I’m in Europe still, but breaking hiatus to express my great shock and sadness at the death yesterday of Ohio Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones. Tubbs-Jones died suddenly following a brain hemorrhage.
Stephanie Tubbs-Jones was a dedicated progressive, and was perhaps best known for her role in vigorously contesting the 2004 Ohio presidential election results. What was less well-known was her role as an animal activist and a crusader for healthier eating. We sat with her at the 2007 PCRM Gala, and she and my wife chatted at length about the role that a vegetarian diet could play in reducing obesity and heart disease rates in the African-American community. (I mentioned that talk in this post.) Though Tubbs-Jones was not a vegan like her next-door neighbor in the House, Dennis Kucinich, she was convinced that education about and access to a plant-based diet was a crucial component in saving lives, both animal and human.
I told her that I intended to come before a House committee someday, pleading for a nationwide ban on fur pelting. Tubbs-Jones smiled and told me she looked forward to it. I don’t know if I’ll ever testify before Congress, but I knew that I would have had a very friendly welcome if I had made it there under her watch. Ohio and the country have lost a devoted advocate for the poor, for women, and for the interconnectedness of healthy eating and justice for animals.
