Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from Georgia for yielding me the time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 455, a bill to designate the United States courthouse in Jackson, Mississippi, as the R. Jess Brown United States Courthouse. Mr. Speaker, Richard Jess Brown was born on September 12, 1912, in Coffeyville, Kansas. His parents, Ernestine and Joe Brown, were jazz musicians and performed in and managed a local theater. Jess received a bachelor of science in industrial arts from Illinois State Normal University and a master of science in industrial education from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. After teaching at Alcorn State University, Jess moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where he taught industrial arts at Lanier High School, the only Black high school in the city at that time. While teaching at Lanier, Jess became an intervening plaintiff in a lawsuit that sought equal pay for Black teachers in Jackson. After teaching in Jackson, Jess attended Texas Southern University Law School. Jess left the law school before receiving his juris doctorate, but was able to return to Mississippi and pass the Mississippi bar in 1953. Beginning his law career in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Jess confined his practice to cases involving divorces, deeds, land titles, and other practices that did not agitate White members of the bar. However, after the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ruling in 1954, Jess felt compelled to defend the civil rights of African Americans.…”