Bill Text: MS SC681 | 2017 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Recognize 40th Anniversary of the Quitman County Development Organization (QCDO).
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-1)
Status: (Passed) 2017-04-05 - Enrolled Bill Signed [SC681 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2017-SC681-Enrolled.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2017 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Jordan, Blackmon, Witherspoon, Frazier, Norwood, Simmons (12th), Barnett, Jackson (32nd), Turner-Ford, Butler, Fillingane
Senate Concurrent Resolution 681
(As Adopted by Senate and House)
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY AND THE SOCIAL SERVICE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE QUITMAN COUNTY DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION (QCDO).
WHEREAS, in many ways, the Quitman County Development Organization is a typical not-for-profit organization with a board, a staff, and an ongoing search for resources. QCDO is not so typical in that it has survived, and thrived, for 25 years as a primarily African-American organization in the challenging world of community development in the Mississippi River Delta; and
WHEREAS, begun in 1977 as a membership-based affiliate of Mississippi Action for Community Education (MACE), QCDO soon languished with few resources and little community support. It is at this time two men re-entered the Quitman County landscape, Reverend Carl Brown and Robert L. Jackson. Both had ties to Marks and Quitman County, Mississippi. Both left home for better educational and work opportunities, and both felt the need to give back to the place in which they had grown up; and
WHEREAS, Reverend Brown returned in 1978 and discovered that too few things had changed since he left 25 years before. He also recognized the potential of a community development organization such as QCDO and began to reorganize the board and recruit additional community interest; and
WHEREAS, at about the same time Reverend Brown returned to Marks, Robert Jackson graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi and was working with QCDO as a Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) employee. When the CETA program ended, so did Robert Jackson's employment. Determined to make a difference in Quitman County, Jackson joined Reverend Brown's efforts to revitalize QCDO; and
WHEREAS, one of the first challenges Reverend Brown and Jackson faced was organizing community residents to secure a free and reduced breakfast program in the county schools. The Board of Education, Superintendent of Education, and key school administrators resisted offering the program to students, even though 90% of the student body qualified. The effort was successful and the program was implemented at the beginning of the 1979 school year. This first victory signaled to the community the potential for community change that enhanced the quality of life for all Quitman County residents and established Reverend Brown and Jackson as effective community leaders; and
WHEREAS, started as a social service cooperative to help Quitman County residents apply for food stamps, welfare, social security, and other community services, QCDO soon joined the struggle to bring African-Americans into governmental decision-making processes. With QCDO's support, African-Americans were elected to city and county offices, and the leadership of these government agencies began to more closely reflect Quitman County's population. Today, QCDO still helps people meet basic human needs and also serves as a catalyst to help poor people overcome seemingly insurmountable barriers to achieving better lives; and
WHEREAS, much of this work involves changing public policy as well as traditional ways of life. Redistricting, running for public office, taking an unpopular stand on a public issue, and challenging the status quo have brought the QCDO Board and staff success, admiration, support, and their share of detractors; and
WHEREAS, from its early days as a social service organization to its current presence as an economic engine in the Mississippi Delta, QCDO's leaders attribute their successes to divine guidance and hard work. The way has not been easy, and although the accomplishments are impressive, in Reverend Brown's word's "The struggle is real":
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby recognize the 40th Anniversary and the social service contributions of the Quitman County Development Organization (QCDO), and extend the best wishes of the Legislature to this public service organization in its future endeavors.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Quitman County Development Organization (QCDO), forwarded to the Quitman County Board of Supervisors, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.
