HR0316 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0316 LRB099 11584 MST 33223 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, State Representative Monique D. Davis and the members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of the Rev. Willie T. Barrow of Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Barrow was born in Burton, Texas on December 7, 1924 to Nelson and Octava Taplin; she moved to Oregon at the age of 16, where she studied theology, organized a Church of God group, and worked as a welder in a shipyard, where she met Clyde Barrow, a fellow shipyard worker; they married and moved to Chicago in 1945, and her marriage inspired her to write a book, "How to Get Married...and Stay Married."; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Barrow organized her first civil rights demonstration when she was 12, protesting the fact that she and her fellow black students had to walk to school in her hometown in Texas while whites could ride the school bus; she went on to conduct sit-ins and boycotts with luminaries of the civil rights movement, including the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks, and she joined in the 1963 March on Washington and the protests 2 years later in Selma, Alabama; more recently, she voiced concerns over gun violence and dilution of the Voting Rights Act; and

WHEREAS, In the early 1970s, Rev. Barrow helped Rev. Jesse Jackson found Operation PUSH and succeeded him as executive director when he sought the Democratic presidential nomination in the 1980s; she later served as chairwoman; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Barrow was a champion of civil rights for minorities, women, gay people, and consumers; she opposed the war in Vietnam and apartheid and mentored generations of community organizers, including President Barack Obama; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Barrow was preceded in death by her husband of 56 years, Clyde and her son, Keith; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of the Rev. Willie T. Barrow, and extend our sincere condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Rev. Barrow as an expression of our deepest sympathy.