After fighting pancreatic cancer, US Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, a vocal supporter of women’s and African American rights and a powerful progressive voice in the Democratic Party, passed away on Friday.
Briefly said:
- Sheila Jackson, a US congresswoman, was fighting cancer.
- Her progressive stances on women’s rights and African-American rights were well-known.
- The US media said that she was 74.
Late on Friday, her family shared the news of her demise on X. US Representative Sheila Jackson Lee was a vocal supporter of women’s and African American rights and a prominent progressive voice in the Democratic Party.
Jackson Lee, a native of Texas, said last month that she was undergoing pancreatic cancer therapy. She was 74, according to US media reports.
“A fierce champion of the people, she was affectionately and simply known as ‘Congresswoman’ by her constituents in recognition of her near-ubiquitous presence and service to their daily lives for more than 30 years,” stated the statement.
Representative for portions of Houston, Jackson Lee, proposed legislation in the House of Representatives to declare “Juneteenth” a federal holiday honoring the abolition of Black Americans’ legal slavery.
On this day in 1865, a Union commander told a gathering of slaves in Texas that they had been freed two years previously by President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War. This event is commemorated as a national holiday.
