegee Airmen, whose record included 261 aircraft destroyed, 148 
aircraft damaged, 15,553 combat sorties and 1,578 missions over Italy 
and North Africa. They also destroyed or damaged over 950 units of 
ground transportation and escorted more than 200 bombing missions. They 
proved that ``the antidote to racism is excellence in performance,'' as 
retired Lt. Col. Herbert Carter once remarked.
  Mr. Speaker, Black History Month is also a time to remember many 
pioneering women like U.S. Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm; activists 
Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks; astronaut Mae C. Jemison; authors Maya 
Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Gwendolyn Brooks; all of whom have each in 
their own way, whether through courageous activism, cultural 
contributions, or artistic creativity, forged social and political 
change, and forever changed our great Nation for the better.
  It is also fitting, Mr. Speaker, that in addition to those national 
leaders who contributions have made our nation better, we honor also 
those who have and are making a difference in their local communities. 
In my home city of Houston, there are numerous great men and women. 
They are great because they have heeded the counsel of Dr. King who 
said: ``Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You only a 
need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.'' By that 
measure, I wish to pay tribute to some of the great men and women of 
Houston: Rev. F.N. Williams, Sr.; Rev. Dr. S.J. Gilbert, Sr.; Rev. 
Crawford W. Kimble; Rev. Eldridge Stanley Branch; Rev. William A. 
Lawson; Rev. Johnnie Jeffery ``J.J.'' Robeson; Mr. El Franco Lee; Mr. 
John Brand; Ms. Ruby Moseley; Ms. Dorothy Hubbard; Ms. Doris Hubbard; 
Ms. Willie Bell Boone; Ms. Holly HogoBrooks; Mr. Deloyd Parker; Ms. 
Lenora ``Doll'' Carter.
  As we celebrate Black History Month, let us pay tribute to those who 
have come before us, and pay forward to future generations by 
addressing what is the number one issue for African American families, 
and all American families today: preserving the American promise of 
economic opportunity for all. Our immediate focus must be job creation, 
and enacting legislation that will foster and lay the foundation for 
today's and tomorrow's generation of groundbreaking activists, leaders, 
scientists, writers and artists to continue contributing to the 
greatness of America. We must work to get Americans back to work. We 
must continue to preserve the American Dream for all.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand here in celebration of the heroic 
and historic acts of African Americans and their indispensible 
contributions to this great Nation. It is through our work in creating 
possibilities for today and future generations that we best honor the 
accomplishments and legacy of our predecessors.

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