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Congressman Cohen Commemorates Black History Month

February 3, 2020

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) marked the start of Black History Month today and made the following statement:

"We begin our February commemoration of Black History Month by remembering the loss of Memphis Sanitation Workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker who were crushed inside a garbage truck while trying to avoid a downpour, sparking the 1968 strike that brought Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to town to be felled by an assassin's bullet.

"One hundred and fifty years ago today, the 15th Amendment was ratified, prohibiting race-based voter discrimination. However, the spirit of the amendment has not been realized. African Americans continue to be disenfranchised by discriminatory voter suppression schemes.

"Black history in Memphis recalls giants of the Civil Rights movement such as Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) whose The Memphis Free Speech newspaper campaigned against lynching in the Jim Crow South; Tom Lee's heroism in saving 32 drowning passengers of a sinking Mississippi River steamboat in 1925; and all those who fought for quality schools, voting rights and fair housing such as Maxine and Vasco Smith, Russell Sugarmon, Benjamin Hooks, Cleo Kirk, Walter Bailey, Jesse Turner Sr., and A.W. Willis, along with so many more.

"Along the way, African Americans with ties to Memphis contributed to the history of American music. We remember the contributions of W.C. Handy, Jimmie Lunceford, B.B. King, Phineas Newborn, Ma Rainey, Furry Lewis, Memphis Slim, Memphis Minnie, Little Laura Dukes, Ruby Wilson, Booker T. Jones, Carla and Rufus Thomas, Mavis Staples, Isaac Hayes, Al Green, Blind Mississippi Morris Cummings and all the artists who played Beale Street or the jukes around town. Memphian Robert R. Church was the first black millionaire in the South.

"Memphis has been fortunate to have great African American athletes, too many to list, but two -- Larry Finch and Penny Hardaway -- were stars in high school, college and in the pros and then came home to show they could bring our city together both on and off the court. We'll always be proud of Olympic gold medalist sprinter Rochelle Stevens.

"Memphis appears in chapter after chapter of American history, and I'm always pleased to celebrate Black History and its Memphis roots every February, and in every other month."