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LRB-2521/1

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2021 - 2022 LEGISLATURE

2021 Senate JOINT RESOLUTION 20

March 16, 2021 - Introduced by Senators Johnson, Carpenter, Smith, Agard, Wirch, Ringhand, Erpenbach, Roys and Larson, cosponsored by Representatives Stubbs, Bowen, Haywood, L. Myers, Baldeh, Drake, Moore Omokunde, Shankland, Milroy, Hebl, S. Rodriguez, Andraca, Snodgrass, Ohnstad, Vruwink, Pope, Ortiz-Velez, Doyle, Hesselbein, Neubauer, Subeck, Hong, Cabrera, Spreitzer, Shelton, Anderson, Riemer, Goyke, Vining, Brostoff, Conley, McGuire and Emerson. Referred to Committee on Senate Organization.

SJR20,1,2 Relating to: proclaiming February 2021 as Black History Month and honoring past and current black legislators.

SJR20,1,5 Whereas, Black History Month provides a deliberate opportunity to reflect on the common humanity underlying all people and to raise awareness and foster respect for the heritage and contributions of people of African descent; and

SJR20,1,11 Whereas, this year marks over 400 years since the arrival of enslaved Africans in Virginia. The existence of Africans in North America can be traced back to 1525, and through 1866 the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade is estimated to have ensnared more than 12 million African people, with an estimated 10 million surviving the unconscionable Middle Passage, landing in North America, the Caribbean, and South America; and

SJR20,1,14 Whereas, Wisconsin history first references African descendants in a speech given in 1725 by a chief of the Illinois Indians, in which he said, “a negro belonging to Monsieur de Boisbriant" at Green Bay; and

SJR20,2,4 Whereas, the United States has recognized black history annually since February 12, 1926, first as “Negro History Week" and later as “Black History Month," by noted Harvard scholar and historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson, celebrating the ethnic and racial diversity that enriches and strengthens our nation; and

SJR20,2,9 Whereas, both enslaved and free people of African descent have participated in every aspect of America's effort to secure, protect, and advance the cause of freedom and civil rights, and have stories that are an inspiration to all citizens, that reflect the triumph of the human spirit, and offer the hopes of everyday people to rise above both prejudice and circumstance and to build lives of dignity; and

SJR20,2,11 Whereas, people of African descent or African Americans have made measurable differences in their respective industries, such as:

SJR20,2,12 Professional trailblazers

SJR20,2,13 Naomi Carter—first African American nurse in Madison;

SJR20,2,15 Grant Gordon—first African American principal in Milwaukee and is active in the NAACP;

SJR20,2,17 Dr. Kwasi Obeng—first African American to serve as chief of staff for the Madison Common Council;

SJR20,2,19 Judson Walter Minor Jr.—first Black police officer to serve in the Milwaukee Police Department;