05 LC 19
6617
House
Resolution 849
By:
Representatives Brooks of the
63rd,
Dean of the
59th,
Orrock of the
58th,
Sinkfield of the
60th,
Holmes of the
61st,
and others
A
RESOLUTION
Honoring
the life of Ethel Mae Mathews and expressing regret at her passing; and for
other purposes.
WHEREAS,
Ethel Mae Mathews was a fearless community leader who stood up to those in power
and on behalf of the powerless and the needy; and
WHEREAS,
born in Loachapoka, Alabama, and married by the time she was 12 years old, she
moved to the City of Atlanta in 1950 alone to rear her four children;
and
WHEREAS,
the daughter of a sharecropper, her early experience with poverty turned her
into a tireless advocate for tenants, poor people, children, and the elderly;
and
WHEREAS,
she became a political force to be reckoned with, working as a neighborhood
organizer, serving as chair of the Peoplestown Advisory Council, president of
the Welfare Rights Organization, and as a board member of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference and the Georgia Citizens Coalition on Hunger;
and
WHEREAS,
Ms. Mathews was very active in helping to elect Representative Tyrone Brooks to
the Georgia House of Representatives in 1980 and marched with him, the National
Field Director for the S.C.L.C., and other activists to force the full
desegregation of the Atlanta
Journal/Constitutiońs
corporate offices; and
WHEREAS,
Ms. Mathews also participated in civil rights marches led by Reverend Hosea
William, Douglas Dean, Joe Boone, Arthur Langford, Tyrone Brooks, and others to
force Mayor Maynard Jackson to end the tenure of Atlanta Chief of Police John
Inman, known as the "the Bull Conner of Atlanta"; and
WHEREAS,
she was never afraid to speak out for peace, freedom, and equality and for that
she earned the undying respect and gratitude of her fellow
citizens.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of this body honor the life of extraordinary service of Ethel Mae Mathews, express their regret at her passing, and extend their condolences to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of this body honor the life of extraordinary service of Ethel Mae Mathews, express their regret at her passing, and extend their condolences to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized
and directed to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to the family of
Ethel Mae Mathews.