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LRB093 22431 KEF 51805 r |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the |
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| State of Illinois were deeply saddened to learn of the death of |
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| Vernon Jarrett on Sunday, May 23, 2004; and |
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett was a leading African-American |
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| journalist whose reports and columns appeared in the Chicago |
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| Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the Chicago Daily Defender; |
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| and |
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett was born in Paris, Tennessee; his |
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| father was a principal and his mother was a school teacher, |
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| they were children of former slaves; he graduated from |
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| Knoxville (Tennessee) College; and |
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett covered a race riot on his first day |
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| as a reporter for the Chicago Defender in 1946, and was |
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| delighted to see his byline appear alongside those of the |
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| activist W.E.B. DuBois and poet Langston Hughes; from 1948 to |
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| 1951, Mr. Jarrett and composer Oscar Brown Jr. produced "Negro |
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| Newsfront", the nation's first daily radio broadcast created by |
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| African Americans; he also worked for the Associated Negro |
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| Press; and |
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett became the Chicago Tribune's first |
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| African-American columnist in 1970; he used his editorial voice |
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| as a forum for commentary on the social and economic trends |
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| affecting African Americans and the global concerns of |
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| pan-African politics; in 1983, he took his column to the |
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| Chicago Sun-Times, where he served on the editorial board and |
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| worked until 1994; he was known to be a distinctive voice, not |
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| only for the African-American community, but for all of |
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| Chicago; in his position as a columnist for the Sun-Times, he |
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| was a mentor to any reporter who sought his counsel; and |
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HR1025 |
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LRB093 22431 KEF 51805 r |
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett produced nearly 2,000 broadcasts on |
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| WLS-Channel 7; he always had a young student or intern |
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| co-hosting with him; he was a founder of the National |
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| Association of Black Journalists and served as its president |
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| from 1977 to 1979; he was current president of the group's |
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| Chicago chapter; also in 1977, he created the NAACP-sponsored |
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| ACT-SO program, or Academic, Cultural, Technological, and |
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| Scientific Olympics; ACT-SO has awarded more than $1,000,000 in |
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| scholarships, computers, and books to thousands of students; he |
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| also served as a member of the editorial board of the NAACP's |
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| 90-year-old Crisis Magazine; in addition, he was a senior |
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| fellow at the Great Cities Institute of the University of |
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| Illinois at Chicago and taught history and journalism at other |
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| colleges; and |
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| WHEREAS, In 1998, Mr. Jarrett was inducted into the |
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| National Literary Hall of Fame at the University of Chicago's |
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| Gwendolyn Brooks Center; the National Academy of Television |
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| Arts and Sciences awarded him its Silver Circle Award, |
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| recognizing his 30 years of contributions to the medium; he was |
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| honored with the first NAACP James Weldon Johnson Achievement |
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| Award; and
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| WHEREAS, In recent years, Mr. Jarrett was a columnist for |
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| the New York Times' New American News Syndicate and his social |
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| commentary was heard during "The Jarrett Journal", a news |
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| broadcast on WVON-AM, Chicago's only African-American owned |
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| radio station; and |
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett had a passion for writing, was an avid |
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| reader, especially of history, and was a chronicler of black |
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| politics nationwide; he encouraged African-American children, |
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| as well as everyone, to read; he also promoted the reading of |
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| Carter G. Woodson's "The Miseducation of the Negro"; he wanted |
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| to make sure young people would have opportunities in many |
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| different fields; and |
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HR1025 |
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LRB093 22431 KEF 51805 r |
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett made African Americans realize they |
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| should be their very best and to make major contributions to |
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| society; |
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett made a tremendous mark on African |
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| Americans similar to that of Malcolm X, Justice Thurgood |
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| Marshall, Mae Jemison, and Martin Luther King, Jr.; and |
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| WHEREAS, The passing of Vernon Jarrett has been deeply felt |
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| by many, especially his wife, Fernetta; his son, Thomas; and |
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| his three grandchildren; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
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| NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we |
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| mourn the passing of Vernon Jarrett, a pioneer for |
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| African-American journalists who demonstrated the highest |
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| ideals of journalism and community responsibility; and be it |
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| further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
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| presented to the family of Vernon Jarrett as an expression of |
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| our sincerest condolences during their time of bereavement.
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