HR0631 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0631 LRB093 15759 HSS 41369 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the State of Illinois learned with regret of the death of Dr. Jacob Hudson Carruthers, Jr., of Chicago on Sunday, January 4, 2004; and

WHEREAS, Jacob Hudson Carruthers, Jr., was born February 15, 1930, in Dallas; he excelled academically; following graduation from Phillis Wheatley High School in Houston, Texas, he attended Samuel Houston College in Austin, Texas, where he earned a bachelor's degree; after the Sweatt vs. Painter United States Supreme Court decision in 1950, he along with Heman Marion Sweatt and three other African Americans integrated the University of Texas Law School; jurisprudence, however, was not his calling, and he did not return the following year; in 1951, facing the draft and the Korean War, he volunteered for the United States Air Force; after serving in the Air Force, he enrolled in Texas Southern University where he earned a master's degree in government; and

WHEREAS, His passion for learning and a sense of service led him back to the classroom; from 1961 to 1964, Dr. Carruthers taught at Prairie View College in Texas; after being the first African American to earn a doctorate in political science from the University of Colorado at Boulder, he taught at Kansas State College in Pittsburg, Kansas, for two years; thereafter, his career led him to Chicago, and in 1968, he joined the faculty of the Department of Inner City Studies Education at the Center of Inner City Studies of Northeastern Illinois University, where he taught for 32 years; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Carruthers' leadership pioneered the development of both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Inner City Studies, which influenced the development of hundreds of students who sought careers working in the urban environment of the inner city; he contributed to the development of the Inner City Studies academic discipline in the United States, and he fostered the Chicago School of African Centered Thought that manifested itself in the community based Communiversity; and

WHEREAS, Serving as a consultant on African centered education to the Chicago Public Schools and other school systems throughout the United States, Dr. Carruthers was influential in the African centered education movement; he was a cofounder of the teacher training program, Teaching About Africa; he was also sought after nationally and internationally as a lecturer on African history; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Carruthers established himself through his work with leading African and African-American scholars in the world through his leadership in the development of a plan to rewrite African history under the aegis of the African World History Project of the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations (ASCAC); he was a founding member of the Kemetic Institute and ASCAC; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Carruthers authored several important books that paved the way and provided the framework for the African centered approach to the research and study of Classical African history and African civilization; his works include: Intellectual Warfare (1999), Mdw Ntr (1995), Essays in Ancient Egyptian Studies (1984), and The Irritated Genie (1985); other significant works include Science and Oppression (1972) and African or American (1994); he coedited Reconstructing Kemetic Culture (1990), The African Worldview (1986), and The Preliminary Challenge (1997); many of his works challenged the prevailing ideas in the field of Egyptology as well as the role of African people in the development of civilization in the ancient Nile Valley; and

WHEREAS, In 1981, Dr. Carruthers became the High Priest of the Temple of the African Community of Chicago that was established to meet the spiritual needs of those who sought to practice ancient Nile Valley spirituality; in 1995, Dr. Carruthers was initiated into elderhood in a community ritual at which time he took the name Jedi Shemsu Jehewty (the one who speaks is a follower of Jehewty); and

WHEREAS, The passing of Dr. Jacob Hudson Carruthers, Jr., has been deeply felt by many, especially his wife, Linda (Ifé); his sons, Jacob III, Darnell, and Christopher; his daughter, Tawakalitu Jogunosimi; his niece, Margaret Lee (Georges), who he considered a daughter; his grandchildren, Jacqueline and Jacob IV; his great-grandchildren, Lynon and Makala; his sister, Carol Lee (Charles); his brothers, Riley and Andrew (Willie); and his many nieces, nephews, and cousins; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Dr. Jacob Hudson Carruthers, Jr., who was a distinguished African-American scholar, historian, and researcher; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Dr. Carruthers as an expression of our deepest sympathy during their time of bereavement.