HONORING DAPHNE MUSE

On 2026-06-25, Representative Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) delivered a floor speech titled "HONORING DAPHNE MUSE" in the House.

HONORING DAPHNE MUSE

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 107 (Thursday, June 25, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 107 (Thursday, June 25, 2026)] [House] [Page H4254] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] HONORING DAPHNE MUSE (Ms. SIMON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.) Ms. SIMON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Daphne Muse, a daughter of Washington, D.C., who made Oakland, California, her home for more than 50 years. She recently transitioned at the age of 81. Daphne was a mother, a mentor, an intellectual, an avid disability rights advocate, a writer, and a keeper of Black letters. She helped run Drum & Spear Bookstore here in Washington, D.C., a legendary Black bookstore here in the Capital. For the crime of selling books to Black folks in the civil rights movement, J. Edgar Hoover's FBI placed her under surveillance. She answered with a life's work: collecting and gathering more than 22,000 letters and papers documenting Black life across the diaspora. At Mills College, she served as a leader, mentored countless young women, and gave her heart to the education of girls and women. I was one of the beneficiaries of her love and her brilliance. Oakland, California, raised a giant, Mr. Speaker. May her name be in remembrance always. ____________________