Full Text of SR1272 102nd General Assembly
SR1272 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened | 3 | | to learn of the death of John Hughes, who passed away on | 4 | | September 5, 2022; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, John Hughes was born to Ernest W. Hughes Jr. and | 6 | | Sletta Estella Hughes in Princeton, New Jersey on June 21, | 7 | | 1951; he graduated as a Paul Robeson Scholar from Rutgers | 8 | | University in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1974; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, John Hughes held a long career in public | 10 | | broadcasting; he began at the New Jersey Public Broadcasting | 11 | | Authority after college before leaving to hold executive | 12 | | positions at Georgia Public Broadcasting and WABE in Atlanta, | 13 | | Georgia; he then became a general manager for Clark Atlanta | 14 | | University's radio station, WCLK; he later relocated to become | 15 | | a program executive at Howard University's WHUT public | 16 | | television station in Washington, D.C.; he also served as | 17 | | general manager of WPFW, the Pacifica station in Washington, | 18 | | D.C.; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Most recently, John Hughes served as general | 20 | | manager of radio station KPVU, located on the campus of | 21 | | Prairie View A&M University, in Prairie View, Texas, starting | 22 | | in 2016; during his tenure, he rebranded KPVU to The Art of |
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| 1 | | Soul to bridge gaps between neo-soul, jazz, world music, and | 2 | | Latin music; he also helped KPVU, traditionally a jazz | 3 | | station, introduce modern R&B and hip-hop programming to its | 4 | | schedule; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, John Hughes was a lifelong lover of music, with | 6 | | some of his favorite artists including Héctor Lavoe, Willie | 7 | | Colón, Gil Scott-Heron, Celia Cruz, Donny Hathaway, Grover | 8 | | Washington Jr., Nina Simone, George Benson, Stevie Wonder, | 9 | | Gregory Porter, and Paul Robeson; he loved international | 10 | | travel, food, sports, politics, Cuban art, and culture; he | 11 | | maintained decades-long friendships with his Groove Phi Groove | 12 | | brothers and his Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and New Jersey | 13 | | crews; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, John Hughes was known for his stunning wit, his | 15 | | soaring intelligence, his captivating storytelling, his | 16 | | infinite love for friends and family, his mischievous sense of | 17 | | adventure, and his boundless charm; he will be remembered for | 18 | | advocating for greater diversity in programming, mentoring | 19 | | students of color at historically Black colleges and | 20 | | universities, and helping to create a broadcast engineering | 21 | | program at Prairie View A&M University to increase the number | 22 | | of Black engineers in the industry; and
| 23 | | WHEREAS, John Hughes was preceded in death by his parents |
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| 1 | | and his brother, Thomas; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, John Hughes is survived by his siblings, Charles | 3 | | Hughes, Douglas Hughes, Nancy Holley Hughes, Ella Noyland | 4 | | Hughes, Ernia P. Hughes, and Sletta Hughes Arobo; his | 5 | | godmother; and an extended family of cousins, nieces, nephews, | 6 | | and godchildren; therefore, be it
| 7 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL | 8 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 9 | | John Hughes and extend our sincere condolences to his family, | 10 | | friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further
| 11 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 12 | | presented to the family of John Hughes as an expression of our | 13 | | deepest sympathy.
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