House Bill hb9085

    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HR 9085

        By Representative Richardson






  1                         House Resolution

  2         A resolution honoring the Reverend R.N. Gooden.

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  4         WHEREAS, born Raleigh Noble Gooden on a small farm near

  5  Milton, Florida, the Reverend R.N. Gooden was the second

  6  youngest child of proud parents George and Pollie Gooden, from

  7  whom he learned early the importance of religion in his life,

  8  especially from his preacher father, and accepted God as his

  9  Lord and Savior at a young age, and

10         WHEREAS, heeding the call to the pulpit by his deep

11  faith in God and the opportunity to end the suffering of black

12  people through the Civil Rights Movement, Reverend Gooden

13  graduated from Wayne State University with a degree in

14  religion and from the American Baptist Seminary with a degree

15  in theology and pastored churches in the Pensacola area before

16  arriving in Tallahassee in 1961 as pastor of Saint Mary's

17  Primitive Baptist Church, where he continues to serve today,

18  and

19         WHEREAS, chosen by God to be a leader in the Civil

20  Rights Movement, Reverend Gooden has championed the plight of

21  the oppressed in this country, especially African Americans,

22  and has shone a light on the dark and hidden places in which

23  discrimination and oppression existed yesterday and still

24  exist today, and

25         WHEREAS, as state president of the Southern Christian

26  Leadership Council (SCLU) and president of the Tallahassee

27  Chapter of the organization, Reverend Gooden has led or been

28  involved in many of the major civil rights battles of the era,

29  has followed the corridors that lead down the halls of

30  freedom, and firmly believes that now is the time to lift our

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HR 9085

    791-111-02






  1  nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid

  2  rock of brotherhood, and

  3         WHEREAS, despite attempts to suppress the movement and

  4  kill the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., both the

  5  movement and the dream live on through stalwart soldiers like

  6  Reverend Gooden, who picked up the torch and continues

  7  tirelessly in his efforts to speak for those who are

  8  voiceless, NOW, THEREFORE,

  9

10  Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of

11  Florida:

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13         That the House of Representatives pauses in its

14  deliberations to recognize the Reverend R.N. Gooden for his

15  accomplishments as a pastor and as a champion of civil and

16  human rights in Tallahassee and throughout the State of

17  Florida.

18         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution

19  be presented to the Reverend Gooden as a token of sincere

20  appreciation for his many contributions to the citizens of

21  Florida.

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