Full Text of HR0277 103rd General Assembly
HR0277 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives wish to recognize Bishop Lance Davis for his | 4 | | work in organizing the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus | 5 | | delegation's West African trip to Ghana in January 2023; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, From January 14, 2023 to January 23, 2023, the | 7 | | eight member delegation visited Accra, Ghana, a prominent | 8 | | African city that is rich in tradition, the homeland of many | 9 | | Illinois residents, the capital of Ghana, and the first | 10 | | African nation to gain independence from colonial rule; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Highlights of the trip included meeting with | 12 | | Elizabeth Sackey, the first woman to serve as Mayor of Accra, | 13 | | visiting the U.S. Embassy in Ghana, and meeting with John | 14 | | Kufuor, the former President of Ghana; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Bishop Davis served as a co-organizer for the | 16 | | Illinois Legislative Black Caucus delegation's trip to Ghana; | 17 | | and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Bishop Davis was born on the West Side of | 19 | | Chicago; while still in high school, he co-managed his | 20 | | father's organization, which included seven Popeyes chicken | 21 | | restaurants and two McDonald's restaurants; he then opened two |
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| 1 | | Docks Seafood restaurants in the 1980s, where he insisted on | 2 | | hiring marginalized young people in an effort to help them | 3 | | learn a solid work ethic and workplace disciplines; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Bishop Davis completed his seminary studies at | 5 | | the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC); after | 6 | | serving as a pastor at the Christian Methodist Episcopal | 7 | | Church for 12 years, he founded the New Zion Covenant Church in | 8 | | Dolton in 2003, which was later brought into the Evangelical | 9 | | Covenant Church (ECC) in 2010; he was elected as the executive | 10 | | minister of Ordered Ministry of the ECC in 2018, thereby | 11 | | becoming the first African American to hold the position in | 12 | | its 135-year history; he was responsible for the supervision, | 13 | | care, discipline, and development of nearly 2,500 pastors, 207 | 14 | | military, hospital, and prison chaplains, and 157 missionaries | 15 | | serving on five continents before concluding his term in | 16 | | mid-2022; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Bishop Davis has operated several successful | 18 | | businesses while serving the church; in 2002, he established | 19 | | the XGD Corporation, a construction company contracted by the | 20 | | Chicago Housing Authority to rehabilitate hundreds of | 21 | | low-income housing units; in 2010, he and his wife, Kara, | 22 | | established Zion Behavioral Health in order to provide safe | 23 | | and caring mental health services to the South Suburbs; in | 24 | | 2015, he established Kinsmen Development, securing one million |
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| 1 | | dollars in real estate financing to purchase and rehabilitate | 2 | | nearly 20 dilapidated homes in Dolton; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Bishop Davis has also established several | 4 | | not-for-profit agencies; he created Voices of Morality to | 5 | | speak against police brutality and the unfair lending | 6 | | practices of banks and other merchants; in 1996, he founded | 7 | | Building Our Own Community, Inc. (BOOC), which has been | 8 | | instrumental in feeding thousands of residents in the South | 9 | | Suburbs, and opened the area's first robotics training program | 10 | | for youth; in 2003, he and his family purchased the former | 11 | | Dolton Expo Center, an 88,000 square foot multi-use facility, | 12 | | where he has housed BOOC, the New Zion Christian Fellowship | 13 | | Church, the Joseph Storehouse Food Pantry, and the Up-Scale | 14 | | Rummage Sale resale shop and hosted many Christian hip-hop | 15 | | concerts and events; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Bishop Davis has routinely invested in and given | 17 | | back to Ghana; he established a water borehole drilling | 18 | | company in Ghana, providing clean potable water for thousands | 19 | | of Ghanaian villagers; in 2004, he founded Sankofa Venture, | 20 | | which has a touring subsidiary, Sankofa US, that facilitates | 21 | | and organizes travel to Ghana, West Africa for African | 22 | | Americans who are interested in return, or heritage tracing, | 23 | | journeys; to date, he and the Sankofa team have helped more | 24 | | than 1,000 African Americans travel to Ghana; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Bishop Davis has received a number of accolades | 2 | | for his work, including by former Secretary of State Jesse | 3 | | White, the Chicago Defender online newspaper with the Pastor's | 4 | | Salute Award, the Human Resource Development Institute, and | 5 | | the Village of Harvey, which renamed Cooper Avenue as Bishop | 6 | | Lance Davis Street; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Bishop Davis is a life member of Kappa Alpha Psi | 8 | | Fraternity, Inc., a member of the Druids Club of Chicago, and a | 9 | | board member of the African Diaspora Sixth Region Association | 10 | | of Illinois; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Bishop Davis is married to Kara E. Davis, M.D., | 12 | | and they have four adult children, Grace, Andrew, Lance | 13 | | Nathaniel, and Natalie Kara; therefore, be it | 14 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 15 | | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 16 | | we recognize Bishop Lance Davis for co-organizing the Illinois | 17 | | Legislative Black Caucus delegation's West African trip to | 18 | | Ghana in January 2023; and be it further
| 19 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 20 | | presented to Bishop Davis as a symbol of our esteem and | 21 | | respect.
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