Full Text of HR1492 94th General Assembly
HR1492 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., President and | 3 |
| Founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, is one of America's | 4 |
| foremost political and civil rights leaders; and
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| WHEREAS, Over the past 40 years, he has played a pivotal | 6 |
| role in virtually every movement for empowerment, peace, civil | 7 |
| rights, gender equality, and economic and social justice; and
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| WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson has been called "the conscience | 9 |
| of the nation" and "the great unifier", challenging America to | 10 |
| establish just and humane priorities; and
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| WHEREAS, He is known for bringing people together across | 12 |
| lines of race, class, gender, and belief; and
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| WHEREAS, He was born on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, | 14 |
| South Carolina; he attended the University of Illinois on a | 15 |
| football scholarship where he "Crossed the Burning Sands" at Pi | 16 |
| Psi Chapter and became a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, | 17 |
| Inc., becoming the 15th 2nd Vice Grand Basileus and later | 18 |
| transferring to North Carolina A&T University; and
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| WHEREAS, Jesse Jackson founded People United to Save | 20 |
| Humanity in Chicago in 1971; he founded the National Rainbow | 21 |
| Coalition in 1984, and merged the two into the Rainbow/PUSH | 22 |
| Coalition in 1996; and
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| WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson's two presidential campaigns in | 24 |
| 1984 and 1988 broke new ground in United States politics and | 25 |
| inspired over three million people to register and join the | 26 |
| political process; and
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| WHEREAS, As a highly respected world leader, Reverend | 28 |
| Jackson has acted many times as an international diplomat in |
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| sensitive situations; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1990, in an impressive victory, he was elected | 3 |
| to the post of United States Senator from Washington, D.C., a | 4 |
| position also known as "statehood Senator"; and
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| WHEREAS, A hallmark of Reverend Jackson's work has been his | 6 |
| commitment to youth; he has visited thousands of high schools, | 7 |
| colleges, universities, and correctional facilities | 8 |
| encouraging excellence, inspiring hope, and challenging young | 9 |
| people to award themselves with academic excellence and to stay | 10 |
| drug free; and
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| WHEREAS, A renowned orator, Reverend Jackson has received | 12 |
| numerous honors for his work in human and civil rights and for | 13 |
| nonviolent social change; and
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| WHEREAS, In October 1997, he was appointed by President | 15 |
| Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright as | 16 |
| "Special Envoy of the President and Secretary of State for the | 17 |
| Promotion of Democracy in Africa"; and
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| WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson married his college sweetheart, | 19 |
| Jacqueline Brown, in 1963, and they are the proud parents of | 20 |
| five children; and
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| WHEREAS, One of their sons, Jesse Jackson, Jr., a | 22 |
| Congressmen from Illinois, became a member of Omega Psi Phi | 23 |
| Fraternity, Nu Pi Chapter in 2006; and | 24 |
| WHEREAS, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity was founded on November | 25 |
| 17, 1911 at Howard University in Washington, D.C.; the | 26 |
| fraternity is the first black fraternal organization to be | 27 |
| founded at a historically black college; The official Omega Psi | 28 |
| Phi website states "From its inception, the fraternity has | 29 |
| worked to build a strong and effective force of men dedicated |
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| to principles of manhood, scholarship, perseverance, and | 2 |
| uplift capable of giving expression to the hopes and | 3 |
| aspirations of an unfree people in the land of the free"; | 4 |
| therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 6 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 7 |
| we congratulate Reverend Jesse Jackson on his continued hard | 8 |
| work for the people of this State and the country as a whole; | 9 |
| and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 11 |
| presented to the Reverend Jesse Jackson, along with our sincere | 12 |
| regards.
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