HR1682

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HOUSE RESOLUTION


 
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    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of 
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Representatives are pleased to honor milestones in the lives of 
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citizens of the State of Illinois; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Timuel D. Black, venerable activist and historian 
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of Bronzeville, attained 90 years of age on December 7, 2008; 
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and

 
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    WHEREAS, Tim Black was influenced early on by the 
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Washington Park orators, who held their sessions across the 
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park from where he was an elementary school student; he heard 
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them speak against gouging landlords and discrimination; he 
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understood their calls for jobs and decent working conditions; 
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he watched them unite workers and tenants; and he resolved to 
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join them in backing up their convictions with organized 
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action; and

 
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    WHEREAS, He spent his high school years in the nurturing 
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and stimulating environment of Bronzeville's Wendell Phillips 
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and DuSable High Schools, where he learned from teachers that 
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served as models for his career as an educator; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Tim had his first job in high school as an 
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underpaid store clerk; he met J. Levert Kelly, President of the 
 


 






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Waiters and Bartenders Union; Kelly helped Tim and his 
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co-workers form a local chapter of the Retail Clerks Union; 
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together they negotiated with their employers and won better 
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pay and working conditions; and

 
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    WHEREAS, He served our nation in World War II; he was 
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profoundly affected by the discrimination he experienced in the 
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Army and the human devastation he witnessed in the Buchenwald 
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death camp; he resolved to work for peace and justice in the 
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world; he went on to do work in the Progressive Party that 
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helped bring an end to discrimination in the Armed Services; 
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and

 
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    WHEREAS, He resumed his education after his discharge from 
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the Army; he received his BA from Roosevelt University and an 
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MA from the University of Chicago; he went on to teach history 
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and social studies at several of Chicago's high schools, 
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encouraging and inspiring his students; and

 
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    WHEREAS, He fought discrimination in Chicago schools and 
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joined with other teachers to form the Teachers Committee for 
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Quality Education to ensure that a good school would be 
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accessible to every child; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Tim Black served as Dean at Wright Junior College, 
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Vice-President of Olive Harvey City College, and Director of 
 


 






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Community Affairs of the City Colleges of Chicago, working to 
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end discrimination in that system all the while; and

 
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    WHEREAS, In a continued fight against discrimination, Tim 
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Black and James Farmer organized the Chicago Chapter of the 
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Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); Tim became the president of 
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the local chapter of the Negro American Labor Council; he was 
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chosen to organize the Chicago contingent for the 1963 March on 
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Washington for Jobs and Freedom, resulting in two "Freedom 
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Trains" traveling with 3,000 passengers from Chicago to the 
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event; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Tim has been politically and socially active; he 
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worked in the campaign to elect Harold Washington, the first 
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Black mayor of Chicago; he also worked in the campaign of 
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Richard Hatcher, the first Black mayor of Gary, Indiana; and
 
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    WHEREAS, He continues his commitment to the Bronzeville 
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community and his understanding of the community's history, 
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people, and institutions; he works actively with the New 
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Phillips/DuSable 35-39ers, and the Mary Herrick Scholarship 
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fund; he is Vice President of the DuSable Alumni Coalition; he 
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serves on the boards of several civil rights organizations, 
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including the Justice Coalition of Greater Chicago and the 
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Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights; and
 
 


 






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    WHEREAS, When asked why he hasn't written a book to 
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chronicle his vast experiences, he replied, "I'm still too busy 
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living them"; therefore, be it

 
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    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 
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NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we 
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congratulate Timuel D. Black on his ninetieth birthday and wish 
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him many productive years in the future; and be it further

 
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    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
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presented to Timuel D. Black as a sign of our affection, 
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gratitude, and respect.