[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 15, 2005)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E235] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] HONORING THOMAS C. FLEMING ______ HON. BARBARA LEE of california in the house of representatives Tuesday, February 15, 2005 Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary contributions of Thomas C. Fleming, an icon in the history of African- American journalism. Tom has led a distinguished career as a print journalist for more than 70 years, working during the majority of that time for the African-American newspaper he co-founded in 1944, the San Francisco Sun-Reporter. On this date, the day before his 97th birthday, Tom will be recognized in a ceremony marking not only the renaming of the library at New College of California, East Bay in his honor, but also a lifetime of truly outstanding achievement and leadership within the black community as well as the journalistic profession. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Tom spent his early childhood years there with his grandmother, who he believes was a former slave. He then spent a brief period living in Harlem during the years leading up to World War I, before finally moving to Chico, California in 1919. Upon his graduation from Chico High School in 1926, Tom worked as a bellhop for the Admiral Line, and then as a cook for Southern Pacific Railroad before entering the field of journalism in the 1930s as an unpaid writer for the Spokesman, a progressive black newspaper in San Francisco. He soon returned to Chico, however, and studied political science at Chico State University for three semesters during the height of the Great Depression. He then returned to the Bay Area, where he worked briefly for the Oakland Tribune in 1934, making him the only black journalist to work for a daily newspaper on the West Coast. In 1944, Tom became the founding editor of a San Francisco newspaper called the Reporter, which was soon merged with a paper owned by his closest friend, legendary civil rights leader Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett. The publication that emerged, the San Francisco Sun-Reporter, is still in print, and is one of the longest-running African-American newspapers in the country. During the civil rights movement, when many African- American publications struggled to find enough advertising money to keep them in business, Tom remained devoted to the black press, and became renowned for the work he did reporting on this era. Throughout the 53 years he spent writing for the Sun-Reporter, Tom met and shared the struggles of several historic figures in the black community, such as Langston Hughes, Malcolm X, Thurgood Marshall, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He also became well-known for writing a series of eighty columns entitled ``Reflections on Black History,'' and for receiving the Career Achievement Award for Print from the Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Although Tom retired from writing full time for the Sun-Reporter in 1997, he still writes a column and editorials for the paper, in which he continues to be an advocate for truth, equality, and social justice. By remaining active in and dedicated to this work for over 70 years, Thomas Fleming has contributed immeasurably to Alameda County and the San Francisco Bay Area. On behalf of the 9th Congressional District, I salute and congratulate him for his many years of invaluable service. ____________________