Bill Text: NY J01747 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Memorializing Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim February 2024, as Black History Month in the State of New York

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 42-21)

Status: (Passed) 2024-01-30 - ADOPTED [J01747 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-J01747-Introduced.html

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Senate Resolution No. 1747

BY: Senator STEWART-COUSINS

        MEMORIALIZING  Governor  Kathy  Hochul to proclaim
        February 2024, as Black History Month in  the  State
        of New York

  WHEREAS,  Black  History  Month,  previously  known as Negro History
Week, was founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, and was first celebrated  on
February  1,  1926;  since  1976,  it has become a nationally recognized
month-long celebration, held each year during the month of  February  to
acknowledge  and  pay  tribute  to  African-Americans  neglected by both
society and the history books; and

  WHEREAS, The  month  of  February  observes  the  rich  and  diverse
heritage of our great State and Nation and encourages the celebration of
Black  History  Month to provide a continuing opportunity for all people
in the United States to learn from the past, and understand the  factors
that  have  shaped and guided the course of our present-day experiences;
and

  WHEREAS, Black History Month seeks to emphasize that  Black  History
is American History; and

  WHEREAS,  Black  History Month is a time to reflect on the struggles
and victories of African-Americans throughout our country's history  and
to  recognize their numerous valuable contributions to the protection of
our democratic society in war and in peace; and

  WHEREAS, Some African-American pioneers whose many  accomplishments,
all  which  took  place  during the month of February, went unnoticed as
well as numerous  symbolic  events  in  February,  that  deserve  to  be
memorialized  include: John Sweat Rock, a noted Boston lawyer who became
the first African-American admitted to argue  before  the  U.S.  Supreme
Court on February 1, 1865, and the first African-American to be received
on  the  floor  of  the  U.S.  House of Representatives; Jonathan Jasper
Wright, the first African-American to hold a  major  judicial  position,
who was elected to the South Carolina Supreme Court on February 1, 1870;
President  Abraham  Lincoln submitted the proposed 13th Amendment to the
U.S.  Constitution, abolishing slavery, to the states  for  ratification
on February 1, 1865; civil rights protester Jimmie Lee Jackson died from
wounds  inflicted  during a protest on February 26, 1965, leading to the
historic Selma, Alabama civil rights  demonstrations,  including  Bloody
Sunday  in  which  600  demonstrators, including Martin Luther King, Jr.
were  attacked  by  police;  Autherine  J.   Lucy   became   the   first
African-American student to attend the University of Alabama on February
3,  1956,  she  was  expelled  three  days later "for her own safety" in
response to threats from a mob; in 1992, Autherine Lucy Foster graduated
from the University of Alabama with a Master's degree in Education,  the
same day her daughter, Grazia Foster, graduated with a Bachelor's degree
in  Corporate Finance; the Negro Baseball League was founded on February
3, 1920; Jack Johnson,  the  first  African-American  World  Heavyweight
Boxing  Champion,  won his first title on February 3, 1903; and Reginald
F. Lewis, born on December 7, 1942, in Baltimore, Maryland, received his
law degree from Harvard Law School in 1968, and was a partner in Murphy,
Thorpes & Lewis, the first Black law firm on Wall Street, and  in  1989,

he  became President and CEO of TLC Beatrice International Food Company,
the largest Black-owned business in the United States; and

  WHEREAS,  Furthermore,  the impact of African-American contributions
to the moral fabric and history of this great  Nation  are  ever-growing
and  unprecedented;  more  recently,  on  January 20, 2009, Barack Obama
became the first Black President of the United States, earning his wife,
Michelle Obama, the same distinction in her role as First Lady; Lloyd J.
Austin has the unique distinction of being the first Black United States
Secretary of Defense, sworn  in  on  January  22,  2021;  Ketanji  Brown
Jackson  made  history in her becoming the first Black woman to serve on
the United States Supreme Court on June 30, 2022; and

  WHEREAS, More notable African-American trailblazers who serve  as  a
testament to the success, growth, and strength of our Nation are: Carole
Gist,  the  first Black Miss USA of 1990; Toni Morrison, the first Black
person to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in  1993;  Robert  Stanton,
the  first  Black  Director  of the National Park Service in 1997; Venus
Williams, the first Black woman to be ranked number one in tennis in the
United States in 2002; Sophia Danenberg, reaching unprecedented heights,
was the first Black woman to reach the peak of Mount  Everest  in  2006;
Cheryl Boone Isaacs, who became the first Black president of the Academy
of  Motion  Picture Arts and Sciences in 2013; Paulette Brown, the first
Black woman to become the American Bar Association  President  in  2015;
Dr.    Carla  Hayden,  the  first  Black  Librarian of Congress in 2016;
Jennifer King, the first full-time Black woman NFL  coach,  heading  the
Washington  Commanders  in  2020; Maya Angelou, the first Black woman to
appear on U.S.  currency in 2022; and Sika Henry, the first Black  woman
to  be  recognized  as a Professional Triathlete in the United States in
2021, and inductee of the National Black Distance Running Hall  of  Fame
in  2022, all of whom encompass the many more powerful Black individuals
who pushed through countless obstacles to  earn  the  respect  of  their
peers and this Great State and Nation; and

  WHEREAS,    In    recognition   of   the   vast   contributions   of
African-Americans, a joyful month-long celebration is  held  across  New
York  State  and across the United States with many commemorative events
to honor and display the cultural heritage of African-Americans; and

  WHEREAS,  This  Legislative  Body  commends   the   African-American
community  for  preserving,  for  future  generations, its centuries-old
traditions that benefit us all and add to the color and  beauty  of  the
tapestry which is our American society; now, therefore, be it

  RESOLVED,  That  this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim February  2024,  as  Black
History Month in the State of New York; and be it further

  RESOLVED,  That  copies  of  this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of  New
York; and to the events commemorating Black History Month throughout New
York State.