Full Text of HR0316 99th General Assembly
HR0316 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | HR0316 | | LRB099 11584 MST 33223 r |
|
| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, State Representative Monique D. Davis and the | 3 | | members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened | 4 | | to learn of the death of the Rev. Willie T. Barrow of Chicago; | 5 | | and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Rev. Barrow was born in Burton, Texas on December | 7 | | 7, 1924 to Nelson and Octava Taplin; she moved to Oregon at the | 8 | | age of 16, where she studied
theology, organized a Church of | 9 | | God group, and worked as a welder in a shipyard, where she met | 10 | | Clyde
Barrow, a fellow shipyard worker; they married and moved | 11 | | to Chicago in 1945, and her marriage inspired her to write a | 12 | | book, "How to Get Married...and Stay Married."; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Rev. Barrow organized her first civil rights | 14 | | demonstration when she was 12, protesting the fact that she
and | 15 | | her fellow black students had to walk to school in her hometown | 16 | | in Texas while whites could ride
the school bus; she went on to | 17 | | conduct sit-ins and boycotts with luminaries of the civil | 18 | | rights movement, including
the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. | 19 | | and Rosa Parks, and she joined in the 1963 March on Washington | 20 | | and the
protests 2 years later in Selma, Alabama; more | 21 | | recently, she voiced concerns over gun violence and dilution
of | 22 | | the Voting Rights Act; and
|
| | | HR0316 | - 2 - | LRB099 11584 MST 33223 r |
|
| 1 | | WHEREAS, In the early 1970s, Rev. Barrow helped Rev. Jesse | 2 | | Jackson found Operation PUSH and succeeded him as executive | 3 | | director
when he sought the Democratic presidential nomination | 4 | | in the 1980s; she later served as chairwoman; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Rev. Barrow was a champion of civil rights for | 6 | | minorities, women, gay people, and consumers; she opposed the | 7 | | war in Vietnam and apartheid and mentored generations of | 8 | | community organizers, including President Barack Obama; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Rev. Barrow was preceded in death by her husband | 10 | | of 56 years, Clyde and her son, Keith; therefore, be it
| 11 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 12 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 13 | | mourn the passing of the Rev. Willie T. Barrow, and extend our | 14 | | sincere condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew | 15 | | and loved her; and be it further
| 16 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 17 | | presented to the family of Rev. Barrow as an expression of our | 18 | | deepest sympathy.
|
|