Charles Rangel: “I rise today to honor two of the Nation's most outstanding civil rights leaders, Medgar Evers and Myrlie Evers-Williams…”

“I rise today to honor two of the Nation's most outstanding civil rights leaders, Medgar Evers and Myrlie Evers-Williams, on the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Medgar Evers. During the 1950s and 1960s, at the height of the civil rights movement, Evers battled racial injustice in his home state of Mississippi by becoming a prominent member of the NACCP in Jackson, Mississippi. He inspired others to utilize peaceful methods of protest to speak out against racial inequality through boycotts, sit-ins, and demonstrations. Myrlie Evers-Williams stood by her husband in the fight for civil rights by serving as his partner in organizing public demonstrations and his secretary when he became Mississippi's first field secretary for the NAACP. After his assassination, she emerged as a prominent figure in the realm of public service by serving on the Los Angeles Board of Public Works and eventually becoming the chairwoman of the NACCP. It is for these reasons, that I wish to acknowledge these two accomplished individuals.”