Editor's Note: I meet with Rep. Cummings in 2009 while staffing a group of textile workers who manufactured uniforms and accessories for the military (virtually the only textile work still done in the US). Mr. Cummings was warm, empathetic and intelligent. He understood the workers' issues and pledged to support them in debates over military contracting in Congress. A historical figure in the civil rights movement and a fine member of Congress right up to the end, he shall be missed.
- Will Collette