Political Quotes

“Today, I rise to honor the remarkable life and legacy of Mrs. Juanita Abernathy, a selfless leader in the struggle for civil rights whose direction and tireless engagement was an integral part in the movement of civil rights and voting rights in America. She, sadly, passed earlier this month. From the Montgomery bus boycott to the marches from Selma to Montgomery and onward to Washington, D.C., and beyond, Mrs. Abernathy played a key role in our Nation's proudest instance of civic engagement. She fought boldly alongside her husband, Reverend Dr. Ralph Abernathy, and her dear friends and fellow architects of the movement, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mrs. Coretta Scott King. While many male leaders of the civil rights movement have rightfully become household names, the women of the movement, whose struggles and sacrifices were equal and whose participation was necessary, have not enjoyed the same recognition. Mrs. Juanita Abernathy was a brilliant, courageous leader in her own right, and today, we recognize her remarkable and distinct contributions. Mrs. Abernathy was born on December 1, 1931, in Uniontown, Alabama. She was the youngest of eight children born to Alexander and Ella Gilmore Jones. In the ninth grade, she met her future husband, Reverend Dr. Ralph Abernathy, who wrote in his memoir that he was impressed by her audacious spirit and her inherent dignity. In 1952, after Mrs. Abernathy finished her B.S.…”