IN RECOGNITION OF THE BRAVE YOUTH AND WOMEN OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

WHEREAS, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) has a deep commitment to civil rights, youth, and women, who were such a strong force behind the civil rights movement;

WHEREAS, six of the “Little Rock Nine” were teenage girls who put their own safety in harm’s way for a chance at a better education and equal rights for all;

WHEREAS, college students across the country organized conferences and established organizations such as the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee that mobilized young people to end racial segregation;

WHEREAS, young women and men across the nation answered the call to a civil rights movement and organized sit-ins, demonstrations, marches, and boycotts;

WHEREAS, on August 19, 1958, Dr. Clara Shepard Luper, advisor of the Oklahoma City National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Youth Council, with the help and support of many prominent citizens in Oklahoma City, led 13 Council members to Katz Drug Store in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where they were refused service pursuant to the segregation policies of the era;

WHEREAS, Dr. Luper continued with subsequent efforts that led to desegregation of Oklahoma City Public Schools and public accommodations in Tulsa and Lawton, and successful organization of the Oklahoma City sanitation workers strike;

WHEREAS, in her fight for equal voting, banking, employment, and housing rights, Dr. Luper organized fellow citizens to participate in marches, boycotts, and sit-ins, even suffering personal injury during the famed “Bloody Sunday” when 600 citizens were attacked by state and local police whilst marching from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965;

WHEREAS, Dr. Luper transitioned this life on June 8, 2011, thus bringing to a close a life and legacy of standing for truth, justice, and equality for all people;

WHEREAS, Dr. Dorothy Irene Height was born on March 24, 1912, and was one of the 20th century’s early activists against social injustice;

WHEREAS, Dr. Height was the only woman leader among the civil rights leadership known as the “Big Six” in the 1960s (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, A. Philip Randolph, John Lewis, and James Farmer);

WHEREAS, Dr. Height headed the National Council of Negro Women for four decades, served on the National Board of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) for three decades, and was elected the tenth National President of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority (1947-1956);

WHEREAS, in 2004, Dr. Height was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the most distinguished award bestowed by the United States Congress, for her work as a profound humanitarian and her tireless service to democracy and equality for all;

WHEREAS, Dr. Height received Presidential honors from Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton;

WHEREAS, President Barack Obama has called Dr. Height the “Godmother of the Civil Rights Movement,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid referred to her as a “Civil Rights Icon,” and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced House Resolution 1281 on April 21, 2010, expressing recognition for Dr. Height’s life-long dedication and leadership in the struggle for civil rights for all people;

WHEREAS, Coretta Scott King was not only the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but an accomplished civil rights leader in her own right who continued the civil rights movement after her husband’s assassination;

WHEREAS, Mrs. King received numerous awards including the Gandhi Peace Price and honorary degrees from institutions with Princeton University, Morehouse College, Duke University, and Bates College, among the sixty institutions from which she received an honorary degree;

WHEREAS, Mrs. King was a crucial force behind the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and led the effort to have Dr. King’s birthday celebrated as a national holiday;

WHEREAS, Mrs. King was a leader against South African Apartheid here in the United State by organizing sit-ins and joining with Mrs. Winnie Mandela to oppose the false imprisonment of her husband, Nelson Mandela;

WHEREAS, Mrs. King influenced world leaders across the globe during her fifty years of public service, having met with numerous heads of states and spiritual leaders, including Pope John Paul, the Dalai Lama, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu;

WHEREAS, Mrs. King suffered the dangers associated with the civil rights movement and endured in the face of losing her own husband, founding and leading the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change for 27 years, and continuing to be a leader in the civil rights movement until her death in 2006;

WHEREAS, on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was ordered to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus for a white passenger, Mrs. Parks refused, knowing she would be jailed, and her courageous actions launched the Montgomery Bus Boycott;

WHEREAS, Mrs. Parks’s actions served as a spark that ignited an entire peaceful movement for equality among races;

WHEREAS, Mrs. Parks is known as the “First Lady of Civil Rights” and the “Mother of the Freedom Movement”;

WHEREAS, Mrs. Parks has received a number of honors including the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom;

WHEREAS, Mrs. Parks was the thirty-first person and the first American, non-government official to lie in state in the United States Capitol Rotunda; and

WHEREAS, countless youth and women played roles in the civil rights movement who remain anonymous and to whom we and generations to come are indebted.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOVLVED, that the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) hereby recognizes the critically important role that youth and women played during the civil rights movement and profoundly appreciates their courage, leadership, and sacrifice during those difficult times and without whom the civil rights movement would not have succeeded;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NBCSL acknowledges and celebrates the life of Dr. Clara Shepherd Luper of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the “Mother of the Sit-in Movement,” as Dr. Luper successfully led the first sit-in in the United States on August 19, 1958, an action that changed the culture of both a state and a nation;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NBCSL recognizes the contributions of Dr. Dorothy Irene Height for her leadership and conviction during her lifetime of service toward the cause of civil rights;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NBCSL gives our deepest thanks to Coretta Scott King for her sacrifices and tenacity during her lifetime of work dedicated toward equality for all;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NBSCL recognizes Rosa Louise McCauley Parks for unwavering courage that allowed her to stand up against injustice, which inspired a nation; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the NBCSL honors all who participated in peaceful and non-violent demonstrations to ensure equal rights for all Americans.

SPONSOR: Senator Constance N. Johnson (OK)
Committee of Jurisdiction: Youth Policy Committee
Certified by Committee Chair: Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter (SC)
Ratified in Plenary Session: Ratification Date is December 9, 2011
Ratification is certified by: Representative Barbara W. Ballard (KS), President