The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING THELMA LETT
______
HON. ELISSA SLOTKIN
of michigan
in the house of representatives
Friday, February 25, 2022
Ms. SLOTKIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to share the story of a courageous Black woman from Brighton who would not sit down when faced with racism, hatred, and bigotry.
Thelma Lett did not grow up in Livingston County, but moved there from Detroit in 1976 with her husband. She was an avid churchgoer and involved in many community organizations, as she and her husband raised their two children, Paul and Keith.
But it was her involvement with the Livingston Diversity Council, then known as Livingston 2001, that drew headlines and propelled this quiet woman into the local spotlight.
Eager to champion the cause of diversity in the mostly white county, she joined the organization in 1988, its founding year--the same year a cross was burned on the property of a Black family in the county. She's credited with helping to grow the group and support for the cause with her dynamic, can-do style.
Here's what some former friends and colleagues had to say about Thelma: ``A tremendous go-getter.''
``You just had a smile on your face after talking to her,'' and,
``I would put a great deal of the success of the membership on her leadership.''
But it's what SHE had to say to a group who showed up to protest a community forum that will go down in history. In 1994, members of the National Association for the Advancement of White People showed up at a forum in Howell and openly declared that they didn't want Black people living in their community.
Lett stood up, looked directly at the crowd, and calmly, but passionately informed them she would not be run out of her home.
``When I walk down the street, I'd like not to have cat calls or the N-word shouted at me,'' she said, staring into the eyes of men and women wearing hats emblazoned with ``NAAWP'' and ``Anglo-Saxon.''
She told the crowd how some of her family members served in the U.S. military, and were wounded in combat fighting for the American ideal that all people are created equal.
And when she called for some simple respect, saying ``I give dignity and I want dignity,'' the crowd rocketed to its feet.
Lett never backed down from her devotion to diversity, continuing her activism and community involvement until her death at age 79. In fact, if you visit the Detroit Impact Youth Center on the city's west side, you'll find the Thelma Lett Library inside, a tribute to the many young people she taught to read and write.
And if you visit Howell, you'll find the Livingston Diversity Council continuing her work, inspired by the courage of her convictions, and still standing up to intolerance and hate.
Thelma Lett lived and died in Brighton, Michigan and made it abundantly clear her love for this country and all it stands for was far greater than the hatred she was shown. Brighton was her home, and today it is my honor in sharing her story.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 35
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