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Who
is Al Edwards?
- Al
Edwards is considered the Father of the Juneteenth Holiday, making Texas
its national birthplace.
- He
was born in Houston, TX. He is the sixth child of eighteen children
born to Rev. E. L. Edwards Sr. and Josephine Radford Edwards.
- He
graduated from Phyllis Wheatly High School and received a bachelor's
degree from Texas Southern University in 1966.
- He
was certified in corrective therapy at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
- He
was part of the Civil Rights Movement during the 60's where he participated
in peaceful marches and demonstrations throughout the United States
with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Jesse Jackson, Mr. Carl Stocks,
Rev. Bill Lawson and others.
- He
is a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.
- In
1978, he was elected to the Texas State House of Representatives and
has been re-elected for the office for nine terms.
- In
1979, he wrote and sponsored the bill, House Bill 1016, making June
19th, "Juneteenth", a state holiday. This is the first state
paid Juneteenth holiday in the United States.
- He
founded Juneteenth U.S.A. in 1979.
- He
was initiated on Oct. 19, 1979, into North Side Lodge #214 of U M W
Scottish Rite Grand Large A F & A M of Texas Inc. He is a Master
Mason.
- He
was inducted into "Who's Who in America" in 1989.
- He
received an Honorary Doctor's Degree from the University of Belize in
1983.
- He
was a member of Push International Trade Bureau Board from 1983 to 1989.
- In
1984 and 1988, Rep. Al Edwards was State Chairman for Jesse Jackson's
campaign for President of the United States.
- He
founded Operation Justus, a community based organization in 1986.
- In
1987, he was arrested and went to jail for peacefully demonstrating
on the Embassy of South Africa in Houston, Texas. Others on the national
level were Dick Gregory, Jesse Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Harry Bellefonte
and many others trying to end apartheid in South Africa.
- In
1989, he traveled to Mozambique, Johannesburg, and Angola, South Africa
on a peace-seeking mission.
- He
served as Chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus from 1991 to 1997.
- Representative
Edwards was called to the ministry in April 1993 at Progressive New
Hope Baptist Church.
- In
1993, Rep. Rev. Al Edwards ministered in Greensburg and Moscow Russia.
- In
December 1993, he was invited to the first White House Christmas Party
sponsored by President Bill and Hillary Clinton.
- In
May 1994, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the African American
Biographical Association in Atlanta, GA.
- In
August of 1995, Representative Edwards was elected as chairman of the
Democratic National Committee Black Caucus.
- In
June 1996, he received his Doctor of Divinity from World Bible Christian
University, in San Antonio, Texas.
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