By Marc Morial
“I am a benefactor of the hills and valleys, the broken bodies and broken hearts, the loss of life of many who have gone on before me.” – U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee
The so-called “anti-woke” movement in the United States is determined to obscure the nation’s ugly history of slavery, segregation, and discrimination.
But Sheila Jackson Lee saw the beauty in that history.
“The Constitution did not grant us citizenship or even status as one human being, but we survived,” she said. “We had the Harriet Tubman of the world, the Sojourner Truth of the world. We had the Frederick Douglass of the world. That is the beauty of America. We were resilient, we should tell that story. Brutality comes with survival and success.”
Lee, who passed away July 19, inspired a generation of public servants and activists with her fearlessness and indomitable spirit. She fought tirelessly for racial justice and equal opportunity, speaking up for those who too often go unheard.
She was a longtime friend of the Urban League movement. The National Urban League was proud to honor her with our Living Legend Award during our Conference in Houston last year.
As Chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Coronavirus Task Force, she was part of a dynamic panel of experts who participated in the virtual release event for the 2020 State of Black America report, “Unmasked.”
She also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Houston Area Urban League.
Lee didn’t plan on a career in public service when she was growing up in Queens, New York City. That all changed when Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated. If King had died trying to create better opportunities for people like her, she had an obligation to make the most of those opportunities.
One immediate opportunity was a scholarship for Black students to attend New York University, which led her to Yale where she was among the first graduating class to include women. She was among a handful of Black students in her class at University of Virginia School of Law. A classmate described her as “a hard worker who loved to grapple with the issues in the hypothetical cases that we were required to analyze.”
She continued to grapple with difficult issues throughout her career. She was the author and lead sponsor of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, which established the first new federal holiday in 38 years, and the lead sponsor of H.R.40, the Commission to Study Slavery and Develop Reparation Proposals.
“Though some have tried to deflect the importance of these conversations by focusing on individual monetary compensation, the real issue is whether and how this nation can come to grips with the legacy of slavery that still infects current society,” she said. “With the over criminalization and policing of black bodies, a reoccurring issue in African-American communities, I believe this conversation is both relevant and crucial to restoring trust in governmental institutions in many communities.
“A federal commission can help us reach into this dark past and bring us into a brighter future.”
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