Full Text of HR0838 102nd General Assembly
HR0838 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Anthony | 4 | | James Bradford; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Anthony Bradford was born to Dorothy Joiner and | 6 | | Thomas Fields on November 2, 1964; he was raised in Chicago | 7 | | along with his four siblings by his mother Dorothy and Robert | 8 | | "Pops" Joiner; he attended First New Mt. Olive Baptist Church, | 9 | | where he previously served as an usher; he attended Gillespie | 10 | | Elementary School and Julian High School; after graduation, he | 11 | | briefly attended Grambling State University and then returned | 12 | | home, where he became employed in the Northwestern University | 13 | | Mail Services department; he was affectionately known as "Amp" | 14 | | or "AJ"; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Anthony Bradford dreamed of becoming a lawyer and | 16 | | also of joining the United States Peace Corps; after nearly | 17 | | eight years, he resigned from his position at Northwestern | 18 | | University and enrolled in Western Illinois University, where | 19 | | he was a member of the Black Student Association, the | 20 | | Political Science Club, and the Pre Law Club; he served as an | 21 | | aide to then-Mayor Tom Carperand and assisted with his | 22 | | political campaigns; he also volunteered in the community and | 23 | | within other campus organizations; he made history when he |
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| 1 | | became the first African American student to serve as student | 2 | | representative on the Western Illinois University Board of | 3 | | Trustees; he received his bachelor's degree in May 1995; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Anthony Bradford returned to Chicago and, along | 5 | | with nine other students from across the United States, was | 6 | | selected to participate in the prestigious Pre-Law Summer | 7 | | Institute at John Marshall Law School; one of his most | 8 | | cherished memories was having an opportunity to argue through | 9 | | mock trial the groundbreaking civil rights case Dred Scott v. | 10 | | Sanford in the presence of a room filled with judges, lawyers, | 11 | | law professors, other members of the legal community, and his | 12 | | fellow program participants; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Anthony Bradford was sworn in as a United States | 14 | | Peace Corps volunteer in the fall of 1996; during his years of | 15 | | service, he served as an agro business consultant and liaison, | 16 | | ESL teacher, and a grant writer in Grand Goave, Haiti; he was | 17 | | instrumental in securing funding for many local water and | 18 | | agricultural projects; he loved Haiti and embraced many | 19 | | aspects of Haitian culture; an incident in which he ran his | 20 | | bike into a six year old orphaned boy, Chelot, would change the | 21 | | trajectory of both of their lives and hearts; as his Peace | 22 | | Corps end of service date approached, he focused on legally | 23 | | adopting Chelot and bringing him back to the United States; in | 24 | | 2001, he married Ge'ylah Jones Allen and gained two sons and a |
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| 1 | | daughter, Aaron Oschea, Johnathan Lee, and Shauntia Caprice; | 2 | | in 2006, Chelot joined his family in Chicago; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, Anthony Bradford held many jobs in social service | 4 | | management, but his passion was education; he taught for over | 5 | | 20 years within the Chicago, Baltimore, and Florida public | 6 | | school systems; he was an exceptionally gifted historian and | 7 | | political scientist; his specialty was foreign policy and | 8 | | civil rights; he was an avid reader and enjoyed watching | 9 | | political news; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Anthony Bradford served as president of the 9600 | 11 | | Princeton Block Club for several years; he pioneered the | 12 | | city's prestigious Garden of Excellence Award; he received | 13 | | numerous acknowledgments for his unending service, including | 14 | | the Roseland YMCA Community Service and Volunteer Award and | 15 | | the Western Illinois University Black Student Union Volunteer | 16 | | of the Year; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Anthony Bradford loved his family; as a first | 18 | | generation college attendee and graduate, he was a | 19 | | trailblazer; he influenced and assisted his siblings and many | 20 | | of his cousins, nieces, and nephews with the college | 21 | | enrollment process; he also had a strong bond with his | 22 | | grandmothers; his cousins were like siblings, and his friends | 23 | | were like cousins; he will always be remembered for his |
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| 1 | | willingness to help anyone and everyone; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Posthumously, Anthony Bradford's family will | 3 | | finalize the publication of his memoir, From the Hood to | 4 | | Haiti, a companion project to the many high school and | 5 | | collegiate speaking appearances that bore the same title; his | 6 | | long-standing message within the project was that as an inner | 7 | | city, non-Ivy League college graduate, despite the obstacles | 8 | | and challenges he faced, he was able to endure and complete the | 9 | | rigorous Peace Corps application process and live out one of | 10 | | his biggest dreams; therefore, be it
| 11 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 12 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 13 | | we mourn the passing of Anthony James Bradford and extend our | 14 | | sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew | 15 | | and loved him; and be it further
| 16 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 17 | | presented to the family of Anthony Bradford as an expression | 18 | | of our deepest sympathy.
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