HR 9019

1	House Resolution
2	A resolution designating March 12, 2009, as "NAACP Day" in
3	Florida.
4
5	WHEREAS, in 1905, the Niagara Movement, an organization of
6	people of color formed by Dr. W.E.B. DuBois from Atlanta
7	University, held conferences at the Canadian side of Niagara
8	Falls, Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, and Boston, Massachusetts,
9	the platform of which consisted of freedom of speech and
10	criticism; an unfettered and unsubsidized press; manhood
11	suffrage; the abolition of all caste distinctions based simply
12	on race and color; the recognition of the principle of human
13	brotherhood as a practical, present creed; the recognition of
14	the highest and best training as the monopoly of no class or
15	race; a belief in the dignity of labor; and a united effort to
16	realize these ideals under wise and courageous leadership, and
17	WHEREAS, following the summer of 1908, when citizens were
18	shocked by race riots in Springfield, Illinois, the home of
19	Abraham Lincoln, abolitionist Mary White Ovington issued a call
20	to renew the struggle for political and civil liberty for all
21	Americans, and
22	WHEREAS, on February 12, 1909, beginning with the moral
23	conscience and guiding principles of Dr. William Edward
24	Burghardt Dubois, Mary White Ovington, Henry Moskowitz, Ida B.
25	Wells-Barnett, Oswald Garrison Villard, and William English
26	Walling, the National Negro Committee was formed to address the
27	social, economic, and political rights of African Americans, and
28	WHEREAS, records reflect that, during these times of racial
29	hatred and discrimination, African Americans were ineligible to
30	vote, assemble, and share the same public accommodations and
31	educational institutions as their white counterparts, and
32	WHEREAS, on May 30, 1910, the National Negro Committee, at
33	its second conference, chose the name the "National Association
34	for the Advancement of Colored People," commonly referred to as
35	the "NAACP," forming a civil rights organization that has built
36	a 100-year legacy of constantly challenging the tenets of social
37	unrest, racial hatred, racial inequality, and economic and
38	political injustice, and
39	WHEREAS, in 1910, Dr. W.E.B. Dubois assumed the role of
40	Director of Publicity and Research for the NAACP and created The
41	Crisis magazine, the official magazine of the NAACP, to serve as
42	the premier literary publication advocating for civil rights,
43	and
44	WHEREAS, the Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of
45	Education in 1954 allowed for the integration of public schools
46	and is recognized as the pinnacle of the NAACP's advocacy work,
47	laying the foundation for future progress in civil and human
48	rights in the United States, and
49	WHEREAS, the NAACP played an active role in the passage of
50	the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965,
51	allowing people of color to gain access to the "American Dream"
52	through the equal protection of the law, and the right to vote
53	with the necessary protections and safeguards against historical
54	barriers of exclusion, and
55	WHEREAS, throughout its 100-year history, the NAACP has
56	established itself as the oldest civil rights organization in
57	our nation, committed to the ongoing struggle against
58	disparities in these areas through a network of 2,200 branches
59	currently exceeding 500,000 members, and
60	WHEREAS, the NAACP Florida State Conference, through its 32
61	branches, continues the national and local fight for equality
62	and justice for people of color, whether it be through honoring
63	the legacy of Harry T. Moore or by using political pressure,
64	marches, demonstrations, and effective lobbying to serve as the
65	voice, as well as the shield, for minority Americans, NOW,
66	THEREFORE,
67
68	Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of
69	Florida:
70
71	That the House of Representatives, in recognition of the
72	organization's countless historical contributions to the United
73	States of America and the State of Florida over the past
74	century, commends the National Association for the Advancement
75	of Colored People and its 32 Florida branches and proudly
76	designates March 12, 2009, as "NAACP Day" in Florida.

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