Title
Proclamation Declaring February 2018 as Black History Month. (City Manager 2110)
Body
Proclamation
Whereas, 2018 is the 42nd year of Black History Month, or National African American History Month, an annual national celebration of the achievements and contributions of Black Americans to our country; and
Whereas, in 1917, the people of Alameda voted to amend our City Charter to add the Board of Social Services (today’s Social Service Human Relations Board “SSHRB”), which in 2002, co-sponsored the “No Room for Hate in Alameda” campaign with the City of Alameda; and
Whereas, in 1979, the Reverend Betty Williams held the first annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Remembrance and Celebration ceremony in Alameda’s City Hall Chambers; and next year the 40th will occur; and
Whereas, in 2015, the City of Alameda co-sponsored the “Everyone Belongs Here,” campaign; and
Whereas, in 2016, the City proclaimed June 19th, as Juneteenth Day, recognizing and celebrating the country’s oldest commemoration of Black and African American freedom and achievement; and
Whereas, in 2017, the City, with our community-at-large, created a banner for Black History Month to display over City Hall, illustrating the faces of local, regional and national influential African Americans. In solidarity with the City, Alameda Unified School District displayed the banner at all school sites, and it will be similarly displayed throughout our City this year and in future years; and
Whereas, the City’s banner includes Congressman John Lewis, one of the prominent civil rights leaders who organized the movement to end racial segregation in the United States; Maya Angelou, a prolific, renowned civil rights poet and author, including the memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Ruby Bridges a civil rights activist and the first African American child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana in 1960 and for whom a school is named after in Alameda; former President Barack Obama, our country’s 44th president and first African American to assume the presidency; Congresswoman Barbara Lee, our U.S. Representative for the California's 13th Congressional district, serving since 1998 and the first African American woman elected to the State Senate from Northern California; James Baldwin, an influential writer and social critic, whose essays included Notes of a Native Son (1955); and Elector Littlejohn, a beloved local civil rights leader and champion of efforts to bridge racial gaps in Alameda.
Now, therefore, be it resolved, that I, Trish Herrera Spencer, Mayor of the City of Alameda, hereby proclaim February 2018, as
Black History Month
in Alameda, and encourage our community to observe and celebrate this month with appropriate activities, ceremonies and programs.
Trish Herrera Spencer
Mayor