Full Text of SR0561 94th General Assembly
SR0561 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of Illinois | 3 |
| learned with regret of the death of Jorja English Palmer, | 4 |
| Chicago organizer, activist, and freedom fighter, on December | 5 |
| 29, 2005; and
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| WHEREAS, Mrs. Palmer was born in New Madrid, Missouri, the | 7 |
| seventh of nine children; her parents died when she was four, | 8 |
| and she and her siblings moved to Chicago's South Side to live | 9 |
| with an aunt; and
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| WHEREAS, She graduated from Du Sable High School in 1948 | 11 |
| and had already joined the National Association for the | 12 |
| Advancement of Colored People at the urging of several | 13 |
| teachers; this was the beginning of a lifetime of activism that | 14 |
| included working in public relations for Dr. Martin Luther King | 15 |
| Jr., the Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., and Minister Louis | 16 |
| Farrakhan; she was a leader in the battle to end school | 17 |
| segregation in Chicago, and she fought for fair housing in the | 18 |
| city;
and
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| WHEREAS, In 1975, Mrs. Palmer married Lutrelle "Lu" Fleming | 20 |
| Palmer Jr., who made a name for himself as an outspoken | 21 |
| advocate for civil rights as a journalist for the Chicago Daily | 22 |
| News and a regular commentator on Chicago's airwaves; he | 23 |
| preceded her in death in 2004; together, the Palmers were a | 24 |
| "one-two punch" of commitment to a range of causes, including | 25 |
| founding Chicago Black United Communities (CBUC); and
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| WHEREAS, In 1981, the couple used the CBUC to launch the | 27 |
| city's largest voter registration drive, which solidified a | 28 |
| constituency of black voters for Harold Washington, who went on | 29 |
| to become Chicago's first black mayor in 1983; in 1982, Mrs. | 30 |
| Palmer established the Stanford English Home for Boys, which is | 31 |
| considered the first group home in Illinois for black children, |
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| named for her autistic son, the late Stanford English; and
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| WHEREAS, The passing of Jorja English Palmer has been | 3 |
| deeply felt by many, especially her daughters, Darien Y. Simon | 4 |
| and Karen E. English; her son, Jami D. English; her | 5 |
| stepdaughter, Trudy Palmer; and her stepson, Lu Palmer III; | 6 |
| therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL | 8 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 9 |
| Jorja English Palmer, a woman who exerted a profound influence | 10 |
| in the lives of countless people, fighting for justice and | 11 |
| equality, and we extend our sincere condolences to her family, | 12 |
| friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 14 |
| presented to her family as an expression of our deepest | 15 |
| sympathy.
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