Full Text of HR0847 98th General Assembly
HR0847 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are pleased to honor Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, | 4 | | Sr. as one of America's foremost civil rights, religious, and | 5 | | political figures; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, For 40 years, Reverend Jackson has played pivotal | 7 | | roles in movements for peace, civil rights, gender equality, | 8 | | and economic and social justice; on August 9, 2000, President | 9 | | Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the | 10 | | nation's highest civilian honor; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson's work in human and civil rights | 12 | | has garnered him more than 40 honorary doctorate degrees, and | 13 | | he frequently lectures at major colleges and universities | 14 | | including Howard, Yale, Princeton, Morehouse, Harvard, | 15 | | Columbia, Stanford, and Hampton; in November of 2007, he was | 16 | | made an Honorary Fellow of Regents Park College at Oxford | 17 | | University in the United Kingdom and received an Honorary | 18 | | Fellowship from Edge Hill University in Liverpool, England; in | 19 | | March of 2010, he was inducted into England's prestigious | 20 | | Cambridge Union Society and in April of 2010, he was awarded an | 21 | | honorary doctorate from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in | 22 | | South Africa; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In December of 1971, Reverend Jackson founded | 2 | | Operation PUSH (People United to Serve Humanity), with the goal | 3 | | of economic empowerment and expanding educational, business, | 4 | | and employment opportunities for the disadvantaged and people | 5 | | of color; in 1984, he founded the National Rainbow Coalition, a | 6 | | social justice organization devoted to political empowerment, | 7 | | education, and changing public policy; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson's presidential campaigns of 1984 | 9 | | and 1988 broke new ground in United States' politics; he won | 10 | | historic victories, coming in first or second in 46 out of 54 | 11 | | contests; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson has always had a commitment to | 13 | | youth; he has visited thousands of high schools, colleges, | 14 | | universities, and correctional facilities encouraging | 15 | | excellence, inspiring hope, and challenging young people to | 16 | | study and stay drug-free; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson has been a consistent and | 18 | | vigorous supporter of the labor movement in the U.S. and around | 19 | | the world and is known as someone who has walked more picket | 20 | | lines and spoken at more labor rallies than any other national | 21 | | leader; and | 22 | | WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson has received numerous honors for |
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| 1 | | his work in human and civil rights and nonviolent social | 2 | | change; in 1991, the U.S. Post Office put his likeness on a | 3 | | pictorial postal cancellation, only the second living person to | 4 | | receive such an honor; he has been on the Gallup List of the | 5 | | Ten Most Respected Americans for more than a dozen years, and | 6 | | he has received the prestigious NAACP Spingarn Award, in | 7 | | addition to honors from hundreds of grassroots, civic, and | 8 | | community organizations from coast to coast; in 2009, UK Prime | 9 | | Minister Gordon Brown bestowed the "Global Diversity and | 10 | | Inclusion Award" on him at 10 Downing Street; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson has been called the "Conscience | 12 | | of the Nation" and "the Great Unifier", challenging America to | 13 | | be inclusive and to establish just and humane priorities for | 14 | | the benefit of all; therefore, be it
| 15 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 16 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 17 | | we honor Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. as one of America's | 18 | | foremost civil rights, religious, and political figures; and be | 19 | | it further
| 20 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 21 | | presented to Reverend Jackson, Sr. as an expression of our | 22 | | esteem and respect.
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