Date: 1994-02-23
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for taking this time. As we celebrate Black Histoty Month. we are called to reflect upon those people. places. and events which played a significant role in shaping the past. present. and future of black Americans in this country. An integral part of this history are the activities and dedication of black civic organizations such as Links. Inc.. Jack and Jill. and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Inc. The late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King once said. "Power is the ability to achieve purpose." Contained within the purposes of these organizations are the improvement of the status of the race. the charge to improve the quality of life and provide hope for disadvantaged AfricanAmerican citizens. and to ensure equal opportunities and advantages for all children. Each of these organizations are well grounded in their purposes. Each of these organizations have played key roles in the past and by purpose will continue to do so in the future. Jack and Jill was founded in 1938 in Philadelphia by a group of black women. Jack and Jill today boasts a membership of over 37.000men. women. and children. With 220 chapters nationwide. Jack and Jill strives to create positive communities for young black children. It is charged with a multifaceted task. that of teaching our young children about who they are and who they can be. and also Jack and Jill is tasked with instilling the Idea of responsibility and civic duty in the next generation of black leaders. Alpha Kappa Alpha has a membership of 140.000 of this Nations brightest and talented young women. Alpha Kappa Alpha is dedicated to working to enhance the gifts of its individual members as well as improving their surrounding communities. The original black sorority with a long history of involvement in the suffrage and civil rights movements AKAs have shaped the world in which we live with a gracious cast of caring and commitment. In 1946. a group of black women united to form one of the leading black civic organizations. Links. A small group. numbering slightly over 8.000. Links have toiled tirelessly in their communities to- make opportunities available to blacks of all isome levels. In 1954. the Links integrated childrens theater audiences which were segregated right here in Washington. DC. Their commitment to social change remains alive today. in fundralsing activities to benefit the United Negro College Fund. homeless people and projects to prevent drug abuse and teenage pregnancy. There are 185.000 Individuals dedicated to service and community. These networks have been the backbone of our communities uniting individuals from very different backgrounds for the purpose of making a better world. In 1994. we turn to these organizations because of their strategic positions within our communities make them uniquely qualified to address the state of siege we are under as black Americans. Although 67 percent of blacks are not poor. we are disproportionately represented among the poor. One in four black children is born into poverty. 64 percent of our children are born out of wedlock. For the first time we are producing fewer Ph.Ds than in previous years. Too many of our children are growing up with limited horizonsbelieving that if they live to 25 they are lucky. Our communities are besieged by crime yet the only solutions being proposed are more prisons to lock black children away for life. What small victories we won during the civil rights movement are being stripped away from us as we speak. Individuals who claim that their rights are being Infringed upon because they are represented in the U.S. Congress by black Americans are ignoring the 300year history in which blacks were not even considered full human beings in this country much less entitled to the right to representation. Black America Is under siege and must mobilize all of its resources to deflect the multitude of attacks from within and without. Now is the time for us to work at the grassroots levels to say what we want to be the defining characteristics of our communities. We must work at the grassroots level to protect the hard fought gains of the civil rights movement. We must work to pull our children and the children of those less fortunate away from the forces which seek to stifle our brightest young minds. We must commit ourselves to maintaining the economic and political advances we made during the 1980s. In 1940. A. Philip Randolph once said during a speech at the March on Washington Movement in Detroit. MI. "No organization can do everything. Every organization can do something and each organization is charged with the social responsibility to do that which it can. it is built to do." Jack and Jill. AKAs. and Links are charged by their charters to bring people together to work for the betterment of the world in which we live. We are at a critical point In our history as black Americans. there Is much work to be done. These organizations must be our sounding boards for problems and testbeds for solutions. If the full force of these organizations is mobilized to address just one of the many Issues facing our communities today. we would see a notable change for the better in all of our communities and this Nation.