From the Indianapolis Star:
Congresswoman Julia Carson died this morning at the age of 69.
Carson’s death comes just weeks after she announced she was dying of lung cancer and would not seek re-election to a seventh term in 2008.
Carson battled a number of ailments during her tenure in Congress with a great deal of bravery. May she rest in piece.
I know we were all becoming a little frustrated with her refusal to step aside and keep her seat secure earlier in the year, but lets think now of her strong efforts to promote education and fight for her district’s working poor. She was great progressive who will be missed.
I’m thinking of how to best talk about this remarkable, iconic, one-of-a-kind woman to people who did not have the opportunity to meet her or watch her close up for years. I think to understand her there are three things you have to know.
First, she was a woman of deep religious faith. It was the most important thing in her life, guiding how she saw and acted in the world. As a religious liberal myself, it was always so satisfying to see someone in a leadership position that used evangelical christianity as a progressive force for good in the world.
Second, she was the best damn local-level politician I’ve ever seen in my life. She absolutely loved the nuts-and-bolts, give-and-take of local politics. She gave as good as she got, and was never beaten in an election. Part of her would have been right at home in Mayor Daley’s 1960s Chicago and its ward-style politics, where you count your votes on Monday, count them again on Tuesday, etc. Julia’s instincts on what to do, what to say, and how to run a campaign were always spot-on perfect.
Third, she never forgot where she came from, and was a constant and tireless advocate for lower-income, central city people. She never wavered one bit in her committment, publicly and privately, to people who mostly gave up on government caring about them a long time ago. This wasn’t always politically easy. A lot of commentators (correctly, if you just look at the numbers) would say she “underperforms” for what a Democrat should do in this district. But you have to realize that until Keith Ellison was elected in Minnesota, she had the lowest percentage of African Americans in her district of any black member of Congress. Politics didn’t guide the issues and stances she took — doing what she thought was right did.
Over the past couple of weeks, several people have put her campaign signs in their yards here. Her color was always bright red (she chose it before the red state/blue state thing came into vogue), and most of them simply say “I Love Julia.” Sometime soon we’ll pick our next member of Congress, and we’ve got some good ones to choose from, but we’ll never replace her. Rest in peace, Miss Julia.
And just when she announced she wasn’t going to run again. It’s sad, but she’s left a great legacy and a shining example for others to follow.