TRIBUTE TO DWIGHT CARVER DEBRO

On 2026-10-05, Representative Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA-2) delivered a floor speech titled "TRIBUTE TO DWIGHT CARVER DEBRO" in the House.

TRIBUTE TO DWIGHT CARVER DEBRO

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 157 (Monday, October 5, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 157 (Monday, October 5, 2026)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E1016] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] TRIBUTE TO DWIGHT CARVER DEBRO ______ HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR. of georgia in the house of representatives Monday, October 5, 2026 Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a man whose hands have made Columbus, Georgia, sing for more than three decades: Mr. Dwight Carver Debro, who this past Sunday, October 4, 2026, was honored by Greater St. Mark A.M.E. Church for 32 years of faithful service as its Minister of Music. Dwight was raised in that church. As a boy, he sat in Sunday School, sang in the choir, looked forward to Vacation Bible School every summer, and served as an altar boy. He was the fifth child of the late Rev. James Debro Sr., who pastored St. Mark and later served as Presiding Elder of the Albany District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mrs. Anna M. Debro, a teacher in the Muscogee County School District and a devoted leader at Greater St. Mark, who lived to the remarkable age of 104. Faith, service, and music were the air he breathed. After graduating from Baker High School, Dwight attended Morris Brown College and Columbus College. Then an extraordinary opportunity came: a chance to travel and perform with the band Earthquake. He stepped out on faith and followed the music. Over the years, he shared stages with The Manhattans, The Dramatics, Brass Construction, The Bar-Kays, The O'Jays, Frankie Beverly & Maze, Parliament-Funkadelic, and The Brothers Johnson. He and his band moved to Atlanta chasing a recording contract, and they earned one with Capitol Records as Pure Gold. When management troubles kept the group from the heights it deserved, Dwight refused to let disappointment define him. He formed The Slash Band, which opened for Atlantic Starr, Starpoint, B.B. King, Bobby Womack, and Bobby ``Blue'' Bland, won first place on the television talent competition Discovery, and took home Best Group Vocals in a national competition. He even produced his sister Lisa Dore's album, Totally Yours. Along the way, he met his lifelong idol, Stevie Wonder. Think about that for a moment. Stevie Wonder, who has never seen a piano key, gave the world `'Sir Duke,'' a joyful tribute to the musicians who shaped him and a reminder that music belongs to everyone who is moved by it. He gave us `'Overjoyed'' and ``As,'' songs that insist that love and beauty outlast whatever life takes from us. Dwight heard those songs as a young man and learned something from them that he would carry for the rest of his life: that a musician's gift does not live in the eyes. It lives in the heart. Yet Dwight will tell you the greatest turning point of his life did not happen on a stage. It happened in a church. One day, his pastor, Rev. B.A. Hart, said to him, ``It's time for you to give your talents back to the Lord.'' Dwight sat down at the piano at Greater St. Mark, and for more than 32 years he never really left it. Consider what those years held. He played for the baptisms and the funerals, for Easter mornings and long nights of grief, for weddings and for the weary. He played for the grandmother who needed to feel the Spirit and for the child just learning the hymns. He played when the congregation was full of joy and when it could barely lift its voice. Whatever people carried through the church doors, Dwight met it with music, and more than one broken heart was mended by the sound of his hands on those keys. His service reached well beyond the sanctuary. He worked with children with autism at the Woodall Psycho-Educational Center and helped young people in recovery at Alchemy, giving patience and hope to those who needed them most. He concluded his professional career with 16 years in the Risk Management Department at Total Systems, retiring in 2013. Throughout, he has been blessed with the steadfast love of his wife, Gwendolyn, and together they have been a loving anchor to a host of nieces and nephews. This year, as his eyesight failed, Dwight made the hardest decision a musician can make. In April, he stepped away from the keys. I cannot imagine what it cost him. And yet there is something fitting in it. The man who grew up idolizing Stevie Wonder now understands, in the deepest way, that music was never something he saw. It was something he gave. And a church that has been lifted by his playing for 32 years does not forget the sound. It lives in the walls, in the pews, and in every heart that was ever carried on a hymn he played. Dwight lives by these words: ``Be blessed so you can be a blessing.'' He also reminds all who will listen, ``If God said it. believe it, have faith, and watch it happen!'' Mr. Speaker, Dwight Debro has been blessed, and he has been a blessing to everyone who ever heard him play. I ask my colleagues to join my wife Vivian and me, along with the more than 765,000 people of Georgia's Second Congressional District in honoring Dwight Carver Debro, a living legend, a faithful servant, and a gift to the people of Georgia's Second Congressional District, I thank Dwight for the music. The piano may be quiet now, but we will keep hearing it. ____________________