Florida Senate - 2009                             (NP)    SR 226
       
       
       
       By Senator Joyner
       
       
       
       
       18-00158-09                                            2009226__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing February 2009 as “Black
    3         History Month” in Florida.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, our nation has celebrated Black History during the
    6  month of February since 1926 when Carter G. Woodson established
    7  Negro History Week, and the theme for this year's celebration is
    8  the “Quest for Black Citizenship in the Americas,” and
    9         WHEREAS, long ago, approximately 12 million African men,
   10  women, and children were forced to enter ships for lives of
   11  slavery in the Western Hemisphere, 10 million of whom survived
   12  the Middle Passage to arrive in America, and
   13         WHEREAS, the Civil War erupted because the ideals upon
   14  which this country was founded are in direct conflict with
   15  slavery, resulting in the ratification of the 13th Amendment,
   16  abolishing slavery in the United States of America, and
   17         WHEREAS, the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century
   18  began in an effort to correct the failures of Reconstruction and
   19  erase the remnants of slavery still evident in Jim Crow laws, in
   20  continued segregation in nearly every aspect of daily life, and
   21  in the persistence of second-class citizenship for African
   22  Americans, and
   23         WHEREAS, as a testament of strength throughout these
   24  struggles, African Americans such as Harriet Tubman, Sojourner
   25  Truth, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington,
   26  George Washington Carver, Carter G. Woodson, Malcolm X.,
   27  Thurgood Marshall, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Fannie
   28  Lou Hamer, Shirley Chisholm, and Barbara Jordan have contributed
   29  to the political and social growth of American society, and
   30         WHEREAS, through the contributions of African American
   31  musicians and writers, such as Louis Armstrong, Count Basie,
   32  Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald,
   33  Dizzy Gillespie, Leontyne Price, Marian Anderson, Andre Watts,
   34  James DePreist, Phyllis Wheatley, Langston Hughes, James
   35  Baldwin, Richard Wright, Alex Haley, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker,
   36  Gwendolyn Brooks, and Toni Morrison, the culture of the United
   37  States of America has been vitally enriched, and
   38         WHEREAS, African American sports figures, such as Jesse
   39  Owens, Arthur Ashe, Muhammad Ali, Robert “Bullet Bob” Hayes, a
   40  Florida native who is the only athlete to earn both an Olympic
   41  Gold Medal and an NFL Super Bowl Ring, Tiger Woods, Venus
   42  Williams, and Serena Williams, have demonstrated their ability
   43  to be role models on and off the field and in and out of the
   44  ring as they stood up for their rights and beliefs, and
   45         WHEREAS, the fields of medicine, science, and technology
   46  have all been advanced by the contributions of such African
   47  American men and women as Dr. Charles Drew, Dr. Daniel Hale
   48  Williams, Garrett Morgan, George Washington Carver, Dr. Mae C.
   49  Jemison, and Dr. Benjamin Carson, and
   50         WHEREAS, African Americans who are native to Florida, such
   51  as Zora Neale Hurston, Charles Kenzie Steele, Sr., Jesse K.
   52  McCrary, Jr., Joseph E. Lee, Asa Philip Randolph, and Mary
   53  McLeod Bethune, have proudly represented our state as they
   54  contributed to the history and culture of the United States of
   55  America, and
   56         WHEREAS, it is important to celebrate the many achievements
   57  of African Americans in an effort to offer each American a
   58  broader perspective of United States history and an appreciation
   59  for the diversity that makes this country strong, and
   60         WHEREAS, February is the birth month of both Abraham
   61  Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, two of the leaders in the
   62  movement to abolish slavery, and has been recognized at the
   63  local, state, and national levels as an appropriate month to
   64  commemorate the contributions of African Americans to our
   65  society, NOW, THEREFORE,
   66  
   67  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   68         
   69         That February 2009 is recognized as “Black History Month”
   70  in the State of Florida, and the Florida Senate calls upon the
   71  people of this state to observe Black History Month through
   72  programs, ceremonies, and activities celebrating the historical
   73  and cultural contributions of African Americans.