Bill Text: IL SR0304 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Declares Labor Day weekend 2023 as "Puerto Rican Cultural Center Weekend".

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-1)

Status: (Passed) 2023-05-24 - Added as Co-Sponsor Sen. Dale Fowler [SR0304 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SR0304-Introduced.html

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SR0304 LRB103 32471 MST 61965 r
SENATE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The Puerto Rican Cultural Center (PRCC) is named
after Juan Antonio Corretjer, the celebrated Puerto Rican
national poet laureate and one of the most significant
political theorists of the 20th century; and
WHEREAS, The PRCC was established within the historical
context of the building of communities of resistance and was
initiated, following the Spanish conquest of Puerto Rico, by
Taino forebearers, runaway African slaves, and marginalized
populations, such as the Moors and Sephardic Jews; and
WHEREAS, Throughout the Caribbean and in Latin America,
this practice was conducted in the hinterlands, in the
mountains, and in other marginal geographical areas by the
people who were known as cimarrones; and
WHEREAS, These Maroon societies became a place where
people gathered to address the critical problems confronting
them, a place where they recovered a sense of their history,
and a place where they created a syncretic cultural
production, such as music, poetry, and performances; and
WHEREAS, In that tradition, the PRCC carries out a process
of conscientization, informed by the principles of

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self-determination, self-actualization, and self-reliance,
meaning that it educates, organizes, and struggles for social,
economic, and political empowerment of Puerto Ricans within a
context, which is holistic in nature and organic in form; and
WHEREAS, All of the PRCC's programs constitute an
umbrella, meeting the needs of the community, which at the
same time encourages participants to think critically about
their reality and promotes an ethics of social responsibility
framed by the motto "live and help to live"; and
WHEREAS, These programs address diverse issues that
include wellness, social, educational, cultural, and quality
of life matters for Puerto Rican/Latino and other marginalized
communities; and
WHEREAS, The programs address HIV/AIDS, education,
literacy, housing, homophobia, substance abuse, gang violence,
teen pregnancy, police brutality, racism, economic and
community development, human rights violations, and the
devastation created by generational and historical trauma
through the work of the four pillars of initiatives, which are
public health, housing, economic development, and education;
and
WHEREAS, The PRCC promotes the principles of

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self-actualization, self-determination, and self-reliance for
the Puerto Rican/Latino community through the study, recovery,
and celebration of Puerto Rican culture; these efforts are
devotedly undertaken through programs and annual events, such
as The Three Kings Day celebration, the Casita de Don Pedro
project, the Puerto Rican People's Day Parade, Fiesta Boricua,
Haunted Paseo Boricua, the Community as a Campus Initiative,
the Greater Humboldt Park Community of Wellness, El Rescate
Transitional Living Space for LGBTQ+ Youth, the Lisa Isadora
Cruz Transgender Empowerment Center, the Nancy Franco
Maldonado Paseo Boricua Arts Building, the Consuelo Lee
Corretjer Child Care Center, as well as mural projects and
other initiatives; and
WHEREAS, Along with the National Boricua Human Rights
Network, the PRCC has also played a key role in human rights
campaigns, including the defense of political prisoners, the
struggle for peace in Vieques, the defense of undocumented
immigrants, and the fight against the criminalization of
youth; and
WHEREAS, For the past 50 years, the work of the PRCC has
been formed by a socio-ecological model, which recognizes the
interplay among key factors, including social justice,
community and institutional building, policy, advocacy,
environmental justice, education, housing, and access to

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equitable health care; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare Labor Day
weekend 2023 as "Puerto Rican Cultural Center Weekend" in the
State of Illinois; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
presented to the PRCC as a symbol of our respect and esteem.