Title
Proclamation Declaring February 2020 as Black History Month. (City Manager 2110)
Body
Proclamation
Whereas, in 1973, Elector Littlejohn organized Alameda's first Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration on the steps of City Hall. In 1978, Mayor Chuck Corica invited the celebration inside, where it has been held and organized by Reverend Betty Williams annually for the past 41 years; and
Whereas, since 2017, a banner celebrating Black History Month has been hung at City Hall and at all Alameda schools with illustrations of local, regional, and national influential African Americans; and
Whereas, African American Alamedans are represented in civic, civil, and human rights organizations, are local business owners, City staff, Board and Commission members, and have served as elected members of the Alameda Unified School District Board of Education and the Alameda City Council; and
Whereas, African American contributions have been recognized throughout Alameda in the naming of places, including a school, streets, housing developments, sports facilities and a community center; and
Whereas, recently our community led a successful effort to change the name of Haight Elementary School, previously named after a former California Governor known for supporting racist policies. Students now attend Love Elementary School with pride; and
Whereas, the Black History Month 2020 theme is "African Americans and the Vote," honoring the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote, the 150th anniversary of the Fifteenth Amendment giving black men the right to vote; and
Whereas, 2020 marks the 43rd year of Black History Month, or National African American History Month, calling on Americans to "seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history."
Now, therefore, be it resolved, that I, Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft, Mayor of the City of Alameda, hereby proc...
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