SR0572 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0572 LRB093 22363 HSS 51563 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of Illinois learned with great sorrow of the death of Vernon Jarrett on Sunday, May 23, 2004; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett was a leading African-American journalist whose reports and columns appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the Chicago Daily Defender; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett was born in Paris, Tennessee, to two schoolteachers whose parents were former slaves; he graduated from Knoxville (Tennessee) College; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett covered a race riot on his first day as a reporter for the Chicago Defender in 1946, and was delighted to see his byline appear alongside those of the activist W.E.B. DuBois and poet Langston Hughes; from 1948 to 1951, Mr. Jarrett and composer Oscar Brown Jr. produced "Negro Newsfront", the nation's first daily radio broadcast created by African Americans; he also worked for the Associated Negro Press; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett became the Chicago Tribune's first African-American columnist in 1970; he used his editorial voice as a forum for commentary on the social and economic trends affecting African Americans and the global concerns of pan-African politics; in 1983, he took his column to the Chicago Sun-Times, where he served on the editorial board and worked until 1994; he was known to be a distinctive voice, not only for the African-American community, but for all of Chicago; in his position as a columnist for the Sun-Times, he was a mentor to any reporter who sought his counsel; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett produced nearly 2,000 broadcasts on WLS-Channel 7; he was a founder of the National Association of Black Journalists and served as its president from 1977 to 1979; he was current president of the group's Chicago chapter; also in 1977, he created the NAACP-sponsored ACT-SO program, or Academic, Cultural, Technological, and Scientific Olympics; ACT-SO has awarded more than $1,000,000 in scholarships, computers, and books to thousands of students; he also served as a member of the editorial board of the NAACP's 90-year-old Crisis Magazine; in addition, he was a senior fellow at the University of Illinois at Chicago and taught history and journalism at other colleges; and

WHEREAS, In 1998, Mr. Jarrett was inducted into the National Literary Hall of Fame at the University of Chicago's Gwendolyn Brooks Center; the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded him its Silver Circle Award, recognizing his 30 years of contributions to the medium; he was honored with the first NAACP James Weldon Johnson Achievement Award; and

WHEREAS, In recent years, Mr. Jarrett was a columnist for the New York Times' New American News Syndicate and his social commentary was heard during "The Jarrett Journal", a news broadcast on WVON-AM, Chicago's only African-American owned radio station; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Jarrett had a passion for writing, was an avid reader, especially of history, and was a chronicler of black politics nationwide; and

WHEREAS, The passing of Vernon Jarrett has been deeply felt by many especially his wife, Fernetta; his son, Thomas; and his three grandchildren; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Vernon Jarrett, a pioneer for African-American journalists who demonstrated the highest ideals of journalism and community responsibility; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Vernon Jarrett as an expression of our sincerest condolences during their time of bereavement.