Political Quotes

“Today I pay tribute to a legendary Lansing family that has broken barriers across generations and continues to make history to this very day. The story begins in 1927 when the family matriarch, Ms. Hortense Canady, was born in Chicago. While she didn't grow up in Michigan, she came to Michigan State University to pursue her graduate studies after attending Fisk University, where she met her husband, Clinton. In the Lansing area, Hortense and Clinton, a World War II veteran and member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, settled, put down roots, and left an indelible mark on our community. Clinton became a well-known and well-loved dentist, while Hortense put her passion for education and civil rights into action, becoming the first African American elected to the Lansing School Board of Education in 1968. Four years later, she and several other board members were recalled for advocating for desegregation, but Hortense did not let that deter her from working toward her core belief that everyone deserves access to quality education. She sat on the State's Women's Commission, served as the first executive director of the Lansing Community College Foundation, and helped fund a debutante club in Lansing to fill a void for young Black women, who at the time were not permitted to share in this tradition. Hortense founded the Lansing alumnae chapter of her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, and served as its national president from 1983 to 1988.…”