By Pamela J. Gentry, Senior Political Producer

Posted Nov. 29, 2007 – This has been a tough year for Black congresswomen.  In April, Rep. Juanita Millender McDonald (D-Calif.) died from cancer.  Over the Thanksgiving holiday Rep. Julia Carson’s (D-Ind.) announced she wouldn’t run for re-election because she is fighting an aggressive form of lung cancer. 

“We know she toiled over the decision to not return to Congress. In her selfless tradition of public service, Representative Carson refused to allow anything to beset the interests of her constituents,” said Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.), chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

But Carson who has been working from home the last few months decided the time had come to leave a job she has done with passion and precision for more than a decade.  In a brief but sincere message on her congressional homepage, she explained her decision to focus on her health. The message of her plan not to run was penned by a staffer, but her plans for the future are in her own words.  “Who knows the future? Who knows God’s will?  I want very much to return to Washington and continue representing the good people of Indianapolis with my vote,” she said.

Carson has served in Congress for 11 years and was the first woman and first African American Indiana sent to Congress. Folks in Carson’s district affectionately dubbed her “Miss Julia.” 

 “Carson has exhibited the spirit of a warrior, the grace of a dove and the roar of a lion,” Kilpatrick said.