Senate Bill sb2484

    Florida Senate - 2002        (NP)                      SR 2484

    By Senator Lawson





    3-1988-02

  1                    Senate Resolution No. ___

  2         A resolution recognizing February 2002 as Black

  3         History Month.

  4

  5         WHEREAS, the history of persons of African descent in

  6  Florida and the United States of America is a rich and complex

  7  history and one that has been an integral part of our nation's

  8  history, and

  9         WHEREAS, the history of African Americans has been a

10  unique and difficult proving ground for the ideals upon which

11  this country was founded, which had its severest test during

12  the Civil War over the abolition of the institution of

13  slavery, and

14         WHEREAS, more than a century later, following the

15  disappointment of Reconstruction, African Americans rekindled

16  their struggle for full citizenship through the civil rights

17  movement, the primary goal of which was the acknowledgment of

18  those rights through the elimination by law and court order of

19  legalized segregation and second-class citizenship, and

20         WHEREAS, this struggle of African Americans to secure

21  freedom and equality of opportunity has been conducted

22  ironically against many other Americans who originally came to

23  this country to secure those same rights, which rights

24  represent the promise of America, and

25         WHEREAS, it is important to celebrate the many

26  achievements of African Americans in and on behalf of this

27  country, from science and the arts to politics and religion,

28  not only to offer African Americans an occasion to explore

29  their particular heritage, but also to offer all Americans

30  that broader, enriching perspective that reveals the amazing

31  diversity of contributors to the forming and shaping of this

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2002        (NP)                      SR 2484
    3-1988-02




  1  nation, a diversity that has made it a model for the world,

  2  and

  3         WHEREAS, the State of Florida is uniquely blessed for

  4  the examination of this history, because it is the home of

  5  such excellent museums as the Black Archives Research Center

  6  and Museum at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University,

  7  the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of

  8  Florida, and the Black Heritage Museum in Miami, and is also

  9  the site of such renowned research as the Black Abolitionist

10  Papers Project at Florida State University, and

11         WHEREAS, it is especially fitting to recognize the many

12  achievements of Floridians such as Zora Neale Hurston, Charles

13  Kenzie Steele, Sr., Jesse J. McCrary, Jr., Joseph E. Lee, and

14  Mary McLeod Bethune, whose devotion to equality serves as a

15  shining example to us all, and

16         WHEREAS, the month of February, the birth month of both

17  Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, key leaders in the

18  abolishment of slavery, is particularly suited for the

19  commemoration of this history and has been so observed in part

20  or in whole, at the local, state, and national levels, since

21  Dr. Carter G. Woodson, historian and founder of the Journal of

22  Negro History, initiated the observance with Negro History

23  Week in 1926, which is today known as Black History Month,

24  NOW, THEREFORE,

25

26  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

27

28         That the month of February 2002 is recognized as Black

29  History Month for the purpose of making all citizens of the

30  State of Florida aware of the rich and unique history and

31  contributions of African Americans.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.