Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today I recognize Alice and Edward ``Buzz'' Palmer for their service and dedication to Chicago's African- American community. The Palmers have worked for many years in a variety of capacities to build a strong, involved, and educated African-American community in the city of Chicago. Alice graduated from high school at the age of 16, and with the help of four jobs and a scholarship, she was able to attend Indiana University. When she graduated in 1965, she used her degree to help others. She became an educator. While she taught at Malcolm X College, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago, she also managed to continue her own education, earning a master's degree from Roosevelt University and a Ph.D. from Northwestern. Alice realized that education extended outside of the classroom, and so did her work. She helped create voter education programs and founded the Metropolitan Chicago chapter of the YMCA's youth and government program. The YMCA program aims to inspire young people to civic engagement and create opportunities to interact with the political system through service learning and model government. As a teacher, and later as a legislator, Alice firmly believed that all students could learn. She made it her job to see that each student had that opportunity. She began a drop-out intervention program in the Chicago Public Schools to give students the skills and encouragement to stay in school.…”