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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to recognize the life of Dr. Webb Evans,
4who passed away on February 23, 2015 at the age of 101; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Dr. Evans founded the United American Progress
6Association (UAPA) in 1961, which encourages African Americans
7to spend their money with African American business owners
8within the community; known as "Mr. Buy Black", he served as
9President of the UAPA for 51 years; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The legacy of Dr. Evans is fighting for economic
11justice for African Americans; he worked alongside numerous
12civil rights activists, including Medgar Evers, Dr. Vernon
13Johns, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., The Honorable Elijah
14Muhammad, Lu Palmer, Harold Washington, Wesley South, Minister
15Louis Farrakhan, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and a host of religious,
16civic, business, political, local, and national community
17leaders and ordinary people; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Dr. Evans received many accolades, including
19Honorary Citizen of the Great Volunteer State of Tennessee,
20induction into Chicago Senior Citizen Hall of Fame, and being
21listed in Who's Who in Black America; he traveled to Israel to
22study the Lifestyle of Blacks in the Holy Land; he was selected

 

 

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1as Ambassador for Peace by the International Federation for
2World Peace, honored with a lifetime achievement award from
3WVON Radio, and received the Thurgood Marshall Award from the
4National Civil Rights Library Organization; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Dr. Evans published three books; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Dr. Evans was a member of PUSH, the Chatham Avalon
7Park Community Council, the Black United Front, the NAACP, the
8Cathedral Baptist Church, and the Baptist Pastors Conference of
9Chicago; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The Dr. Webb Evans Center for Economic Change will
11be dedicated on November 16, 2016; therefore, be it
 
12    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
13NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
14mourn the passing of Dr. Webb Evans, and extend our sincere
15condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved
16him; and be it further
 
17    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
18presented to the family of Dr. Evans as an expression of our
19deepest sympathy.