Carrie Meek, who has died at the age of 95, will be remembered for her dedication to helping communities through education, job creation and affirmative action.
Long before she began her political career, she was breaking barriers: she was the first black professor at Miami Dade Community College. She went on to become the first African-American woman to serve in the State Senate.
In 1992 at the age of 66, she became the first African American elected to Congress in Florida since the 19th-century Reconstruction era. From 1979 to 1983 she served in the Florida House of Representatives. From 1983-1993 she served in the State Senate.
Discussing her legacy in a family statement provided to CNN News, her children said: “She was a bridge builder and healer, a unifier with a legacy defined by selfless public service.
“Her approach was rooted in kindness and humility. Carrie Meek made our society stronger and more equitable — an outcome that is an everlasting tribute to our beloved mother. She was guided by her faith, always inspired by the outpouring of love and community support.”
Meek was born in Tallahassee, Florida. Her grandmother, referred to in a 1992 Washington Post article as Ms Mandy, was enslaved on a Georgia farm. Her parents were sharecroppers; her father went on to become a caretaker who also collected rent and her mother did domestic work and eventually owned a boarding house.
A tomboy who enjoyed sports like basketball, Meek was the youngest of 12 children. Speaking about her childhood, she described it as idyllic, but marred by “the worst kind of segregation”.
Meek completed her undergraduate studies at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in 1946, and attended graduate school at the University of Michigan, finishing in 1948. She was unable to attend graduate school in Florida because black people were barred from postgraduate education in the state.
Her ambitions to become a doctor could not be fulfilled due to a lack of resources, so she worked in education and enjoyed a teaching career that spanned 30 years. During that time, she played a key role in the desegregation of Miami Dade Community College.
Following her retirement from formal politics in 2002, she ran the Carrie Meek Foundation, which worked to bring about positive change in her community through creating jobs. In 2015, she retired due to ill health.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: “Throughout her decades of public service, she was a champion for opportunity and progress, including following her retirement, as she worked to ensure that every Floridian had a roof over his or her head and access to a quality education.
“On the appropriations committee where we both served, she was a force, bringing to bear the special power of her soft accent and strong will for her community and country.”
Carrie Meek, politician, born 29 April, 1926, died 28 November 2021
