RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, We, the members of the Chicago City Council, wish to extend our congratulations and warmest birthday wishes to Dr. Timuel D. Black in honor of his 100th Birthday; and,
WHEREAS, On behalf of the entire 4th Ward and the greater City of Chicago, Alderman Sophia King would like to extend her personal tribute to Dr. Black on this momentous occasion as recognition for being an outstanding citizen of the City of Chicago; and,
WHEREAS, Dr. Black is an esteemed and revered educator, political activist, community leader, oral historian, author and philosopher; and,
WHEREAS, Dr. Black was born to sharecroppers in Birmingham, Alabama on December 7, 1918. In 1919, his family relocated to Chicago as part ofthe first Great Migration, and ultimately settled in the present-day neighborhood of Bronzeville; and,
WHEREAS, He attended the all-black DuSable High School, where he was classmates with Nat King Cole, John Johnson and Harold Washington Jr. As a student, he worked to support his family by delivering papers for the Chicago Defender newspaper; and,
WHEREAS, During the Great Depression he worked as a delivery boy in a local grocery store, organizing a campaign known as "Don't Spend Your Money Where You Can't Work." The campaign ultimately led to Dr. Black forming the local chapter of the Retail Clerks Union, where he gained exposure to the life of an organizer; and,
WHEREAS, After organizing for several causes, including the Congress on Racial Equality, which worked to desegregate Chicago department stores and public accommodations, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served in the 308lh Quartermaster Railhead Company. He fought in two ofthe bloodiest battles of World War II, the Invasion of Normandy and the Battle ofthe Bulge; and,
WHEREAS, His service and valor resulted in him being awarded four Battle Stars and a Croix de Guerre, the highest military honor accorded by France to non-citizens; and,
WHEREAS, After the war, he obtained degrees...
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