HR0847 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0847 LRB098 20330 MST 55788 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to honor Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. as one of America's foremost civil rights, religious, and political figures; and

WHEREAS, For 40 years, Reverend Jackson has played pivotal roles in movements for peace, civil rights, gender equality, and economic and social justice; on August 9, 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor; and

WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson's work in human and civil rights has garnered him more than 40 honorary doctorate degrees, and he frequently lectures at major colleges and universities including Howard, Yale, Princeton, Morehouse, Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, and Hampton; in November of 2007, he was made an Honorary Fellow of Regents Park College at Oxford University in the United Kingdom and received an Honorary Fellowship from Edge Hill University in Liverpool, England; in March of 2010, he was inducted into England's prestigious Cambridge Union Society and in April of 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa; and

WHEREAS, In December of 1971, Reverend Jackson founded Operation PUSH (People United to Serve Humanity), with the goal of economic empowerment and expanding educational, business, and employment opportunities for the disadvantaged and people of color; in 1984, he founded the National Rainbow Coalition, a social justice organization devoted to political empowerment, education, and changing public policy; and

WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson's presidential campaigns of 1984 and 1988 broke new ground in United States' politics; he won historic victories, coming in first or second in 46 out of 54 contests; and

WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson has always had a commitment to youth; he has visited thousands of high schools, colleges, universities, and correctional facilities encouraging excellence, inspiring hope, and challenging young people to study and stay drug-free; and

WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson has been a consistent and vigorous supporter of the labor movement in the U.S. and around the world and is known as someone who has walked more picket lines and spoken at more labor rallies than any other national leader; and

WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson has received numerous honors for his work in human and civil rights and nonviolent social change; in 1991, the U.S. Post Office put his likeness on a pictorial postal cancellation, only the second living person to receive such an honor; he has been on the Gallup List of the Ten Most Respected Americans for more than a dozen years, and he has received the prestigious NAACP Spingarn Award, in addition to honors from hundreds of grassroots, civic, and community organizations from coast to coast; in 2009, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown bestowed the "Global Diversity and Inclusion Award" on him at 10 Downing Street; and

WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson has been called the "Conscience of the Nation" and "the Great Unifier", challenging America to be inclusive and to establish just and humane priorities for the benefit of all; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we honor Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. as one of America's foremost civil rights, religious, and political figures; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Reverend Jackson, Sr. as an expression of our esteem and respect.