HR0316LRB099 11584 MST 33223 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, State Representative Monique D. Davis and the
3members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened
4to learn of the death of the Rev. Willie T. Barrow of Chicago;
5and
 
6    WHEREAS, Rev. Barrow was born in Burton, Texas on December
77, 1924 to Nelson and Octava Taplin; she moved to Oregon at the
8age of 16, where she studied theology, organized a Church of
9God group, and worked as a welder in a shipyard, where she met
10Clyde Barrow, a fellow shipyard worker; they married and moved
11to Chicago in 1945, and her marriage inspired her to write a
12book, "How to Get Married...and Stay Married."; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Rev. Barrow organized her first civil rights
14demonstration when she was 12, protesting the fact that she and
15her fellow black students had to walk to school in her hometown
16in Texas while whites could ride the school bus; she went on to
17conduct sit-ins and boycotts with luminaries of the civil
18rights movement, including the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
19and Rosa Parks, and she joined in the 1963 March on Washington
20and the protests 2 years later in Selma, Alabama; more
21recently, she voiced concerns over gun violence and dilution of
22the Voting Rights Act; and
 

 

 

HR0316- 2 -LRB099 11584 MST 33223 r

1    WHEREAS, In the early 1970s, Rev. Barrow helped Rev. Jesse
2Jackson found Operation PUSH and succeeded him as executive
3director when he sought the Democratic presidential nomination
4in the 1980s; she later served as chairwoman; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Rev. Barrow was a champion of civil rights for
6minorities, women, gay people, and consumers; she opposed the
7war in Vietnam and apartheid and mentored generations of
8community organizers, including President Barack Obama; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Rev. Barrow was preceded in death by her husband
10of 56 years, Clyde and her son, Keith; therefore, be it
 
11    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
12NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
13mourn the passing of the Rev. Willie T. Barrow, and extend our
14sincere condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew
15and loved her; and be it further
 
16    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
17presented to the family of Rev. Barrow as an expression of our
18deepest sympathy.