Remarks of Commissioner Mignon L. Clyburn
Federal Communications Commission
African American History Month
Washington, DC
February 4, 2015
The Struggle Continues
A wise and courageous civil rights warrior once said:  “If there is no struggle, there is no
progress.” He went on to say that “People might not get all they work for in this world, but they 
must certainly work for all they get.”  
Frederick Douglass, one of Washington, DC’s most prominent citizens of the day, resided just a 
few short miles from where we are standing now. Born February 14, 1817, Douglass lived for 
78 years during a time of tremendous struggle in our nation, and in the District of Columbia.
He lived during a time when our nation endured a brutal civil war, which divided families, 
citizens, communities. He was here when a young republic was struggling to come to terms with
itself, and its glaring imperfections.
While prominent, Mr. Douglass was just one of many forbears active in the struggle for a perfect 
union.  There were others—some known, others not well known.
? Benjamin Banneker—an astronomer, clockmaker and publisher, who chronicled his 
discoveries in a popular Almanac.
? Phillis Wheatley—one of the first African American poets to be widely published.
? The Reverend Richard Allen—religious leader who found the African Methodist 
Episcopalian (AME) Church in Philadelphia.
? Sojourner Truth, Nat Turner and Harriet Tubman— who rebelled nobly against injustice, 
and risked their lives in the quest for equality for all.
? Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, W.E.B. DuBois, Mary McLeod 
Bethune, Madame C.J. Walker--whose strides in education, science, business and self-
sufficiency still uplift our communities until today.
? And those we know less about: Mississippi Senator Hiram Revels, the first African 
American to serve in either house of Congress.  Thomas Jennings, the first African 
American to receive a patent. The Friendship Nine of Rock Hill, SC, pioneers of the 
“Jail No Bail” demonstration that cost them 30 days and a blemish on their record, which 
was finally cleared last week after 54 years.
2? And let’s not forget the girls and women of the various movements—those who one 
author aptly calls “Freedom’s Daughters”—who have never received their proper due.  
But for their unheralded sacrifices, we would have fewer reasons to celebrate this 
morning.
Most of the heroes and heroines of the struggle for freedom were ordinary men and women, boys 
and girls, who made extraordinary sacrifices and contributions that led to the benefits we enjoy 
today.  And we should be mindful that the contributions we highlight as part of African 
American History month have benefitted all Americans. They are lessons of courage, struggle 
and triumph that we all should study and strive to emulate.
Our country is the envy of many because we have the ability and capacity to celebrate today in a 
place like this, and we should never take that fact for granted.
Some ask why we still celebrate this month. Historian, author, journalist and founder of the 
Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, in a 
speech at Hampton Institute in 1921, answered in a manner that still holds true: 
We have a wonderful history behind us. ... If you are unable to demonstrate to the 
world that you have this record, the world will say to you, ‘You are not worthy to 
enjoy the blessings of democracy or anything else’.  Those who have no record of 
what their forebears have accomplished, lose the inspiration which comes from 
the teaching of biography and history.
So I encourage you to continue to be inspired by the many chapters of our history—from 
colonial days to the Civil War—through Reconstruction to the Niagara Movement—from 
the Harlem Renaissance through the Great Migration—from the Buffalo Soldiers to the 
Tuskegee Airmen—from Louis Stokes and Tidye Pickett to Jack Johnson, Jackie 
Robinson, and Charlie Sifford—from the Supreme Court to the Supremes of Motown—
from the war on poverty to the war on crime—from the Civil Rights Movement to civil 
disobedience—from the struggles of yesterday, to the era of “Yes We Can”.
I encourage you to keep looking upwards and forward. Be not dismayed, even with the 
weighty challenges before us today. Keep your spirits lifted and your efforts to educate, 
improve and serve your communities intact.  What our past has taught us is that the 
contributions of ordinary men and women like you and me will continue to shape and 
mold the landscape and future of this great nation. 
And never forget that it only takes one committed person with a vision, to change the 
face and the fate of our world. You can be that one.
Thank you.