Andre Carson: “I am very happy that my distinguished colleague has allowed me to be just a very brief part of this black history…”

“I am very happy that my distinguished colleague has allowed me to be just a very brief part of this black history celebration in the month of February that was inspired by Carter G. Woodson many years ago, first as the Negro History Week, if you will, and later extended to a whole month. It is ironic, I believe, that it is in the shortest month of the year, that is, the month of February, given that we have so many virtues to extol of so many African Americans who have done a yeoman's job in building this great Nation in which we all enjoy freedom. Very briefly, let me pay a special tribute to a young man, a young man who at the age of 108 years old just last year made his transition, Dr. John Morton-Finney. At the time of his transition he was believed to be the oldest practicing attorney in the whole United States. But even more importantly, John Morton-Finney was the first teacher to join the staff of Crispus Attucks High School when it was opened in 1927, an African American school in my district for which I am a proud graduate that was built on the bedlam of racism but indeed produced some of the most outstanding scholars and noted sportsmen that this country has ever known.”