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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of
Don | ||||||
| 4 | Cornelius, who passed away on February 1, 2012; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, Don Cornelius was born on September 27, 1936, in | ||||||
| 6 | Chicago, and was raised in the Bronzeville neighborhood; after | ||||||
| 7 | graduating from DuSable High School in 1954, he joined the | ||||||
| 8 | United States Marine Corps, where he served for 18 months in | ||||||
| 9 | Korea; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, After his stint in the military, Don Cornelius | ||||||
| 11 | worked at various jobs, including selling tires, automobiles, | ||||||
| 12 | and insurance, and as an officer with the Chicago Police | ||||||
| 13 | Department; he also married his high school sweetheart, Delores | ||||||
| 14 | Harrison, during this time; in 1966, he quit his day job to | ||||||
| 15 | take a 3-month broadcasting course; that same year, he landed a | ||||||
| 16 | job as an announcer, news reporter, and disc jockey on Chicago | ||||||
| 17 | radio station WVON; in 1967, he joined Chicago television | ||||||
| 18 | station WCIU-TV and hosted a news program called "A Black's | ||||||
| 19 | View of the News"; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, Don Cornelius was best known as the creator of the | ||||||
| 21 | nationally-syndicated dance/music franchise "Soul Train"; in | ||||||
| 22 | 1969, he launched "Soul Train" on WCIU-TV as a daily local | ||||||
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| 1 | show; the program entered national syndication and moved to Los | ||||||
| 2 | Angeles the following year; he served as the host of the | ||||||
| 3 | popular program from 1971 to 1993; and
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| 4 | WHEREAS, Through his show, Don Cornelius introduced many | ||||||
| 5 | African-American musicians to a larger audience; as writer, | ||||||
| 6 | producer, and host of "Soul Train", he was instrumental in | ||||||
| 7 | offering wider exposure to such musicians as James Brown, | ||||||
| 8 | Aretha Franklin, and Michael Jackson, as well as creating | ||||||
| 9 | opportunities for talented dancers that would inspire | ||||||
| 10 | subsequent television dance programs; at its peak, "Soul Train" | ||||||
| 11 | was watched in over 105 cities throughout the United States and | ||||||
| 12 | reached over 85% of African-American households; and
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| 13 | WHEREAS, In addition to his work on "Soul Train", Don | ||||||
| 14 | Cornelius was the driving force behind the creation of the Soul | ||||||
| 15 | Train Music Awards in 1987 and the Lady of Soul Awards in 1995; | ||||||
| 16 | and | ||||||
| 17 | WHEREAS, Don Cornelius is survived by his sons, Anthony and | ||||||
| 18 | Raymond; therefore, be it
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| 19 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 20 | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 21 | we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of Don | ||||||
| 22 | Cornelius; and be it further
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| 1 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 2 | presented to the family of Don Cornelius as an expression of | ||||||
| 3 | our sympathy.
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