“Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are deeply saddened by the passing of one of our founding members Louis B. Stokes”. His brother Carl, then the history-making mayor of Cleveland, pushed him to enter the race.
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Louis Stokes was the dean of the delegation until he stepped down in 1999.
Later, he served on the Iran-Contra investigative committee, where he drew attention for his unflinching interrogation of Lt. Col. Oliver North. He was a giant, who led by his conviction as much as he did by his personal grace.
Stokes represented a swath of Cleveland, a predominantly black district that he helped create by mounting a legal challenge to the race-based gerrymandering that had previously made it hard, if not impossible, for a black candidate to win election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
The committee concluded that Ray had in fact assassinated King _ rejecting his claims of a frame-up _ but cited “compelling indications of conspiracy” not fully investigated a decade earlier.
He was elected in 1968 to the U.S. House, quickly earning widespread respect and influence.
FUNERAL: Stokes’ funeral service on Tuesday is also open to the public.
“Never again”, he said, “must we hear that an activity of the U.S. government is so sensitive that knowledge of it must be withheld from the U.S. Congress”. I was inspired by his intelligence, preparation, dignity, generosity and forward-thinking.
Although Monday is the official public viewing of the late Congressman Louis Stokes, a Cleveland church offered it’s Sunday worship service as a dedication.
“Lou Stokes continued to stand up for northeast Ohioans long after he left Congress. He’ll be remembered in the communities he strengthened, the veterans he served, and the many lives he touched”. Their mother, Louise, had an eighth-grade education and emphasized schooling, telling her sons to “get something in your head so you don’t have to work with your hands”.
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From 1943 to 1946 he served in the Army in a segregated unit.
