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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., President and
3 Founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, is one of America's
4 foremost political and civil rights leaders; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Over the past 40 years, he has played a pivotal
6 role in virtually every movement for empowerment, peace, civil
7 rights, gender equality, and economic and social justice; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson has been called "the conscience
9 of the nation" and "the great unifier", challenging America to
10 establish just and humane priorities; and
 
11     WHEREAS, He is known for bringing people together across
12 lines of race, class, gender, and belief; and
 
13     WHEREAS, He was born on October 8, 1941, in Greenville,
14 South Carolina; he attended the University of Illinois on a
15 football scholarship where he "Crossed the Burning Sands" at Pi
16 Psi Chapter and became a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity,
17 Inc., becoming the 15th 2nd Vice Grand Basileus and later
18 transferring to North Carolina A&T University; and
 
19     WHEREAS, Jesse Jackson founded People United to Save
20 Humanity in Chicago in 1971; he founded the National Rainbow
21 Coalition in 1984, and merged the two into the Rainbow/PUSH
22 Coalition in 1996; and
 
23     WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson's two presidential campaigns in
24 1984 and 1988 broke new ground in United States politics and
25 inspired over three million people to register and join the
26 political process; and
 
27     WHEREAS, As a highly respected world leader, Reverend
28 Jackson has acted many times as an international diplomat in

 

 

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1 sensitive situations; and
 
2     WHEREAS, In 1990, in an impressive victory, he was elected
3 to the post of United States Senator from Washington, D.C., a
4 position also known as "statehood Senator"; and
 
5     WHEREAS, A hallmark of Reverend Jackson's work has been his
6 commitment to youth; he has visited thousands of high schools,
7 colleges, universities, and correctional facilities
8 encouraging excellence, inspiring hope, and challenging young
9 people to award themselves with academic excellence and to stay
10 drug free; and
 
11     WHEREAS, A renowned orator, Reverend Jackson has received
12 numerous honors for his work in human and civil rights and for
13 nonviolent social change; and
 
14     WHEREAS, In October 1997, he was appointed by President
15 Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright as
16 "Special Envoy of the President and Secretary of State for the
17 Promotion of Democracy in Africa"; and
 
18     WHEREAS, Reverend Jackson married his college sweetheart,
19 Jacqueline Brown, in 1963, and they are the proud parents of
20 five children; and
 
21     WHEREAS, One of their sons, Jesse Jackson, Jr., a
22 Congressmen from Illinois, became a member of Omega Psi Phi
23 Fraternity, Nu Pi Chapter in 2006; and
 
24     WHEREAS, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity was founded on November
25 17, 1911 at Howard University in Washington, D.C.; the
26 fraternity is the first black fraternal organization to be
27 founded at a historically black college; The official Omega Psi
28 Phi website states "From its inception, the fraternity has
29 worked to build a strong and effective force of men dedicated

 

 

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1 to principles of manhood, scholarship, perseverance, and
2 capable of giving expression to the hopes and aspirations of an
3 unfree people in the land of the free"; therefore, be it
 
4     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
5 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
6 we congratulate Reverend Jesse Jackson on his continued hard
7 work for the people of this State and the country as a whole;
8 and be it further
 
9     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
10 presented to the Reverend Jesse Jackson, along with our sincere
11 regards.