Congressman John Conyers to Receive 92nd Spingarn Award

Crisis, The, Jul/Aug 2007 by Howell, Arnesa A

"We've got to put our money and resources where our mouth is. It's very critical that we improve the system, especially in the inner-cities and lower-income communities of the country, which frequently includes African Americans," he explains. "If you're putting upwards of a trillion dollars in direct and indirect costs into the war in Iraq, just look at what a small part of that can do for improving minority young people's education."

Also, Conyers is holding hearings across the country and pushing for universal health care, the single biggest item he's pressed for in three consecutive sessions of Congress.

"HR 676 is the only real universal single payer health care bill that would ensure everybody would be born into a health care system and would stay in it without regard to their ability to pay, and would cover a growing number of people who are dependent on charitable health care or emergency room treatment, which is very expensive," says Conyers. "It would also save costs by eliminating all these multiple health insurance plans that you have to be a doctor and an accountant to figure out which one is appropriate for you and your family."

A longtime patron of the arts, Conyers was a driving force behind the Jazz Preservation Act of 1987. Conyers is modest when it comes to his musical talents, which include playing the trumpet. However, Kilpatrick insists Conyers' jazz roots run deep.

"John Coltrane ... Conyers was very close to him, as well as Miles Davis," says Kilpatrick. "John Conyers sat in that band witìi him and played with him."

Meanwhile Loren Schoenberg, executive director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, adds Conyers was among the heavyweight lawmakers who played a major role in helping the museum receive a $1 -million congressional appropriation in 2001 . "Knowing tiiat John Conyers is on our side is a much greater donation man any simple monetary pledge could be," stresses Schoenberg. "Knowing that we have a friend in John Conyers has been key to a lot of our success. John Conyers is not a 9-to-5 representative. It's his life."

Now as the first African- American chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Conyers continues his platform of jobs, justice and peace with a focus on enforcing fair election practices nationwide and conducting a microscopic examination of the Department of Justice and its Civil Rights Division. Conyers notes that the Justice Department is under scrutiny for "not operating in a manner that has been free of partisanship or politicization."

"That's my most important goal - to move voting integrity into the 21st century and also examine the Department of Justice for all of the problems," says Conyers.

Looking back on a political career that spans more dian four decades, Conyers says his biggest achievement has been the Martin Luther King Holiday Act of 1983.

"[It's] by far and away the thing I am most proud of," he says of the 15-year snuggle to make that dream a reality. "I was told by many people that we could never get a holiday for an African American, especially if he were Martin Luther King, who opposed and challenged his government."