Full Text of HR0535 94th General Assembly
HR0535 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives | 3 |
| learned with sadness of the death of jazz great Oscar Brown Jr. | 4 |
| on Sunday, May 29, 2005; and
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| WHEREAS, The son of a South Side attorney and real estate | 6 |
| broker, Mr. Brown was active in the civil rights movement with | 7 |
| a knack for bluntness that was later found in his songs; | 8 |
| growing up in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood, he was taught | 9 |
| the importance of giving back to the community, that sharing | 10 |
| your talents is the best way to uplift others; in a career that | 11 |
| spanned more than 50 years, he became a jazz giant, revered as | 12 |
| a lyricist, songwriter, composer, singer, and performer; and
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| WHEREAS, At age 15, Mr. Brown made his professional debut | 14 |
| on the national radio show "Secret City"; he graduated from | 15 |
| Englewood High School and attended classes at the University of | 16 |
| Michigan and Lincoln University, a small college in | 17 |
| Pennsylvania; and
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| WHEREAS, Before there was such a thing, Mr. Brown was a | 19 |
| rapper who recited street poems to the pulse of Shakespeare's | 20 |
| iambic pentameter; he was known as "The High Priest of Hip" and | 21 |
| "The Grandpap of Rap"; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Brown saw music and song writing as a way to | 23 |
| enrich lives; he released his first album, "Sin and Soul", in | 24 |
| 1960 and received glorious reviews as an emerging jazz | 25 |
| musician; and
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| WHEREAS, In the 1960s, Mr. Brown hosted "Jazz Scene | 27 |
| U.S.A.", a television program broadcast from the West Coast | 28 |
| that introduced jazz to a nationwide audience; Mr. Brown | 29 |
| remembered to reach back to the community; he worked with gang | 30 |
| members, sometimes casting them in productions after |
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| discovering they could sing; and
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| WHEREAS, Throughout his career, he wrote a dozen musicals, | 3 |
| including "Buck White" starring boxing great Muhammad Ali on | 4 |
| Broadway, countless poems, and more than 1,000 songs, including | 5 |
| "The Snake", "Signifying Monkey", and Miles Davis' "All Blues"; | 6 |
| and | 7 |
| WHEREAS, He spoke very candidly about the situation in | 8 |
| America in terms of racism and politics; a documentary about | 9 |
| his life and a book of his poetry are scheduled to be released | 10 |
| in the fall; he opened "Jazz at Lincoln Center" in New York in | 11 |
| October and celebrated the March opening of "Music is My Life, | 12 |
| Politics My Mistress", a documentary about his life; and
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| WHEREAS, One principle that Mr. Brown believed in and | 14 |
| attempted to foster in young people was the concept that "hip" | 15 |
| should stand for "human improvement potential", because he | 16 |
| believed that every human has some potential; and
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| WHEREAS, The passing of Oscar Brown Jr. has been deeply | 18 |
| felt by many, especially his wife, Jean Pace Brown; his son, | 19 |
| Napoleon Brown; his daughters, Donna Brown Kane, Iantha Casen, | 20 |
| Maggie Brown, and Africa Pace Brown; his 16 grandchildren; and | 21 |
| his four great-grandchildren; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 23 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 24 |
| we mourn the passing of Oscar Brown Jr., and we extend our | 25 |
| deepest sympathy to his family, friends, and all who knew and | 26 |
| loved him; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 28 |
| presented to his family as an expression of our sincere | 29 |
| condolences for the loss of a jazz giant who gave so much to | 30 |
| his community and to the music world.
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