2003 Assembly Joint Resolution 12
ENROLLED JOINT RESOLUTION
Relating to: declaring February African-American History and Cultural Heritage Month.
Whereas, we acknowledge and honor the estimated 11,000,000 to 12,000,000 African men, women, and children who were forcibly embarked on European vessels for a life of slavery in the Western Hemisphere and the 9,000,000 to 10,000,000 enslaved African survivors of the Middle Passage to America; and
Whereas, throughout the struggle, African-Americans have maintained a rich, distinctive culture and have made major contributions to the American culture and the world; and
Whereas, through the contributions of such African-Americans as Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Fredrick Douglas, W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, Thurgood Marshall, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Fannie Lou Hamer, Malik El Shabazz, Shirley Chisholm, Lloyd A. Barbee, and James Cameron, the founder of the first and only Black holocaust museum in the United States (located in Milwaukee), America's views of itself and of the world have grown to incorporate new ideas and directions; and
Whereas, through the contributions of African-American musicians and writers such as Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Leontyne Price, Marian Anderson, Andre Watts, Aaliyah, Phyllis Wheatley, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Alex Haley, Maya Angelou, and Toni Morrison, the American culture has been enriched and appreciated around the world; and
Whereas, African-American sports figures, such as Tommy Smith, John Carlos, Muhammad Ali, Tiger Woods, Venus Williams, and Serena Williams, have demonstrated their ability to be role models on and off the field and in and out of the ring when they stood up for their rights and beliefs; and
Whereas, through the contributions of such African-Americans as Dr. Charles Drew, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, George Washington Carver, Dr. Mae C. Jemison, and Garrett Morgan, the worlds of medicine, science, and technology were advanced; and
Whereas, African-Americans have kept alive and derived pride and unity from their history and other aspects of their cultural traditions; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the assembly, the senate concurring, That the members of the Wisconsin legislature remember and commend African-Americans for their achievements and recognize the value of those achievements to African-Americans and to other Americans; and, be it further
Resolved, That in order to encourage everyone in this state to recognize and salute African-American history and culture, the members of the Wisconsin legislature declare February "African-American History and Cultural Heritage Month."
