July 13, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 125 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E629-E630]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




TRIBUTE IN HONOR OF CLARA HAZZARD BY HER DAUGHTER THE HONORABLE LaDORIS 
                            HAZZARD CORDELL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 13, 2020

  Ms. ESHOO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to memorialize the poignant 
words spoken by my constituent, the Honorable LaDoris Cordell, in 
praise of her beloved mother, on the occasion of her mother's passing.

       A tribute to Clara Hazzard from her middle and tallest 
     daughter.
       We don't get to choose our parents. If we are lucky, we get 
     parents who are adequate. If we are blessed, we get parents 
     who are exceptional. My sisters and I were truly blessed. Our 
     parents were extraordinary. While my words are dedicated to 
     our mother, always know that she and my father were a team 
     who together led remarkable lives.
       There are two types of people in the world: bystanders and 
     upstanders. Bystanders are those who stand by on the 
     sidelines and when injustice raises its ugly head, they stand 
     by, throw up their hands, sigh, complain, and do nothing, 
     hoping for someone to come along to make things better. The 
     upstander, on the other hand, stands up, sits up, speaks up, 
     sings up, and lawyers up for justice. Clara Hazzard was an 
     upstander all of her life. Here are just a few examples. She 
     stood up to racism when the white teachers and administrators 
     at the Ardmore Avenue Elementary School placed 
     disproportionate numbers of Black students into special 
     education classes. As one of the leaders of the local NAACP, 
     our mother organized the picket lines that showed up every 
     day at the school to protest. That was in the day when there 
     were no computers, or Internet, or cell phones. Every night, 
     I recall her getting on the phone to line up people to 
     volunteer to be on the picket lines. In the 1960s, she 
     protested when a local department store had only white dolls 
     on its shelves. She followed up with a letter to the 
     management demanding that dolls of color be sold at their 
     stores. She prevailed, of course, and black dolls soon filled 
     the shelves. She opened up our home when there were people in 
     need of a place to stay. Some of those people who benefited 
     from her kindness and generosity are here in this church 
     today. When Roxana auditioned for the Haverford High School 
     cheerleading squad and made it, the schools' white 
     administrators threw up a big roadblock by telling her that 
     they had run out of the pleated skirts cheerleaders were 
     required to wear, so she couldn't participate. When she told 
     our mother, her response was to work through the night making 
     a pleated skirt. Clara Hazzard stayed up, and sold up, to get 
     justice for her child.
       Some of you may remember that there was an A&P market where 
     Mate's is now situated. One day, when my mother and I were in 
     the market's parking lot and I was pushing the grocery cart 
     next to her--I was maybe seven years old at the time--the 
     cart accidentally bumped the side of a parked car, causing no 
     damage. The white man who was sitting in the car got out and 
     yelled at me, using the N-word several times. Well, Mrs. 
     Hazzard spoke up and laid that man out, whereupon he shut up 
     and quickly got back in his car. Clara Hazzard would not 
     hesitate to lay you out if you didn't behave.
       Spring Cleaners, the business that our parents ran for more 
     than forty years that supported our family, was also a place 
     where

[[Page E630]]

     Ardmore's Black community would frequently gather to address 
     political issues. Our mother was a terrific organizer and 
     strategist whose sage advice provided guidance to our 
     community. And then there were the good times at 814 Aubrey 
     Avenue. On Saturday mornings, our mother and her three 
     daughters cleaned up. Every Saturday we'd clean the house 
     from top to bottom before we could maybe go to the Ardmore 
     movies or play at the laundry field on Aubrey Avenue. Dirt 
     was not her friend. And, she could step up, and by that I 
     mean that she'd make these surprise visits to the third floor 
     where Denise and I each had bedrooms. These visits were like 
     pop quizzes. She'd give a warning by yelling ``I'm coming up 
     to see if your rooms are clean!'' And of course, they 
     weren't. Then we'd hear her steps on the stairs, loud and 
     firm. I don't know about you, Denise, but my room was a mess. 
     So, I just pulled the covers over my head and waited for the 
     inevitable. She'd pull out each of the drawers in my dresser, 
     see a mess of clothing, then dump the contents of each drawer 
     on my bed and say ``I'll be back.'' Well, you all will be 
     pleased to know that today my clothing is so neat and 
     organized that even my socks are neatly folded and stored by 
     color.
       Our mother loved to see things grow up, especially when it 
     came to flowers. She'd spend hours in the summer planting red 
     and white flowers all over her back yard, front yard, and 
     porch. One summer, I decided to count the flowers and to name 
     each one, writing the name on Popsicle sticks that I stuck in 
     the dirt next to each set of flowers. I ran out of names. The 
     woman had planted over 120 sets of flowers. I named each set 
     after a family member, followed by just about every Black 
     person in Ardmore.
       Clara Hazzard could cook up a storm. Her corn pudding, 
     rolls, apple pies, chicken and dumplings, collard greens, 
     were the best. Sunday dinners were ridiculously delicious.
       One final example. Our mother clerked up. For twenty years, 
     she was the church clerk at Mount Calvary. She organized the 
     office and took care of all of the church's financial and 
     business matters. The high point of church services for me 
     was watching and listening to her read the notices and 
     announcements. She always looked good and had a lovely 
     speaking voice with every word clearly enunciated.
       I could go on with many more examples, but let me close 
     with this. Getting on with the business of living after our 
     mother's death is what we must all do. It is what she surely 
     expected us to do. So as we move on, the greatest tribute 
     that you can pay to her is to continue her legacy of being an 
     upstander. Every one of us should follow her example by 
     standing up and speaking up for what is right and just. 
     Finally, of all of the wonderful descriptions of our mother, 
     the one that is most meaningful to me was her kindness. Let 
     her legacy of kindness be yours. I believe that that would 
     please her the most.

  Madam Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me 
in offering our condolences to the entire family of Clara Hazzard. It 
is an honor to represent her magnificent upstander daughter, the 
Honorable LaDoris Cordell, who continues her mother's legacy to bring 
justice and kindness to all.

                          ____________________