The world is still feeling the chill from the news that House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., has moved from labor to reward.

Thanks to former South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jaimie Harrison, House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., I was first introduced to Chairman Cummings in 2012 via the Congressional Black Caucus Institute Political Bootcamp where he served as a guest speaker.

For some, it perhaps was just another speech from a political figure but for me, it was a moment of transformation.

ELIJAH CUMMINGS REMEMBERED BY POLITICIANS, ACTIVISTS, CELEBRITIES

During his speech, Cummings shared his experiences as the son of sharecroppers, a special-ed student, who had roots that run through Heaven’s sweet spot Clarendon County, South Carolina, who went on to obtain his B.A. degree from Howard University and a JD from the University of Maryland (Baltimore). He was elected to and served in, the Maryland House of delegates from 1983 through 1996 before being elected to Congress in 1996.

We talked about our life experiences afterward and I shared with him what that I was the grandson of sharecroppers from rural South Carolina. He told me then, and frequently reminded me every time I was blessed to interact with him, to embrace that history.

He reminded me that I have a voice and should use it to be loud and proud about my sharecropping grandparents. Why? Because there is only a generation in between then and now and the world needed to know how far we have come because it wasn’t that long ago for some of us.

Cummings also reminded me that you can become anything coming from anywhere. After all, hadn’t he?

Hadn’t this son of sharecroppers risen from the dust to make history as Maryland’s first African-American Speaker Pro Tempore and Chairman of our Congress’ Committee on Oversight and Government Reform?

I always felt like we shared the same mission – to fix the cracks in this 243 year-old republic, to help our brothers and sisters who need assistance, to love our neighbors even though we may not always agree and, most importantly, to make sure that the next generation does not fight the same battles as previous generations.

Hadn’t he gone from fighting in the streets for integration to helping lead the SEED Schools of Maryland?

Hadn’t he served as a tireless force for change, again and again, from his youth in student government to standing as a member of Congress’ Task Force on Health Care Reform, Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and co-founder and Chairman of the Congressional Caucus on Drug Policy?

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Hadn’t Cummings known that, though progress is slow, it can be certain if you’re willing to keep fighting for what’s right and keep moving forward… No matter what.

Isn’t that why he was still signing subpoenas from his hospital bed – fighting for our democracy with his last breaths?

Although I never had the opportunity to work for the chairman directly, I always felt like we shared the same mission – to fix the cracks in this 243 year-old republic, to help our brothers and sisters who need assistance, to love our neighbors even though we may not always agree and, most importantly, to make sure that the next generation does not fight the same battles as previous generations.

As a child, growing up in the AME church, I once heard a pastor say that when we get to Heaven we hope to have at least one person who will validate for us that our time on earth was well spent.

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Though Chairman Cummings arrived at the gates before I did, I will always vouch for how he blessed me, a 34-year-old grandson of sharecroppers from Swansea, South Carolina, and became one of the greatest statesman of a generation. I will speak for his as a life well spent.

And when the rough draft is finished about this time in American history, I know the ink will dry on the page that reads, “Well done thou good and faithful servant, Chairman Elijah Cummings.”

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