“I say to our children, Don’t let anyone take away your hope. I don’t care who they are. And let no one define you. No one.” Elijah Cummings
Before he said these inspiring words as a lawyer and in congress as chair of the House Committee on Oversight and reform in 2019, Elijah Cummings was a little boy growing up in South Carolina. He was the son of hardworking sharecropping parents making .15cents/hour on the land where their ancestors had been enslaved. After seeing their black neighbors beaten for seeking voting rights, Elijah’s parents moved the family to Baltimore, Maryland in the 40’s.
Although Elijah had perfect attendance, he struggled in school being told he asked too many questions and would never be able to read or write well. The Library was one of the few places both black and white children could go after school. There he studied long hours with kind Librarians who helped tutor him to do better in school and prove his teachers wrong.
Because of the Civil Rights lawyer Juanita Jackson Mitchell, he decided he wanted to become a lawyer. Listening to Rev. Martin Luther King’s speeches on his transistor radio gave Elijah Cummings hope that he could and the focus to defend misrepresented African American boys. However his school counselor discouraged him because of his parent’s humble jobs saying “Who do you think you are?” His mother told him to… “have faith, God has a plan for you.”
In 1973 he graduated with honors and went onto law school. In 1983 concerned for children, he championed a ban on advertising of alcohol and tobacco in inner-city neighborhoods.
He died 6 years ago in 2019 saying “In God’s time we will overcome”. “Our children are the living messages we send to a future we will never see.”
I loved learning and sharing the true story of Elijah Cummings “The faith of Elijah Cummings: the North Star of Equal Justice” by Carole Boston Weatherford powerfully illustrated by Laura Freeman. (Published by Random House)
Today on Jan 20, 2025 I am grateful that my husband and I can talk with our kids- our future- about his story and the legacy of Dr Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. I love the beautifully illustrated paintings by Kadir Nelson in this picture book complete with the audio recording of MLK’s famously important speech in 1963. You can also watch it here.
We are finding strength through their stories and many more, who worked to uplift, empower, and honor people of color. There is work to do for this country to be a place that lets freedom ring for people of all colors. They didn’t give up hope then and neither will we now, despite current events. Like Dr King, I too hope “we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood”…”and if America is to be a great nation, this must become true” MLK
