Full Text of HR0871 102nd General Assembly
HR0871 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | HR0871 | | LRB102 27780 LAW 39578 r |
|
| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Merlin Kennedy and Henry Gay Sr. are true icons | 3 | | of the civil rights movement in McLean County; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Merlin Kennedy was born in Decatur on November 7, | 5 | | 1926; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Merlin Kennedy was drafted into the U.S. Navy in | 7 | | 1945, and he served until 1949; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Merlin Kennedy moved with his brother to | 9 | | Bloomington in 1959, and he earned a position as a punch-press | 10 | | operator; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Inspired by the 1960 NAACP state convention held | 12 | | in Bloomington, Merlin Kennedy joined protesters at local | 13 | | stores to call for an end to segregated lunch counters; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Merlin Kennedy was elected president of the local | 15 | | NAACP chapter, spearheading the passage of the area's first | 16 | | fair housing ordinance in 1967 and co-founding the Human | 17 | | Relations Commissions in Bloomington and Normal; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Merlin Kennedy will long be remembered for his | 19 | | best known act of civil defiance, participating in the 1966 |
| | | HR0871 | - 2 - | LRB102 27780 LAW 39578 r |
|
| 1 | | Christmas Parade dressed as Santa Claus despite threats of | 2 | | arrest; his bold action earned him the nickname "Black Santa"; | 3 | | and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Merlin Kennedy was the first chair of the | 5 | | Bloomington Human Relations Commission and the first recipient | 6 | | of the Normal Human Relations Commission's Martin Luther King | 7 | | Jr. Award; he was awarded the NAACP's Roy Wilkins Award in 1999 | 8 | | for his efforts to fight racism; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Merlin Kennedy was named a McLean County History | 10 | | Maker in 2015; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Henry Gay Sr. was born near Shreveport, Louisiana | 12 | | on August 5, 1924; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Henry Gay Sr. was a child of sharecroppers, and | 14 | | he began his work life picking cotton in Arkansas at age nine; | 15 | | and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Henry Gay Sr. moved to Bloomington in 1945; he | 17 | | secured his first local job on the Chicago and Alton Railroad, | 18 | | burning weeds for a dollar a day; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Henry Gay Sr. first joined the local NAACP | 20 | | chapter in 1951; he became the local branch secretary in 1968, |
| | | HR0871 | - 3 - | LRB102 27780 LAW 39578 r |
|
| 1 | | a position he held into the 21st century; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Henry Gay Sr. worked with other leaders of the | 3 | | local civil rights community for equal access to housing, | 4 | | education, and services; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Henry Gay Sr. has been honored for his tireless | 6 | | efforts to end racial discrimination by a number of | 7 | | organizations, including the NAACP and the Bloomington Human | 8 | | Relations Commission; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Henry Gay Sr. was named a McLean County History | 10 | | Maker in 2019; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Merlin Kennedy and Henry Gay Sr. played pivotal | 12 | | roles in the success of the Bloomington-Normal NAACP; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, The Bloomington community is honoring Merlin | 14 | | Kennedy and Henry Gay Sr. for their contributions to the local | 15 | | civil rights movement by dedicating streets in their names; | 16 | | therefore, be it
| 17 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 18 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 19 | | we extend our sincere condolences to the family of Merlin | 20 | | Kennedy for his passing, and we celebrate the achievements and |
| | | HR0871 | - 4 - | LRB102 27780 LAW 39578 r |
|
| 1 | | legacies of Merlin Kennedy and Henry Gay Sr., two | 2 | | extraordinary men; and be it further
| 3 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 4 | | presented to the families of Merlin Kennedy and Henry Gay Sr. | 5 | | as expressions of our esteem and respect.
|
|