HR 9019

1
House Resolution
2A resolution designating March 12, 2009, as "NAACP Day" in
3Florida.
4
5     WHEREAS, in 1905, the Niagara Movement, an organization of
6people of color formed by Dr. W.E.B. DuBois from Atlanta
7University, held conferences at the Canadian side of Niagara
8Falls, Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, and Boston, Massachusetts,
9the platform of which consisted of freedom of speech and
10criticism; an unfettered and unsubsidized press; manhood
11suffrage; the abolition of all caste distinctions based simply
12on race and color; the recognition of the principle of human
13brotherhood as a practical, present creed; the recognition of
14the highest and best training as the monopoly of no class or
15race; a belief in the dignity of labor; and a united effort to
16realize these ideals under wise and courageous leadership, and
17     WHEREAS, following the summer of 1908, when citizens were
18shocked by race riots in Springfield, Illinois, the home of
19Abraham Lincoln, abolitionist Mary White Ovington issued a call
20to renew the struggle for political and civil liberty for all
21Americans, and
22     WHEREAS, on February 12, 1909, beginning with the moral
23conscience and guiding principles of Dr. William Edward
24Burghardt Dubois, Mary White Ovington, Henry Moskowitz, Ida B.
25Wells-Barnett, Oswald Garrison Villard, and William English
26Walling, the National Negro Committee was formed to address the
27social, economic, and political rights of African Americans, and
28     WHEREAS, records reflect that, during these times of racial
29hatred and discrimination, African Americans were ineligible to
30vote, assemble, and share the same public accommodations and
31educational institutions as their white counterparts, and
32     WHEREAS, on May 30, 1910, the National Negro Committee, at
33its second conference, chose the name the "National Association
34for the Advancement of Colored People," commonly referred to as
35the "NAACP," forming a civil rights organization that has built
36a 100-year legacy of constantly challenging the tenets of social
37unrest, racial hatred, racial inequality, and economic and
38political injustice, and
39     WHEREAS, in 1910, Dr. W.E.B. Dubois assumed the role of
40Director of Publicity and Research for the NAACP and created The
41Crisis magazine, the official magazine of the NAACP, to serve as
42the premier literary publication advocating for civil rights,
43and
44     WHEREAS, the Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of
45Education in 1954 allowed for the integration of public schools
46and is recognized as the pinnacle of the NAACP's advocacy work,
47laying the foundation for future progress in civil and human
48rights in the United States, and
49     WHEREAS, the NAACP played an active role in the passage of
50the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965,
51allowing people of color to gain access to the "American Dream"
52through the equal protection of the law, and the right to vote
53with the necessary protections and safeguards against historical
54barriers of exclusion, and
55     WHEREAS, throughout its 100-year history, the NAACP has
56established itself as the oldest civil rights organization in
57our nation, committed to the ongoing struggle against
58disparities in these areas through a network of 2,200 branches
59currently exceeding 500,000 members, and
60     WHEREAS, the NAACP Florida State Conference, through its 32
61branches, continues the national and local fight for equality
62and justice for people of color, whether it be through honoring
63the legacy of Harry T. Moore or by using political pressure,
64marches, demonstrations, and effective lobbying to serve as the
65voice, as well as the shield, for minority Americans, NOW,
66THEREFORE,
67
68Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of
69Florida:
70
71     That the House of Representatives, in recognition of the
72organization's countless historical contributions to the United
73States of America and the State of Florida over the past
74century, commends the National Association for the Advancement
75of Colored People and its 32 Florida branches and proudly
76designates March 12, 2009, as "NAACP Day" in Florida.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.