State Senator Bobby Powell (D – West Palm Beach) on Monday released the following statement on the death of former Congresswoman Carrie Meek:
“Carrie Meek was the embodiment of the belief that in these United States, all things are possible. In no other country could the granddaughter of a slave and a sharecropper’s daughter rise to the pinnacles of power, in turn, empowering the people of Florida she vigorously and faithfully represented for more than a decade.
“A former teacher, administrator, state Representative and Senator, Congresswoman Meek never forgot where she came from, nor the challenges she overcame coming of age in the segregated South. During her public service, she would harness that energy for her constituents, whether it was pushing for federal aid to rebuild following Hurricane Andrew, or securing the government’s commitment to send money to create jobs in areas that had long been forgotten or ignored.
“’America may be slow to rise to a challenge,’ she once remarked. ‘But our history has shown that once we make up our minds to really do something, nothing can stand in our way.’”
“As we mourn her passing, let those words linger, especially in a country where the divisions are deepening. Throughout her life, Carrie Meek fought for the most basic tenets of liberty and justice, the foundation of our democracy. Her legacy is the insistence that these fundamental civil rights be equally enjoyed by all.”
