Mayor Marion Barry Eulogized as a ‘Hero More Than a Champion’ by Hazel Trice Edney

Dec. 8, 2014

Mayor Marion Barry Eulogized as a ‘Hero - More Than a Champion’

By Hazel Trice Edney


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Rev. Jesse Jackson preaches the eulogy of Marion Barry, known as 'the mayor for life.' PHOTO: Roy Lewis/Trice Edney News Wire


(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Marion Barry, the Washington, D.C. mayor who soared above all odds to become one of Black America’s most storied and most popular politicians, has been eulogized as a hero.

“He was a hero - more than a champion. When champions win, they ride the people’s shoulders. When heroes win, the people ride their shoulders,” said the Rev. Jesse Jackson who preached the eulogy before thousands at the Washington Convention Center Dec. 6. “They lift the quality of the whole game. More than a champ, he was a hero.”

Throngs of people – Washingtonians and visitors from around the nation – observed three days of ceremonies leading up to Saturday’s funeral, which lasted more than five hours. At one point, people lined up for blocks, standing in the rain to watch his procession go by.

“Marion Barry was a freedom fighter and a long distance runner. He never stopped running. He never stopped serving…He never took his focus off the poor and those with their backs against the wall. That’s why the people loved him and the people kept blessing him,” said Jackson.  “The Jesus standard, the standard of the fair referee is ‘for when I was hungry, did you feed me, the least of these? When I was naked did you clothe the naked? When in prison, did you visit me? On this basis, he separated the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the chaff, the real players, the champions from the heroes…That’s why the people stood in the rain and watched him go by.”

Barry collapsed outside his home and died shortly after midnight Sunday, Nov. 23, at the United Medical Center. He had been released from Howard University Hospital the day before. No cause of death was given, but Barry had long suffered complications from several chronic illnesses. He was 78.

He was revered in his public service. Those sending words of condolences included President Barack Obama, who said Barry “earned the love and respect of countless Washingtonians” despite what was “a storied, at times tumultuous life and career.”

Former President Bill Clinton sent a letter saying, “through great triumph and personal tragedy, Marion always kept looking toward the future. Washington, D.C. has lost a dedicated public servant.”

Congressman John Lewis and the Rev. Joseph Lowery also published letter in the 36-page souvenir program; both praising his commitment to national civil rights as well as to the people of D.C.

Among the dozens of speakers on the program were Minister Louis Farrakhan, D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, U. S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.); National Urban League President Marc Morial; the Rev. Dr. Barbara Williams Skinner, and the Rev. Dr. Jamal-Harrison Bryant. The service was hosted by Rev. Willie F. Wilson, senior pastor, Union Temple Baptist Church, in DC.

People across the nation recall the scandal in which Barry, after three terms as mayor, was arrested and served six months in federal prison on a crack cocaine-related charge. But Barry’s supporters never forgot his service. He quickly rose back to popularity after his release and a stint in drug rehab. He won re-election to Council in 1993 and was re-elected mayor in 1994. He served a total of 16 years as mayor and a total of 16 years on the DC Council until his death.

Senior citizens, youth, Black businesses, the poor, and the homeless were the people who won his heart. Housing, contracts, summer jobs for youth, and economic justice were foremost on his political agenda. He often said D.C. was a “sleepy southern town” when he first arrived in 1965.

In a nutshell, after a stint on the school board and then as board president, Barry won election to council in 1974 and was elected to mayor in 1978. He was credited for setting in motion the funding that turned D.C. into a booming metropolis with millions of dollars in development, much of which went to Black-owned developers and businesses.

Fighting the good fight was in his blood, said Jackson, reflecting on his growing up in the deeply segregated Mississippi Delta.

“He was nearly 30 years old before his family had the right to vote. How does one sum up the life journey of one who went through indignity and disgrace to amazing grace?” said Jackson, who was friends with Barry for more than 50 years, since his days as a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). “We shared scars and stories about the odds we had to fight…It seems that we were so certain that the risks we took going to jail, dogs biting, horses kicking, blasted by the press, it did not seem to matter…We became immediate friends and blood brothers in the struggle. We lived as if life is certain and death is uncertain. The fact is that death is certain and life is uncertain.”

Barry was buried in the historic Congressional Cemetery in Washington. But, his autobiography titled, "Mayor for Life", published in June, promises to continue telling his story.

“His enemies laughed, his friends cringed, but he never lost the faith. He went down, way down, but he got up because he knew that nothing was too hard for God,” Jackson preached. “He lifted as he climbed… Lifting up the poor and the seniors and those whose backs are against the wall… The standard is not perfection but dependability to show up when the game is on the line.”