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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Millions of enslaved Africans were denied the
3right of citizenship and the natural protections of government
4during their time of servitude in North America; and
 
5    WHEREAS, The 15th Amendment of the United States
6Constitution declared that the "right of citizens of the United
7States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United
8States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous
9condition of servitude"; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. declared, "Give us the
11ballot", in an address given in Washington, D.C. on May 17,
121957 on the third anniversary of the Brown v. Board of
13Education decision; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The Southern Christian Leadership Conference
15(SCLC) launched the "Crusade for Citizenship" campaign in 1957
16to begin registering disenfranchised voters throughout the
17South; and
 
18    WHEREAS, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
19(SNCC) began voter registration and education campaigns
20throughout the South in 1961; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, The bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in
2Birmingham, Alabama on September 15, 1963 prompted the "Program
3for Action in Alabama" to secure the right to vote; and
 
4    WHEREAS, More than 300 Dallas County residents stood in
5line at the Dallas County courthouse in an attempt to register
6to vote on Freedom Day on October 7, 1963; and
 
7    WHEREAS, In 1964, only 2% (335 people) of 15,115 eligible
8black voters in Selma, Alabama were registered to vote; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Members of the "Courageous Eight" invited Dr. King
10to come to Selma in December of 1964; and
 
11    WHEREAS, 600 marchers assembled at Brown Chapel in Selma to
12embark on a 54-mile walk to Montgomery, Alabama on Sunday,
13March 7, 1965; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Dr. King made a call to clergy and all citizens of
15goodwill to join the people of Selma to continue the march to
16Montgomery; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Marchers assembled from around the country at the
18request of Dr. King and knelt and prayed at the bridge on
19Turnaround Tuesday on March 9, 1965; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Tuskegee University students, SNCC members, and
2other students who came to help the people of Selma initiated
3demonstrations in Montgomery in support of the right of the
4people to march; and
 
5    WHEREAS, President Lyndon Baines Johnson declared "We
6Shall Overcome" in an address to a joint session of Congress on
7March 15, 1965 as he announced his plan to introduce
8legislation to secure the right to vote for all Americans; and
 
9    WHEREAS, A great multitude of marchers departed Selma for
10Montgomery on Sunday, March 21, 1965 under federal troop
11protection; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Dr. King gave his "How long? Not long" address to
13over 25,000 people assembled at the United States Capitol; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The Voting Rights Act was introduced by President
15Lyndon Baines Johnson and signed into law on August 6, 1965;
16therefore, be it
 
17    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
18NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
19commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Selma voting rights
20movement and recognize the continuing struggle to ensure the
21voting rights of all Americans.