Political Quotes

“Each February, we come together as a nation to celebrate Black History Month. While we may have just closed out Black History Month, our celebration here in Congress and back home in west Michigan continues. This year, I had the honor of partnering with the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives to elevate the stories of west Michigan's heroes, barrier breakers, and change-makers who shaped the course of our community and our Nation's history. I am proud to offer these six stories of change-makers from Michigan's Third Congressional District. Here are their stories. First, as we stand at this bridge between February and March, Black History Month and Women's History Month, as we just heard from our incredible Congressional Black Caucus, it is appropriate to begin with our first story, the story of Emma Warren Ford. Mrs. Ford was a well-known community organizer who challenged Jim Crow laws and protested discrimination in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She began her work in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Women's Christian Temperance Union, the WCTU. At the 1982 WCTU State convention in Benton Harbor, she was appointed as the superintendent of the Work Among Colored People. She was a founding member of the Married Ladies' 19th Century Club, hosting meetings and leading activities for the first literary and social club for African-American women in Grand Rapids. In 1913, Mrs.…”