Former DC School Board and Council member, activist for DC statehood and social justice, public school teacher and principal, founding member of the DC Statehood Party, "Grandmother of the World"

WASHINGTON, DC -- The DC Statehood Green Party noted the passing of Hilda Howland Minnis Mason at the age of 91 on Sunday with sadness and remembrance.

THE DC STATEHOOD GREEN PARTY
http://statehoodgreensofdc.org

For immediate release:
Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Contact:
Scott McLarty, DC Statehood Green Party Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, [email protected]

Ms. Mason was a local leader for rights for social justice, DC statehood and democracy, and public school education; one of the founding members of the DC Statehood Party in 1970 (which merged with the DC Green Party to become the DC Statehood Green Party in 1999); a former teacher and principal; and a former member of the DC Board of Education (1972-1977) and City Council (1977-1998). Ms. Mason also served as delegate and leader at the 1981 DC constitutional convention.

Along with her husband Charlie Mason, Ms. Mason helped create the University of the District of Columbia's David A. Clarke School of Law, D.C.'s public law school, helped sustain it as major financial contributors, and defended the school against attempts to dismantle it. Charlie Mason died in October 2006.

On October 19, 2007, Ms. Mason was honored for her tireless work for DC statehood at a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition. A tribute to Hilda Mason by Statehood Green Party member Debby Hanrahan, delivered at the event, is appended to the online version of this press release at the DC Statehood Green Party's web site <http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org>.

"Hilda and Charlie Mason provided leadership when D.C. statehood supporters introduced a successful voters' initiative in 1980 calling for a constitutional convention to draw up a state constitution," said Anne Anderson, who joined the Statehood Party in 1971. "The constitution was adopted in May, 1982, but we're still waiting for Congress to grant D.C. statehood."

"We're proud to continue the work of the Masons -- the work that will be complete when we finally win real democracy for the people of the District of Columbia," said Ms. Anderson.

"I remember first meeting Hilda at a Take Back the Night rally in 1994. At the time I knew nothing about DC politics or statehood, but she impressed me enough at that rally to find out more about the issue of DC statehood and register with the DC Statehood Party. She always let everyone know that she was our grandmother and her interest in the people of this city was always from that perspective -- as somebody who wanted the best for us. I will miss her terribly as one of the great leaders of the statehood movement and a great fighter for social and political justice," said party member Maya O'Connor.

Ms. Mason's passing is one of several losses in the DC Statehood Green Party family in the past two months. Party activist Henry Moses died in November <https://www.gpus.org/archive/press/states/dc/dc_2007_10_30.shtml>. Stephanie Dixon, daughter of party veteran and former DC School Board member Gail Dixon, passed away suddenly last week.

Funeral services for Ms. Mason will be conducted by Cook & Minnis Funeral Home at Shiloh Baptist Church in Lynch Station, Virginia. Plans are being made for a memorial service in Washington, DC, and will be announced soon.

"It's in the marrow of my bones, it is in my blood. Almost every step I take, I feel like I'm doing what my mother and father would have done. And my grandson, Nestor, I feel like I'm walking in his footsteps, too. I can't forget where I came from. I can't forget what my parents did to preserve their own lives. Although I'm living comfortably now, I'm not going to forget how it once was for me. And I'm not going to turn my back on people who aren't as fortunate as I am." -- Hilda Mason, speaking as a recipient of the D.C. Chapter of the David and Selma Rein Community Justice Award from the National Lawyers Guild in 1986, citing the example of her parents and the tragic death at age 13 of her grandson Nestor

MORE INFORMATION

The DC Statehood Green Party
http://statehoodgreensofdc.org