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| 1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | ||||||
| 3 | learn of the death of Herb Kent, who passed away at the age of | ||||||
| 4 | 88; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, Herb Kent was born on October 5, 1928 and was | ||||||
| 6 | raised on Chicago's South Side, where he received early musical | ||||||
| 7 | inspiration from the rhythm and blues clubs that dotted his | ||||||
| 8 | neighborhood; he often stood outside the windows of these clubs | ||||||
| 9 | listening to the tunes being played inside; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, As a young teen, Herb Kent became involved in | ||||||
| 11 | drama workshops and studied classical music at Hyde Park High | ||||||
| 12 | School; in 1944, at the age of 16, he hosted a classical music | ||||||
| 13 | program for the prestigious WBEZ Radio station; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, Herb Kent hosted radio shows on several stations | ||||||
| 15 | in Chicago; though each station had a platform and a format of | ||||||
| 16 | its own, his style of humor, critique, and banter was | ||||||
| 17 | immediately recognizable to his loyal listeners, no matter what | ||||||
| 18 | station broadcast his shows; one of his most infamous stints | ||||||
| 19 | was with WVON Radio between 1962 and 1970; many members of the | ||||||
| 20 | broadcasting community have stated that he greatly helped to | ||||||
| 21 | launch the careers of such R & B artists as The Temptations, | ||||||
| 22 | Minnie Ripperton, Curtis Mayfield, and Smokey Robinson because | ||||||
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| 1 | of his enthusiastic, on-air embrace of their music; and
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| 2 | WHEREAS, During his broadcast on WVON, Herb Kent became | ||||||
| 3 | widely known as the "Voice of the People" for Chicago's South | ||||||
| 4 | Side, the spokesperson for local African-Americans; he became | ||||||
| 5 | known widely as "Herb Kent, the Cool Gent", and even served as | ||||||
| 6 | producer for an R & B group named The Cool Gents; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, Herb Kent was the recipient of many awards and | ||||||
| 8 | recognitions, including an induction into the Museum of | ||||||
| 9 | Broadcast Communications Radio Hall of Fame in 1995; in 1996, | ||||||
| 10 | he witnessed the official dedication of a street on Chicago's | ||||||
| 11 | South Side in his honor: "Herb Kent Drive"; he was also | ||||||
| 12 | recognized by the dedication of a United States postal stamp | ||||||
| 13 | bearing his image, which was included in the 1998 "Golden Days | ||||||
| 14 | of Radio" series, and was named the Honorary Mayor of | ||||||
| 15 | Bronzeville by the citizens of that South Side community the | ||||||
| 16 | following year; therefore, be it
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| 17 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL | ||||||
| 18 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we, along with his | ||||||
| 19 | family and friends, mourn the passing of Herb Kent; and be it | ||||||
| 20 | further
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| 21 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 22 | presented to the family of Herb Kent as an expression of our | ||||||
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| 1 | sympathy.
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