[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2957-2958]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          BLACK HISTORY MONTH

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, ``Hidden Figures'' has been lodged at the 
top of the box office charts for 2 months now--and with good reason. 
``Hidden Figures'' tells the fascinating, true story of three 
mathematicians who worked as ``human computers'' at NASA in the early 
years of America's manned space program.
  Their job involved double-checking the accuracy of intricate 
calculations made by NASA's computers. And they carried the weight of 
awesome responsibility. Fifty-five years ago this week, their 
calculations helped launch Lt. Col. John Glenn into the heavens and 
return him safely after he had orbited the Earth three times.
  Coming in the midst of cold war tensions and the real fear that the 
Soviet Union was winning the space race, that historic flight was a 
source of intense pride and relief to Americans. It made John Glenn a 
national hero and an international symbol of American ingenuity and 
ambition.
  But the brains behind that flight remained largely unknown--until 
now. Why? It is because those formidable mathematicians--those ``human 
computers''--were three African-American women. They served this Nation 
at a time when racial segregation was the law of the land and gender-
based discrimination was almost as common as air.
  As America marks Black History Month, this month seems a good time to 
say thank you to Mary Jackson, Dorothy Vaughn, and Katherine G. 
Johnson.
  America's history is filled with the stories of men and women whose 
contributions have been minimized or overlooked entirely for the same 
reason the ``Hidden Figures'' of NASA remained unknown for so long--
because our Nation's tortured history with race blinded us to large 
parts of our own national story.
  Ninety years ago, an historian and scholar by the name of Carter G. 
Woodson suggested a way to overcome this historical myopia. Dr. Woodson 
and

[[Page 2958]]

other prominent African Americans proposed that 1 week each February be 
designated Black History Week.
  This is the first Black History Month since the opening last fall of 
the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture on the 
National Mall in Washington, DC. This remarkable new museum represents 
America's first official attempt to tell the African-American story. In 
the not quite 5 months since the museum opened, more than 900,000 
people have visited. My wife and I toured the museum over the 
Thanksgiving holiday. We spent hours there--what a moving experience.
  The history of African Americans is a story that stretches back 600 
years. It is a story of brutal subjugation, racial violence, and 
discrimination. It is also story of a resilient people who survived 
those horrors and created a rich and vibrant culture and who have 
enriched our Nation by their contributions in every walk of life.
  In a speech a few months ago, then-First Lady Michelle Obama alluded 
to the vast and inspiring sweep of that history when she said, ``I wake 
up every morning in a house that was built by slaves and I watch my 
daughters--two beautiful, intelligent, black young women--playing with 
their dogs on the White House lawn.'' It was a simple but powerful 
image that captured how far we have come on questions of race since our 
founding.
  As America's 44th President, Barack Obama grappled honestly with 
complex challenges facing America and the world and delivered solutions 
that has improved the lives of millions. He and Michelle served our 
Nation with uncommon dignity, wisdom, and compassion. I am proud to 
call them both friends.
  The Obamas' story is just one of the stories told in the new African-
American History Museum. Other famous African Americans are featured as 
well, from Crispus Attucks, the first patriot to give his life in the 
American Revolution; to the great abolitionists and women's suffrage 
champions, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Tubman; 
from Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in 
Berlin and singlehandedly shattered the racist myth of Aryan 
superiority; to the Tuskegee Airmen, who helped democracy defeat 
fascist tyranny in World War II.
  The museum tells the stories of other prominent men and women, 
including Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King; Malcolm X; 
Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Justice of the U.S. 
Supreme Court; Congressman John Lewis, my friend, an icon of the civil 
rights movement; and Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman 
ever elected to Congress--in 1968. Some of the best advice I have ever 
heard about making a difference came from Shirley Chisholm. She said, 
``If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.'' 
I think Shirley Chisholm would have loved to see the way the women of 
America are making their voices heard today and changing the debate in 
this country.
  The new African-American History Museum and Black History Month give 
us a fuller, truer picture of our past. They also give us hope and 
guidance for today. Here are just a few quick examples of what I mean.
  Ida B. Wells, born into slavery in 1862, was a journalist, activist, 
and feminist who led an antilynching crusade in the 1890s, speaking 
throughout the United States and Europe. She reminds us that brave 
journalists, armed with the First Amendment, can shine a light on 
wrongdoing and change history.
  Garrett Morgan had only a sixth-grade education, but he also had a 
natural mechanical genius and an entrepreneurial bent. In 1914, he 
invented a ``safety hood'' that protected wearers from smoke, gases and 
other pollutants. It became the prototype in World War I for gas masks 
and for the breathing devices that firefighters wear today. His 
inventions have saved untold millions of lives.
  While some argue that we should cut funding to public schools that 
serve low-income children, Garrett Morris reminds us that American 
genius and ingenuity isn't limited by race, or gender, or family 
income. Our future prosperity depends on our willingness to invest in 
the potential all of America's children.
  Finally, A. Philip Randolph organized and led the Brotherhood of 
Sleeping Car Porters, the first predominantly African-American labor 
union. In 1941, he was part of a group that convinced President 
Roosevelt to ban discrimination in the defense industries during World 
War II. In 1948, that same group persuaded President Truman to issue an 
Executive order ending segregation in America's Armed Services. And in 
1963, A. Philip Randolph helped led the March on Washington. If you 
want to know how to raise the wages of working people and mobilize 
ordinary Americans to create a more perfect union, study the life of A. 
Philip Randolph.
  Black History Month actually started as Black History Week 90 years 
ago. The choice of the week had special significance; it included the 
birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and the mighty abolitionist, 
Frederick Douglass.
  President Lincoln once predicted that, if history remembered him for 
anything, it would be for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. With 
that great promissory note of freedom, President Lincoln declared that 
the 3 million persons living in bondage in the rebellious states 
``shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.''
  The Emancipation Proclamation marked a turning point in America's 
Civil War; it transformed the fight to preserve the Union into 
something even larger and nobler: a battle for human freedom.
  But without Frederick Douglass, the ``Great Agitator,'' there might 
never have been a ``Great Emancipator.'' Frederick Douglass was one of 
the best-known men in America. He was a powerful and respected speaker 
and journalist. He criticized Lincoln frequently and publicly for what 
he viewed as the President's timidity in denouncing slavery. But rather 
than denouncing Douglass, Abraham Lincoln sought his counsel, and their 
respectful relationship changed history.
  Without Frederick Douglass's prodding, Lincoln might not have issued 
the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln might not have agreed to allow 
free men of color to serve in the U.S. Army. Without Frederick 
Douglass, it might have been harder for Lincoln to see that the Civil 
War could not end until slavery had ended, that only ``a new birth of 
freedom'' could redeem the carnage of Civil War.
  The relationship between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass shows 
us the good that can be achieved when patriotic citizens dare to speak 
truth to power and leaders are secure enough to listen. That is a 
lesson worth pondering during this Black History Month and beyond.

                          ____________________