Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, today, in Memphis, Tennessee, a great lady passed away--a lady who is as fierce, as brave, and as courageous a woman who's ever lived in this country: a lady by the name of Maxine Smith. Maxine Smith was the executive secretary of the NAACP from 1962 up to around 2000. She served on the Memphis City School Board from 1971 to 1995 and was on the National Board of the NAACP. She helped take Memphis beyond Jim Crow and beyond segregation into a great city in America and America's mainstream. Because the scourge of discrimination and desegregation stained this country, she was not allowed to enroll at Memphis State University. So she went to Spelman and then to Middlebury and got a master's degree. She went to work to help others and spent her life fighting against discrimination in all ways and all manners. She served on the State Board of Education in Tennessee and made sure people got a good education, whether they were White or Black; and she overcame all of the hate and discrimination that she faced. She was a beautiful woman who lived Dr. King's dream--seeing people and judging them by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. She was a person to be emulated, honored, and remembered. She had a great life--a life extremely well lived. I will miss her and so will this Nation. ____________________”