Full Text of HR0432

HR0432 LRB104 14513 MST 27653 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The City of Mound Bayou, Mississippi, "the Jewel of the Delta", founded by formerly enslaved African Americans Isaiah Thornton Montgomery and Benjamin Green in 1887, represents one of the most extraordinary stories of Black resilience, excellence, and self-determination in American history; and

WHEREAS, This all-Black town served as a critical haven for African American advancement during the Jim Crow era, playing a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement, the economic empowerment of Black communities, and the protection of families, such as that of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley; and

WHEREAS, The legacy of Mound Bayou resonates deeply in Cook County through the lives and public service of prominent figures with familial ties to the town, including Reverend B. Herbert Martin, who was pastor to the Late Honorable Harold Washington, the first Black mayor of Chicago, the late John H. Stroger Jr., who was the first Black president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, his late sister Cleo Stroger-Dunnings, who was an esteemed educator, the late Coach Derrick Dunnings, who was Cleo's husband, and the late Donna Lori Dunnings, who was Cleo and Derrick's daughter and served with distinction as Cook County's chief financial officer; and

WHEREAS, These leaders not only contributed immensely to the advancement of Cook County but also carried forward the values of service, perseverance, and community uplift rooted in Mound Bayou's founding vision; and

WHEREAS, The Taborian Hospital was founded in Mound Bayou in 1942 by the International Order of Twelve Knights and Daughter of Tabor led by Sir Perry Monroe Smith (Priscilla Anderson-Smith) as the second Black hospital in Mississippi, the first all-Black staffed hospital in the United States of America (Chief Surgeon Dr. T.R.M. Howard), and the first HMO in the United States of America; and

WHEREAS, U.S. President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt proclaimed Mound Bayou as the most remarkable town in the south; and

WHEREAS, The Chicago screening of episode one of Mound Bayou: The Most Remarkable Town in the South at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center on Friday, August 29, 2025 from 6:00PM to 9:00PM, featuring a reception, screening, and post-screening discussion, serves as a powerful tribute to this vital chapter in American history; and

WHEREAS, A number of individuals contributed to this screening of Mound Bayou: the Most Remarkable Town in the South, including the screening co-hosts Reverend Dr. Wallace "Gator" Bradley and U.S. Congressman Danny K. Davis, Executive Producers Kahari "The BooRay! King" Nash, Ted Field, and Tony Brown KM, producers Dr. Ron Davis and John P. Hamilton, historians Myrna Smith-Thompson, Alma Campbell J.D., Rosie Lee Ross, E. L. Bridgeforth, and Dr. David T. Beito, community leaders Brenda Bell-Brooks, a descendant of Wade Riley Bell who was a charter member of the Bolivar County Farm Bureau Negro Division Headquartered in Mound Bayou, which was organized in 1953 representing 33,000 Acres of Negro Farmland with a tax assessed value of $7,500,000.00, and Zee Alphin Anderson Barron, the first director and organizer of Coahoma Junior College, Coahoma Community College, which was the first state-supported junior college for Negroes in Mississippi, as well as U.S. Congressman Bennie G. Thompson, Civil Rights Icon Ambassador Andrew J. Young, and all the sponsors who brought this project to fruition; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize the importance of Mound Bayou, Mississippi, commend all persons involved in bringing the Mound Bayou project to fruition, and urge all Illinois residents to reflect on the enduring impact of Mound Bayou as a symbol of Black excellence, economic sovereignty, and cultural pride; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Reverend Dr. Wallace "Gator" Bradley as a symbol of our respect and esteem.