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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E672]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IN MEMORY OF REVEREND DOCTOR CORDY TINDELL ``C.T.'' VIVIAN
______
HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.
of georgia
in the house of representatives
Thursday, July 23, 2020
Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Madam Speaker, it is with a heavy heart and
solemn remembrance that I rise today to pay tribute to an outstanding
Man of God, iconic civil rights pioneer, dedicated leader, and dear
friend of longstanding, Rev. Dr. Cordy Tindell ``C.T.'' Vivian. Sadly,
Rev. Vivian transitioned from labor to reward on Friday, July 17, 2020,
at the age of 95. He leaves in his wake many heavy hearts among his
family, friends, community, and across the nation. A homegoing service
celebrating his life was held Thursday, July 23, 2020, at Providence
Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.
Cordy Tindell Vivian, or ``C.T.'' as he was affectionately known, was
born on July 30, 1924, in Boonville, Missouri to the late Mr. Robert
Cordie and Ms. Euzetta Tindell Vivian. In 1930, his mother and
grandmother moved to Macomb, Illinois to allow C.T. to attend non-
segregated schools and a local college. He attended Macomb High School,
where he graduated in 1942, before matriculating at Western Illinois
State Teachers College (now Western Illinois University). At Western
Illinois, he planned to major in English literature, but when he was
prohibited from joining a club for English majors, he withdrew from
school in protest. He then moved to Peoria, Illinois to work at the
Carver Community Center as a Recreation Director. While in Peoria, he
participated in his first series of sit-in demonstrations, which
resulted in the successful integration of Barton's Cafeteria in 194 7.
While studying for the ministry at American Baptist Theological
Seminary (now called American Baptist College) in Nashville, Tennessee,
in 1959, he met Rev. James Lawson and some of his ``disciples''
including Diane Nash, Bernard Lafayette, James Bevel, and John R.
Lewis. He and his fellow disciples led a months-long, nonviolent
desegregation protest at public facilities that forced the city to
change its policy. After spearheading the campaign in Nashville, Rev.
Vivian served as a replacement for an injured member of the Congress of
Racial Equality (C.O.R.E) on the Freedom Ride to Mississippi. Later, he
helped organize Tennessee's contingent for the 1963 March on Washington
and was invited to join the staff of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
By 1965, Rev. Vivian had become the Director of National Affiliates for
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a close ally of
Dr. King, and a key figure in organizing nonviolent civil rights
protests throughout the South. That same year, he led a group of
protesters to the steps of the Dallas County courthouse in Selma,
Alabama, where he encountered Sheriff Jim Clark, who blocked the group
and responded by knocking him down with a billy club in front of live
cameras. Rev. Vivian, nonviolently, stood up and continued to preach
and advocate for the right to vote. The footage from that incident and
others including one involving John Lewis were broadcasted on national
television creating outrage and widespread support for the movement and
ultimately resulting in the passage by Congress of the Voting Rights
Act 1965.
Yet, Madam Speaker, Dr. Vivian's profound servant leadership did not
stop there. In 1972, Dr. Vivian became Dean of the Chapel at Shaw
University and National Director of the Seminary Without Walls. He
worked with the Community Organization for the National Council of
Churches, for a division of overseas ministries, and participated in a
number of agricultural missions. He served on the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights Education where he organized the National
Center for Human Rights Education. He then returned to lead the SCLC in
2012 as its Interim President helping to restore and enhance its
credibility. He received numerous awards, but the most prestigious was
the Presidential Medal of Freedom presented by President Barack Obama
in 2013.
Rev. Vivian accomplished much in his life, but none of it would have
been possible without the Grace of God and the love and the support of
his late wife, Octavia Geans Vivian; his children, Jo Anna, Denise,
Cordy Jr. (deceased), Kira, Mark, Anita, and Albert; and other loved
ones, all of whom will miss him dearly.
Rev. Vivian once said ``Leadership is found in the action to defeat
that which would defeat you . . . You are made by the struggles you
choose.'' To that end, he founded the C.T. Vivian Leadership Institute
in 2007 with the sole purpose of educating visitors on the correlation
between the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. and contemporary Human
Rights Movements across the globe.
Madam Speaker, my wife, Vivian, and I, along with countless others
throughout Georgia and the nation salute Reverend Doctor C.T. Vivian
for his outstanding accomplishments in the ministry and his life of
service and sacrifice for the betterment of humankind. I ask my
colleagues in the House of Representatives to join us in extending our
deepest condolences to Reverend Vivian's family, friends, loved ones,
and all who grieve his loss. We pray that they will be consoled and
comforted by an abiding faith and the Holy Spirit in the days, weeks,
and months ahead.
____________________