HR0846 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0846 LRB097 20750 GRL 67273 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Asa Philip Randolph was noted for his work with labor, but it was his leadership role in the civil rights arena that has always been understated; he was the lead architect for the 1963 March on Washington, an event Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is most credited for; and

WHEREAS, Asa Philip Randolph, with the help of Bayard Rustin and many others, set the tone and direction for the 1941 March on Washington, which was designed to desegregate the nation's munitions plants; and

WHEREAS, President Franklin D. Roosevelt desegregated these plants during World War II through Executive Order 8802, the Fair Employment Act; the Act set the tone for African-Americans in the labor movement in America; and

WHEREAS, Asa Philip Randolph was the first African-American to have a seat on the board of the AFL-CIO; and

WHEREAS, Asa Philip Randolph and a few others established the first recognized labor union of African-Americans, known as the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids; and

WHEREAS, The A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum in Chicago has asked all of the residents of Illinois to honor this great labor leader on the occasion of his 123rd birthday by proclaiming April 15, 2012 as A. Philip Randolph Day in Illinois; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we designate the date of April 15, 2012 as A. Philip Randolph Day in the State of Illinois and urge the people of this State to join in the celebration of his birth at the A. Philip Randolph Museum in Chicago; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Dr. Lyn Hughes, founder of the A. Philip Randolph Museum in Chicago, for display in the museum.