Full Text of SR0572 093rd General Assembly
SR0572 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of Illinois | 3 |
| learned with great sorrow of the death of Vernon Jarrett on | 4 |
| Sunday, May 23, 2004; and | 5 |
| WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett was a leading African-American | 6 |
| journalist whose reports and columns appeared in the Chicago | 7 |
| Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the Chicago Daily Defender; | 8 |
| and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett was born in Paris, Tennessee, to two | 10 |
| schoolteachers whose parents were former slaves; he graduated | 11 |
| from Knoxville (Tennessee) College; and | 12 |
| WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett covered a race riot on his first day | 13 |
| as a reporter for the Chicago Defender in 1946, and was | 14 |
| delighted to see his byline appear alongside those of the | 15 |
| activist W.E.B. DuBois and poet Langston Hughes; from 1948 to | 16 |
| 1951, Mr. Jarrett and composer Oscar Brown Jr. produced "Negro | 17 |
| Newsfront", the nation's first daily radio broadcast created by | 18 |
| African Americans; he also worked for the Associated Negro | 19 |
| Press; and | 20 |
| WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett became the Chicago Tribune's first | 21 |
| African-American columnist in 1970; he used his editorial voice | 22 |
| as a forum for commentary on the social and economic trends | 23 |
| affecting African Americans and the global concerns of | 24 |
| pan-African politics; in 1983, he took his column to the | 25 |
| Chicago Sun-Times, where he served on the editorial board and | 26 |
| worked until 1994; he was known to be a distinctive voice, not | 27 |
| only for the African-American community, but for all of | 28 |
| Chicago; in his position as a columnist for the Sun-Times, he | 29 |
| was a mentor to any reporter who sought his counsel; and | 30 |
| WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett produced nearly 2,000 broadcasts on |
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| WLS-Channel 7; he was a founder of the National Association of | 2 |
| Black Journalists and served as its president from 1977 to | 3 |
| 1979; he was current president of the group's Chicago chapter; | 4 |
| also in 1977, he created the NAACP-sponsored ACT-SO program, or | 5 |
| Academic, Cultural, Technological, and Scientific Olympics; | 6 |
| ACT-SO has awarded more than $1,000,000 in scholarships, | 7 |
| computers, and books to thousands of students; he also served | 8 |
| as a member of the editorial board of the NAACP's 90-year-old | 9 |
| Crisis Magazine; in addition, he was a senior fellow at the | 10 |
| University of Illinois at Chicago and taught history and | 11 |
| journalism at other colleges; and | 12 |
| WHEREAS, In 1998, Mr. Jarrett was inducted into the | 13 |
| National Literary Hall of Fame at the University of Chicago's | 14 |
| Gwendolyn Brooks Center; the National Academy of Television | 15 |
| Arts and Sciences awarded him its Silver Circle Award, | 16 |
| recognizing his 30 years of contributions to the medium; he was | 17 |
| honored with the first NAACP James Weldon Johnson Achievement | 18 |
| Award; and
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| WHEREAS, In recent years, Mr. Jarrett was a columnist for | 20 |
| the New York Times' New American News Syndicate and his social | 21 |
| commentary was heard during "The Jarrett Journal", a news | 22 |
| broadcast on WVON-AM, Chicago's only African-American owned | 23 |
| radio station; and | 24 |
| WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett had a passion for writing, was an avid | 25 |
| reader, especially of history, and was a chronicler of black | 26 |
| politics nationwide; and | 27 |
| WHEREAS, The passing of Vernon Jarrett has been deeply felt | 28 |
| by many especially his wife, Fernetta; his son, Thomas; and his | 29 |
| three grandchildren; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL | 31 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of |
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| Vernon Jarrett, a pioneer for African-American journalists who | 2 |
| demonstrated the highest ideals of journalism and community | 3 |
| responsibility; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 5 |
| presented to the family of Vernon Jarrett as an expression of | 6 |
| our sincerest condolences during their time of bereavement.
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