Honoring the Life of Marion Barry

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the
life and legacy of Marion Barry, former Mayor of Washington, D.C.,
civil rights activist, community organizer, and Mississippi native.

Born in Itta Bena, MS, on March 6, 1936, into a family of
sharecroppers, Marion Barry immediately developed a work ethic that
would be on display throughout his entire life. Even as a child growing
up in the Mississippi Delta and later in Memphis, TN, he would work
jobs as a paperboy, a waiter, and a bag boy at a grocery store to help
his family in which he was the third of 10 children.

Mr. Barry was always a great student and graduated with a degree in
chemistry from Lemoyne-Owen College in Memphis and later received a
master's degree in organic chemistry from Fisk University in Nashville,
TN. While a graduate student at Fisk, Mr. Barry began what would be a
long, storied life in public service and civil rights and helped found
the campus's chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP) and, subsequently, helped to form and became the
first National Chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC).

As Chairman of SNCC, Mr. Barry led protests against racial
segregation and discrimination, played a central role in many voter
registration efforts, worked for the recognition of the Mississippi
Freedom Democratic Party and, despite the imminent danger involved,
participated in the Freedom Rides organized by the Congress of Racial
Equality (CORE), during the spring and summer of 1961, to help African-
Americans in the South register to vote.

In 1965, Mr. Barry came to D.C. to manage the local SNCC office. His
advocacy for the people of Washington, D.C., started that year and
would continue for nearly five decades. At the time Mr. Barry arrived
in Washington, D.C., the city, though more than fifty percent Black,
had few Black people in the ranks of the city's leadership and was
being held under the thumb of often all-white congressional committees
whose members' segregationist policies worked to prevent the black community from growing and thriving.

In response to these conditions, Mr. Barry organized a ``Free D.C.
Movement'' to advocate for D.C. Home Rule. Additionally, he often spoke
against the policies and regulations put in place by the House
Committee on the District of Columbia.

In 1967, Mr. Barry resigned from his leadership position in the D.C.,
SNCC office and organized Pride, Inc.--a program that provided job
training to uplift unemployed black men in Washington, D.C., and put
them in a better position to be contributing members of the community.
This program helped to build and develop a generation of Black men who
may have otherwise been lost.

Mr. Barry began his life in electoral politics in 1971, when he was
elected to the Washington, D.C., school board. He would go on to serve
as president of the board from 1972 to 1974. Mr. Barry would then go on
to run for and be elected to an at-large seat on the D.C. City Council.
Mr. Barry immediately became a leader on the council and helped to make
real changes in the city including, getting a pay raise for the police
department and defeating a gross-receipts tax on all city businesses.

On March 9, 1977, Mr. Barry's personal will and courage were on
display as he survived a gunshot wound he received when radical
terrorists took siege of the City Council building during a hostage
crisis. This event would only add to the reverence that was building
for the man and his leadership abilities.

In 1978, Mr. Barry was elected as the Mayor of Washington, D.C.--a
post he would hold for 16 years between 1979 and 1999. Like me, Mr.
Barry was one of the nearly 250 black mayors elected in the years
following Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination and he became one of
the many black elected leaders who rose from the struggles of the civil
rights era.

As mayor of Washington, D.C., Marion Barry was a powerhouse. He
helped to create a local government that had barely existed before his
arrival at City Hall. He was an advocate for diversity and inclusivity
in City government hiring and appointed new and talented black leaders
who, ultimately, proved the viability of self-governance by Black
leaders in D.C.

Mr. Barry instituted budget reforms that had not previously existed
and was able to get the city's financial books in order. Additionally,
Mr. Barry worked to build up downtown Washington, D.C., and turn it
into a thriving business center that would eventually include the
Verizon Center--home to the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals.
Moreover, Mr. Barry would raise the national and international profile
of Washington, D.C., through his charismatic leadership and effective
results.

Though he moved the city forward and became an ally to the business
community, the upper middle class and the professional working class
alike, Marion Barry never forgot where he came from and the people who
he was elected to serve. During his mayoralty, Mr. Barry continued to
be a champion for the poor and downtrodden. He would often say that he
could ``walk with kings but not lose the common touch.'' He helped
steer millions of dollars into job training, employment, senior
citizen, and social welfare programs. He also hired thousands of blue-
collar workers into his administration to perform many of the jobs that
helped build a thriving metropolis.

Marion Barry was often referred to as ``Mayor for Life'' due in part
to the unyielding support he received from his constituents. This
support would often be tested in his political life. But even in the
face of controversy that prevented him from seeking mayoral office in
1990 and eventually cost him his freedom, the people of D.C. trusted
the leadership of Mr. Barry enough to re-elect him as D.C.'s Mayor in
1994 and subsequently to several more terms as a City Council member.

Despite any of Mr. Barry's personal struggles and downfalls, he
always kept one thing front and center in his mind--the well being and
progression of the people of his beloved Washington, D.C., and the
continued advancement of the black community. Until his dying day,
Marion Barry carried the flag for his city.

Marion Barry is a great example of what can happen when the system
tries to choose our heroes for us and the people push back.

While the media and various individuals worked as hard as they could
to break him down and turn their collective backs on him, the people--
the ones who should be the most important to an elected official--
always welcomed him with open arms and received him even more warmly at
the ballot box. This speaks volumes about the kind of man and the kind
of leader Marion Barry was in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Mayor
Marion Barry, an undaunted activist, a community leader, a devoted
public servant, and an unforgettable personality in American politics.

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