George Thomas "Mickey" Leland III
Houston, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Legislator and activist Mickey Leland fought passionately for the rights of the poor and disadvantaged. Born George Thomas Leland III on November 27, 1944, in Lubbock, Mickey was raised in Houston’s Fifth Ward, where he attended segregated schools. He graduated from Phillis Wheatley High School in 1963 and the Texas Southern University (TSU) School of Pharmacy in 1970. Influenced by his Catholic faith and 1960s activism, Leland was committed to helping those less fortunate, a principle that permeated his life and career. Elected to the Texas House of Representatives at age 27, Leland represented Houston for six years, focusing on civil rights, voting rights, generic drugs and affordable health care. A trip to Tanzania in 1973, his first outside the U.S., changed his life forever. After seeing the widespread devastation of famine, Leland focused his political influence to alleviate hunger on a global scale. In 1978, he was elected to the U.S. Congress from the 18th district, the seat vacated by Barbara Jordan. In 1984, he helped create the house select committee on world hunger to address social and economic issues. He later secured an aid package of $784 million for famine relief. Leland also fought against apartheid in South Africa through sanctions and protests. On august 7, 1989, Congressman Leland and 15 others died in a plane crash in bad weather, while on a relief mission to Sudanese refugee camps in Ethiopia. A son, brother, husband, and father of three sons, he is remembered on TSU’s campus with the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs and Mickey Leland Center on Hunger, Poverty and World Peace. Other Houston sites named for him include the international airport terminal, the federal building, a prep school and a community park. He led by example in fighting for justice, and his influence reached around the world. (2021)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Raised in Houston's Fifth Ward and trained as a pharmacist, Mickey Leland won a Texas House seat at 27 and championed civil rights, voting rights, and affordable health care. A 1973 trip to famine-stricken Tanzania reshaped his mission, and after succeeding Barbara Jordan in Congress in 1978 he founded a House committee on world hunger and secured hundreds of millions in famine relief. He died in a 1989 plane crash on a relief mission to refugee camps in Ethiopia.
Why it matters
Leland extended the American civil rights tradition into a global fight against hunger and apartheid, and Houston's airport terminal, schools, and public-affairs institutes carry his name.
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Related people
- · Mickey Leland
- · Barbara Jordan
Themes & tags
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