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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to congratulate Timuel D. Black,
4 Jr. on the occasion of being the recipient of the Legacy Award
5 from the Black United Fund of Illinois; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Timuel D. Black, Jr. was born in Birmingham,
7 Alabama; he moved to Chicago as a child and has lived there
8 since; he earned his bachelor's degree from Roosevelt
9 University and his master's degree from the University of
10 Chicago; and
 
11     WHEREAS, As a child, Timuel D. Black, Jr. was influenced by
12 the orators of the Washington Park Forum, such as Claude
13 Lightfoot and Ismael Flory, who spoke out against gouging
14 landlords and discrimination, making demands for jobs and
15 decent living conditions, and calling workers to unite and
16 stand up for their rights; after graduating, his first job as
17 an under-paid store clerk gave him his first experience with
18 labor union organizing, when he and his co-workers formed a
19 local chapter of the Retail Clerks Union; and
 
20     WHEREAS, Before having a chance to pursue further
21 education, Timuel D. Black, Jr. was drafted into the United
22 States Army during World War II; after enduring discrimination

 

 

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1 from the Army and witnessing the vast human devastation at the
2 Buchenwald extermination camp, he resolved to dedicate his life
3 to work for peace and justice; one of the achievements he is
4 most proud of is the work he performed with the Progressive
5 Party to end discrimination in the United States Armed Forces;
6 and
 
7     WHEREAS, Timuel D. Black, Jr. served as a case worker with
8 the Chicago Department of Welfare's Children's Division from
9 1952 until 1954 and worked in various community houses
10 throughout Gary, Indiana and Chicago, often integrating groups
11 at social and educational levels; he also served as Vice
12 President of the Board of Local Improvements for the City of
13 Chicago's Department of Public Works; and
 
14     WHEREAS, After returned from his service in the Army,
15 Timuel D. Black, Jr. continued his education and became a
16 teacher, teaching history and social studies at DuSable,
17 Dunbar, Roosevelt, Farragut, and Hyde Park High Schools for
18 over 40 years; as Assistant Coordinator of the National Teacher
19 Corps, he was responsible for the recruitment and training of
20 teachers who would work in neighborhood schools most in need of
21 quality teachers; fighting discrimination in the Chicago
22 school system, he joined with other teachers in the formation
23 of the Teachers Committee for Quality Education to ensure that
24 good schools were available to all children; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, In addition to his work in the Chicago school
2 system, Timuel D. Black, Jr. also served as Dean at Wright
3 Junior College, Vice President of Olive Harvey City College,
4 Director of Community Affairs of the City Colleges of Chicago,
5 and Professor of anthropology, cultural anthropology,
6 sociology, and history at Harold Washington College; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Timuel D. Black, Jr. is a prominent civil rights
8 activist and a noted historian; he is well known as a pioneer
9 in the independent black political movement and coined the
10 phrase "plantation politics"; he has spent much of his life
11 furthering the cause of social justice; he helped to organize
12 and served in the Chicago chapter of the Congress of Racial
13 Equality; he served as president of the local chapter of the
14 Negro American Labor Council, where he was chosen to organize
15 the Chicago contingent of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs
16 and Freedom; he also worked on the campaigns of Richard
17 Hatcher, the first black mayor of Gary, Indiana, and Harold
18 Washington, the first black mayor of Chicago; and
 
19     WHEREAS, Timuel D. Black, Jr. is the author of Bridges of
20 Memory, an unprecedented collection of more than 150 interviews
21 that document the great wave of African-American migration to
22 Chicago; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, Timuel D. Black, Jr.'s dedication to his
2 profession and his willingness to serve his community make him
3 a model for the people of the State of Illinois; therefore, be
4 it
 
5     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
6 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
7 congratulate Timuel D. Black, Jr. on the occasion of being the
8 recipient of the Legacy Award from the Black United Fund of
9 Illinois and wish him continued success and happiness in the
10 future; and be it further
 
11     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
12 presented to Timuel D. Black, Jr. as a symbol of our esteem and
13 respect.