Full Text of HR1682 95th General Assembly
HR1682 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 |
| Representatives are pleased to honor milestones in the lives of | 4 |
| citizens of the State of Illinois; and
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| WHEREAS, Timuel D. Black, venerable activist and historian | 6 |
| of Bronzeville, attained 90 years of age on December 7, 2008; | 7 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Tim Black was influenced early on by the | 9 |
| Washington Park orators, who held their sessions across the | 10 |
| park from where he was an elementary school student; he heard | 11 |
| them speak against gouging landlords and discrimination; he | 12 |
| understood their calls for jobs and decent working conditions; | 13 |
| he watched them unite workers and tenants; and he resolved to | 14 |
| join them in backing up their convictions with organized | 15 |
| action; and
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| WHEREAS, He spent his high school years in the nurturing | 17 |
| and stimulating environment of Bronzeville's Wendell Phillips | 18 |
| and DuSable High Schools, where he learned from teachers that | 19 |
| served as models for his career as an educator; and
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| WHEREAS, Tim had his first job in high school as an | 21 |
| underpaid store clerk; he met J. Levert Kelly, President of the |
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| Waiters and Bartenders Union; Kelly helped Tim and his | 2 |
| co-workers form a local chapter of the Retail Clerks Union; | 3 |
| together they negotiated with their employers and won better | 4 |
| pay and working conditions; and
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| WHEREAS, He served our nation in World War II; he was | 6 |
| profoundly affected by the discrimination he experienced in the | 7 |
| Army and the human devastation he witnessed in the Buchenwald | 8 |
| death camp; he resolved to work for peace and justice in the | 9 |
| world; he went on to do work in the Progressive Party that | 10 |
| helped bring an end to discrimination in the Armed Services; | 11 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, He resumed his education after his discharge from | 13 |
| the Army; he received his BA from Roosevelt University and an | 14 |
| MA from the University of Chicago; he went on to teach history | 15 |
| and social studies at several of Chicago's high schools, | 16 |
| encouraging and inspiring his students; and
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| WHEREAS, He fought discrimination in Chicago schools and | 18 |
| joined with other teachers to form the Teachers Committee for | 19 |
| Quality Education to ensure that a good school would be | 20 |
| accessible to every child; and
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| WHEREAS, Tim Black served as Dean at Wright Junior College, | 22 |
| Vice-President of Olive Harvey City College, and Director of |
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| Community Affairs of the City Colleges of Chicago, working to | 2 |
| end discrimination in that system all the while; and
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| WHEREAS, In a continued fight against discrimination, Tim | 4 |
| Black and James Farmer organized the Chicago Chapter of the | 5 |
| Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); Tim became the president of | 6 |
| the local chapter of the Negro American Labor Council; he was | 7 |
| chosen to organize the Chicago contingent for the 1963 March on | 8 |
| Washington for Jobs and Freedom, resulting in two "Freedom | 9 |
| Trains" traveling with 3,000 passengers from Chicago to the | 10 |
| event; and
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| WHEREAS, Tim has been politically and socially active; he | 12 |
| worked in the campaign to elect Harold Washington, the first | 13 |
| Black mayor of Chicago; he also worked in the campaign of | 14 |
| Richard Hatcher, the first Black mayor of Gary, Indiana; and | 15 |
| WHEREAS, He continues his commitment to the Bronzeville | 16 |
| community and his understanding of the community's history, | 17 |
| people, and institutions; he works actively with the New | 18 |
| Phillips/DuSable 35-39ers, and the Mary Herrick Scholarship | 19 |
| fund; he is Vice President of the DuSable Alumni Coalition; he | 20 |
| serves on the boards of several civil rights organizations, | 21 |
| including the Justice Coalition of Greater Chicago and the | 22 |
| Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights; and |
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| WHEREAS, When asked why he hasn't written a book to | 2 |
| chronicle his vast experiences, he replied, "I'm still too busy | 3 |
| living them"; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 5 |
| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 6 |
| congratulate Timuel D. Black on his ninetieth birthday and wish | 7 |
| him many productive years in the future; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 9 |
| presented to Timuel D. Black as a sign of our affection, | 10 |
| gratitude, and respect.
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