[Posted Dec. 26, 2007]

Indiana Congresswoman Julia Carson, 69,
Hailed As a True

“Public Servant”

By James Wright
Special to the NNPA from the Afro-American Newspapers

WASHINGTON (NNPA)—Rep. Julia Carson, the first woman and the first Black to represent Indianapolis in the U. S. Congress, has been hailed as a “true public servant” for her fervent rights advocacy.
    “The Congressional Black Caucus, the United States House of Representatives and the world has lost a star and a stripe,” said Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.), chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus. She described Carson as the “true embodiment of a political warrior.”
   Carson, who established herself as an advocate for children, women and civil rights as well as a fierce opponent of the war in Iraq, died Dec. 15 of lung cancer. She was 69.
“Among Congresswoman Carson’s proudest accomplishments was her successful effort to honor the late Rosa Parks with the Congressional Gold Medal,” recalls House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “It took many years to achieve her mission, but Julia Carson's persistence ensured that Congress finally honored the courage and sacrifice of one of America's civil rights pioneers.”

   Civil rights advocates across the nation issued statements in honor of Carson, who had successfully battled the lung cancer at one point, but it returned.
    Her body lay in state at the Indiana State Capital in Indianapolis last week prior to a Dec. 22 memorial service in Indianapolis.
    Carson was born in Louisville, Ky. and moved with her family to Indianapolis. She got her first political job in 1965.
    From 1972-1990, she spent four years in the Indiana House and then 14 years in the state Senate. She won her first campaign for the U.S. House in 1996.
    She left Washington in September 20007 later announced she had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

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