Newark Mayor Ras Baraka today delivered the following eulogy in celebration of the life of Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr., who died last week at age 65:
“Distinguished clergy, to Governor Phil Murphy, First Lady, our Senators Booker and Menendez, House of Representatives, family, those in the New Jersey delegation and those who came from far and near. To to all the other elected officials and dignitaries here today. I just want to first say thank you for coming to our city and helping us bid farewell to Congressman Donald Payne Jr. Helping us to give him a send off and the way he deserves, and the way Newark can be proud.
“He embraced this whirlwind on purpose. He became a congressman even before he knew it. To the Payne family. To Beatrice, the three children. William Payne. Cousins. Uncles. Relative here Today. Today I wear my father’s kente cloth. Yesterday and today I had it on. He wore this every day. I witness because I not only represent hundreds and thousands of families in this city who are mourning the passing of Congressman Payne, whether they know it or not. I wear this because I want to say thank you on behalf of my father, who’s not with us, Amiri Baraka Sr., his wife, my mother Amina Baraka, her sons, her children, gone and those still here, that we owe you a debt of gratitude, that we thank you that alongside the Barakas, that was always the Paynes. We appreciate you. And we bid the congressman farewell and let you know that we’re here for you. Our prayers, our condolences, and our friendship. I know it’s difficult because most people never tell the whole story or even see if the story they know fits. They always miss our humanity. They don’t talk about our wives, their elegance, their patience. Beatrice, your endurance, our children, the strength through it all. How beautiful that you have to look on purpose. Even in difficult times. The children. The pressure of being a congressman, of being an elected official and being black at the same time; being a representative to represent struggle deliberately while still making time for the father-daughter dance. Choppy, son of the first African American congressman this state has seen, 1988-89; shameful that it took that long, but here we are.
“I was just a kid at Howard University protesting in the administration building then, and Don was here in the South Ward organizing the Democrats as a kid. He was destined for this job. His life tied up in our journey here on segregated trains and shoe boxes of chicken and cornbread. The scars of our families, long trips, fleeing lynching, and looking for democracy carried over through generations. Chop wore all of that. He had no choice. James Baldwin said that most people found the cross through the Bible, but we found the Bible through the cross. Our purpose, our identity, our final place, our North Star, has always been the search for the North Star. We found salvation in our struggle to be free, in escaping inhumanity, to find real joy, to raise our children, our families in that joy. We imagine that place. We imagine that we could remove those obstacles, and Don Payne Jr. imagined the same. He imagined it in his father’s statesmanship. Determined love for our people. Donald Payne Jr. Inherited it. Most people inherited riches. He inherited work. Yeah, he wore it. An old heavy coat that he made beautiful and fashionable, from socks to bowtie and glasses and all.
“He was Donald’s son. But to many of us, he was just our neighbor, our friend, a comrade, someone you could talk to, even disagree with, and still call for help after. Our father’s history are deeply entwined, intertwined. As the changing of the guard began and our voices rang louder, we walked through barriers and pulled the chair up to power. Our father’s, thus our families were forced in the middle of those whirlwinds. My father and Payne ran track together at Barringer High School. My father considered Donald Payne Sr., a friend, and the family a part of the city’s permanent landscape, its inescapable trajectory. Him and I, Don Jr., spoke sometimes of the walls others tried to put between us to serve their interests, to lobby for their own growth and power while we were stuck rolling a rock up a hill, We knew one day this would have to end. We all knew and know still that this always has been an impediment to our growth and our joy. Prayerfully, this tragic moment here today, our mourning will be the beginning of that end.
“I felt good helping you in your last race, Congressman. It’s where I was supposed to be, and where I was supposed to be a long time ago. Our last conversation about work was about Mulberry Commons, the bridge, and building a walking bridge from Newark Penn Station to the Devil Stadium. So Amtrak and New Jersey transit and whoever else is in the way, we have to move over because we have a bridge to build that history has called us to name the Donald Payne Jr. Walking Bridge.
“I want to sit down, but I want to speak a little bit to the elected officials that are still here, especially those who look like me, black and brown and marginalized, that sit in the back of those rooms, sometimes on a wall, listening. I want you to hold your head up, your chest out, and your shoulders back just today, for Congressman Payne’s sake, to try to make some sense out of all of this — us losing Rice and Sheila and Payne Jr., almost one after the other.
“There’s a story here. Story of Gideon, who tried to press wheat in the wine press, afraid tha the Midianites would steal his livelihood. He was so afraid he forgot who he was and what he was doing. He thought that he could sift wheat or make bread from a wine press. What he intended to get, he would never get; the work he was doing. He would never reach. He would never get the results he set out for. He lost hope and can no longer see the staircase looking for the God of his forefathers with all of his wonders. Where is the God of our ancestors that we sing about in James Weldon Johnson’s Hymm who delivered us to this point? We believe when we look around, we see what’s going on, attacking our voting rights, throwing us out of the university, banning our books. Where is our God?
“We cry this day as we lay Donald Payne Jr. to rest. I say the Lord is with us. The Lord is with you, Beatrice. The Lord is with you, Payne family. The Lord is with us all. And as the angel of the Lord told Gideon, I say to you, elected officials: get up, you mighty warrior. Get up, you mighty warrior. Go in the strength you have and save your people. Am I not sending you? God is with us. Take your wheat out of the winepress. Take your wheat out of the winepress. Take your wheat out of the winepress. He didn’t bring us this far to leave us now. He didn’t bring us this far to leave us now. Godspeed to you, Congressman Payne Jr. Godspeed to you and the family. And God bless all of you who’ve come out today to make sure our friend, our brother, our comrade is laid to rest in dignity. Godspeed”