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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E507]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IN RECOGNITION OF MS. SHARON ``NYOTA'' TUCKER, J.D.
______
HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.
of georgia
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a
distinguished scholar, dedicated attorney, and true visionary, Ms.
Sharon ``Nyota'' Tucker. Nyota was honored for her contributions to
academia and her community on Saturday, April 13, 2019, at the
University of Georgia School of Law.
A native of Dublin, Georgia, Sharon ``Nyota'' Tucker was born to the
union of Mr. Willis Tucker and Mrs. Cornelia Tucker. During her junior
year of high school, she joined six of her fellow classmates from
Oconee High School in the integration of the previously all-white
Dublin High School. This first-hand experience with desegregation
convinced her that becoming a lawyer was the most effective means of
combating racism, upholding the constitutional rights outlined in the
Declaration of Independence, and forcing a system to correct itself.
Nyota went on to earn her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science
from Howard University, before becoming the first African-American
woman to receive a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of
Georgia in 1974.
Upon becoming a member of the State Bar of Georgia in 1974, she
served in a number of legal and academic positions, including staff
attorney in the Albany office of the Georgia Legal Services Program;
legal intern with the Earl Warren Fellowship Program in the San
Francisco office, NAACP Legal Defense Fund; and associate with the
Albany, Georgia Law Firm of Mary Young & Associates. During Nyota's
impressive tenure at Albany State University (ASU), she served as a
faculty member and pre-law advisor, as well as a dual role as ASU's
University Counsel (for eight years) and ASU's Chief of Staff (for five
years). Her time at ASU allowed her to work with some of the brightest,
most creative, and determined students in higher education.
Nyota has been recognized numerous times for her professional and
community work. She has received several Teacher of the Year Awards in
addition to the 2015 Trailblazer Award by the UGA Black Law Student
Association; the Justice Leah Ward Sears Award for Distinction in the
Profession by the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys in 2016;
the USG Chancellor's Recognition for Distinguished Service to the
University System of Georgia in 2016; and both the 2018 and 2019
Beverly Burton New Board Member of the Year Award for the Boys & Girls
Clubs of Georgia and the Southeast Region. Moreover, on April 13, 2019,
the University of Georgia School of Law unveiled a portrait of Nyota
honoring her impeccable legacy and influential leadership.
Former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm once said that ``Service is the
rent that we pay for the space that we occupy here on this earth.''
Nyota has paid her rent many times over and still continues to give a
prodigious amount of love and service back to her community. She has
served on the Board of Trustees for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship
Foundation, the Board of Directors for Liberty House, and as a member
of the Advisory Committee on Law and Criminal Justice at the Washington
Center. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Boys &
Girls Clubs of Albany and a member of the Dougherty County Hospital
Authority Board.
Nyota has accomplished many things in her life, but none of these
would have been possible without the enduring love and support of her
loving children, Nairobi (deceased), Sadiqa, and Macharia; and her
granddaughter, Imani.
Madam Speaker, today I ask my colleagues to join my wife, Vivian, and
me, along with the more than 730,000 residents of Georgia's Second
Congressional District, in recognizing and commending Ms. Sharon Nyota
Tucker, J.D., on receiving a well-deserved effigy recognizing her
commitment and contributions to her community and academic field.
____________________
