Recognizing Black History Month

Floor Speech

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Ms. PLASKETT. Madam Speaker, I urge every one of my colleagues to use Black History Month to celebrate the contributions of people who came to this hemisphere not of their own free will--in chains, in bondage, and then helped to make this country great.

It is important that we not only recognize them and their contributions but their example of resilience:

Philip Reid, who as an enslaved man was responsible for casting the statue which sits atop this building, and as a free man supervised the installation of the Statue of Freedom; Maggie Walker, who became the first woman to preside over a savings institution, which during the Great Depression consolidated to become the Consolidated Bank and Trust, which still exists today; Ralph Bunche, an American diplomat fundamental to the creation and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights who later went on to be the first African American to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his negotiation efforts between Egypt and Israel; and William Leidesdorff of Saint Croix, master of shipping of vessels, rancher, gold miner, and one of the founders of San Francisco.

These Americans are quietly embedded in our Nation's history, but today, this month, we celebrate them, their work, and their dedication.

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