| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
| ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | ||||||
| 3 | learn of the death of Lerone Bennett Jr., who passed away on | ||||||
| 4 | February 14, 2018; and
| ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, Lerone Bennett grew up Jackson, Mississippi, | ||||||
| 6 | where he began his journalistic career by working on the Lanier | ||||||
| 7 | High School newspaper; he attended Morehouse College in | ||||||
| 8 | Atlanta, where he edited the school newspaper; and | ||||||
| 9 | WHEREAS, In 1949, Lerone Bennett became a reporter for the | ||||||
| 10 | Atlanta Daily World; he joined Jet magazine, and later, Ebony; | ||||||
| 11 | and
| ||||||
| 12 | WHEREAS, Lerone Bennett wrote influential books on | ||||||
| 13 | African-American history and resilience, and as a journalist | ||||||
| 14 | and the top editor at Ebony magazine, chronicled key events in | ||||||
| 15 | the civil rights movement; and
| ||||||
| 16 | WHEREAS, Lerone Bennett was a witness to history at the | ||||||
| 17 | March on Washington in 1963; after the protests to advance | ||||||
| 18 | black history studies at Northwestern University in the 1960s, | ||||||
| 19 | the university brought him on as a visiting professor; in the | ||||||
| 20 | 1980s, he served on the Chicago Public Library board; in 1994, | ||||||
| 21 | he was named to President Clinton's Committee on the Arts and | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | Humanities; he served as an early adviser on the Smithsonian's | ||||||
| 2 | National Museum of African American History and Culture; in | ||||||
| 3 | 2000, he spoke at a Chicago City Council hearing on | ||||||
| 4 | reparations; and | ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, Lerone Bennett's footprints are in the pavement at | ||||||
| 6 | the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame in Atlanta for | ||||||
| 7 | being a "foot soldier" in the civil rights movement; and
| ||||||
| 8 | WHEREAS, Lerone Bennett was preceded in death by his wife, | ||||||
| 9 | Gloria, and his son, Lerone Bennett III; and
| ||||||
| 10 | WHEREAS, Lerone Bennett is survived by his daughters, Joy | ||||||
| 11 | T., Courtney Jean, and Constance Joan Bennett, and three | ||||||
| 12 | grandchildren; therefore, be it
| ||||||
| 13 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL | ||||||
| 14 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | ||||||
| 15 | Lerone Bennett Jr., and extend our sincere condolences to his | ||||||
| 16 | family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | ||||||
| 17 | further
| ||||||
| 18 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 19 | presented to the family of Lerone Bennett as an expression of | ||||||
| 20 | our deepest sympathy.
| ||||||