HR0161 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0161 LRB099 08125 MST 29209 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Millions of enslaved Africans were denied the right of citizenship and the natural protections of government during their time of servitude in North America; and

WHEREAS, The 15th Amendment of the United States Constitution declared that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude"; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. declared, "Give us the ballot", in an address given in Washington, D.C. on May 17, 1957 on the third anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision; and

WHEREAS, The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) launched the "Crusade for Citizenship" campaign in 1957 to begin registering disenfranchised voters throughout the South; and

WHEREAS, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) began voter registration and education campaigns throughout the South in 1961; and

WHEREAS, The bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on September 15, 1963 prompted the "Program for Action in Alabama" to secure the right to vote; and

WHEREAS, More than 300 Dallas County residents stood in line at the Dallas County courthouse in an attempt to register to vote on Freedom Day on October 7, 1963; and

WHEREAS, In 1964, only 2% (335 people) of 15,115 eligible black voters in Selma, Alabama were registered to vote; and

WHEREAS, Members of the "Courageous Eight" invited Dr. King to come to Selma in December of 1964; and

WHEREAS, 600 marchers assembled at Brown Chapel in Selma to embark on a 54-mile walk to Montgomery, Alabama on Sunday, March 7, 1965; and

WHEREAS, Dr. King made a call to clergy and all citizens of goodwill to join the people of Selma to continue the march to Montgomery; and

WHEREAS, Marchers assembled from around the country at the request of Dr. King and knelt and prayed at the bridge on Turnaround Tuesday on March 9, 1965; and

WHEREAS, Tuskegee University students, SNCC members, and other students who came to help the people of Selma initiated demonstrations in Montgomery in support of the right of the people to march; and

WHEREAS, President Lyndon Baines Johnson declared "We Shall Overcome" in an address to a joint session of Congress on March 15, 1965 as he announced his plan to introduce legislation to secure the right to vote for all Americans; and

WHEREAS, A great multitude of marchers departed Selma for Montgomery on Sunday, March 21, 1965 under federal troop protection; and

WHEREAS, Dr. King gave his "How long? Not long" address to over 25,000 people assembled at the United States Capitol; and

WHEREAS, The Voting Rights Act was introduced by President Lyndon Baines Johnson and signed into law on August 6, 1965; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Selma voting rights movement and recognize the continuing struggle to ensure the voting rights of all Americans.