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SR0759 |
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LRB095 21726 GRL 51937 r |
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to |
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| learn of the death of
Mercedes Laing; and
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| WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1956 |
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| and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona; and
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| WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing graduated from Harvard-Radcliffe |
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| College in 1977 and took a job thereafter with Proctor and |
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| Gamble; and
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| WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing received her degree from Yale Law |
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| School and was the articles editor of the Yale Law Review; and
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| WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing worked as a clerk for Judge Amalya |
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| Kearse on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; Ms. |
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| Laing later went on to work at the Holland & Knight law firm, |
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| where she was a partner; and
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| WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing formally headed the African Trade |
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| Institute and worked on several Democratic political campaigns |
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| as a fundraiser and community organizer; and
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| WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing worked as an urban issues director |
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| for the late Paul Simon; Ms. Laing was responsible for |
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SR0759 |
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LRB095 21726 GRL 51937 r |
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| monitoring urban education and school reform and identifying |
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| ways that the federal government could help local schools; and
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| WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing served as a Chicago Community Trust |
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| board member from 1996 until 2006; Ms. Laing acted as the |
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| board's vice chairman and headed the education committee and |
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| management and compensation committee during her 10-year |
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| tenure; and
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| WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing took special pride in the creation |
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| of the Chicago Community Trust's African-American Legacy |
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| Initiative, which supported emerging organizations in the |
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| black community; and
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| WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing became the director of external |
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| affairs for Chicago Public Schools in 2006; Ms. Laing took this |
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| job a few months before her cancer diagnosis, yet continued to |
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| work until recently; and
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| WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing, at the young age of 52, lost her |
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| battle with cancer on Tuesday, June 17, 2008; Ms. Laing is |
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| survived by her sister; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL |
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| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with |
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| her family and friends, the passing of Mercedes Laing; and be |