HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 2021-4603

HR 4603

ByRepresentatives Taylor, Abbarno, Barkis, Bateman, Berg, Bergquist, Berry, Boehnke, Bronoske, Caldier, Callan, Chambers, Chandler, Chapman, Chase, Chopp, Cody, Corry, Davis, Dent, Dolan, Duerr, Dufault, Dye, Entenman, Eslick, Fey, Fitzgibbon, Frame, Gilday, Goehner, Goodman, Graham, Gregerson, Griffey, Hackney, Hansen, Harris, Harris-Talley, Hoff, Jacobsen, Jinkins, J. Johnson, Kirby, Klicker, Klippert, Kloba, Kretz, Leavitt, Lekanoff, Lovick, MacEwen, Macri, Maycumber, McCaslin, Morgan, Mosbrucker, Orcutt, Ormsby, Ortiz-Self, Orwall, Paul, Peterson, Pollet, Ramel, Ramos, Riccelli, Robertson, Rude, Rule, Ryu, Santos, Schmick, Sells, Senn, Shewmake, Simmons, Slatter, Springer, Steele, Stokesbary, Stonier, Sullivan, Sutherland, Thai, Tharinger, Valdez, Vick, Volz, Walen, Walsh, Wicks, Wilcox, Wylie, Ybarra, and Young

WHEREAS, President Reagan issued the Presidential Proclamation 5443 which declared "the foremost purpose of Black History Month is to make all Americans aware of this struggle for freedom and equal opportunity." It also states that this month is a time "to celebrate the many achievements of African Americans in every field from science and the arts to politics and religion."; and

WHEREAS, The desire to succeed and contribute to America caused Black Americans to defy racial hostility, Jim Crow Laws, and the remnants of other economic and social injustices; and

WHEREAS, Kamala Devi Harris, Vice President of the United States, is the first woman, the first Black person and the first South Asian American person to ever hold the position, coming from a diverse family where her father was Jamaican and her mother was the daughter of an Indian diplomat, and Harris is a representation of the diversity in our nation; and

WHEREAS, Marilyn Strickland became the first Black woman to represent the State of Washington at the federal level in the United States House of Representatives, and she is one of the first Korean American women to be elected to Congress in its 230 year history; and

WHEREAS, G. Helen Whitener is the first Black woman to serve on the Washington State Supreme Court, the fourth immigrant-born Justice, and the first Black LGBT judge in the State of Washington; and

WHEREAS, It is because of women like Vice President Harris, Congresswoman Strickland, and Justice Whitener that we have made the progress we have in our communities here in Washington; and

WHEREAS, We also recognize the vision of inspiring political leaders such as George Washington Bush, a Black Pioneer, and one of the earliest permanent American settlers in the Washington Territory in 1845, William Owen Bush, the first Black person to serve in the legislature in 1889, John H. Ryan, the only Black American to serve in the legislature under three different parties (Farm-Labor, Republican, and Democrat), John Lewis, Civil Rights leader and United States Congressman, and Barack Obama, the first Black President of the United States; and

WHEREAS, The list of contributions by other Black Americans to the socioeconomic and cultural fabric of Washington State is long, and includes the writings of Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Ralph Ellison, Octavia Butler, and Toni Morrison; and

WHEREAS, Scientific achievements include the inventions of George Washington Carver and the three NASA workers—Katherine Goble, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan—whose calculations helped put astronauts on the moon; and

WHEREAS, Black soldiers helped unite the military and the nation, from formerly enslaved people fighting in the Civil War to the Tuskegee Airmen who helped win World War II; and

WHEREAS, Warriors for justice and equality include Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives celebrate Black History Month and recognize the legacy and innumerable contributions of Black Americans to the lives of Washingtonians, not only in February but throughout the whole year.