Cord Byrd: “recently, a great voice was silenced when Carl Thomas Rowan passed away. As a newspaper columnist, he articulated the…”

“recently, a great voice was silenced when Carl Thomas Rowan passed away. As a newspaper columnist, he articulated the problems and predicaments of working Americans. As a Presidential advisor, Mr. Rowan spoke for the rights not only of minorities but also for all Americans who were getting the short end of the stick, as we say back in the West Virginia hills. Carl Rowan and I came from similar backgrounds. We both grew up in poor coal-mining communities and we never forgot our roots. Carl often talked about growing up without running water, without electricity, without those basic amenities that so many people take for granted today. As they did for me, those humble beginnings provided Carl Rowan with the burning desire to make a difference in his community and in his country. And make a difference he did. The only thing stronger than Carl Rowan's voice was his conviction. He stood for basic principles--equality and freedom--and those principles guided him at every step in his life. Earlier this year, Carl Rowan wrote: Men and women do not live only by what is attainable; they are driven more by what they dream of and aspire to that which might be forever beyond their grasp.”