A Resolution Honoring Chicago Residents Fighting the Legacy of Apartheid in South Africa
WHEREAS, For nearly 50 years, the South African government imposed a brutal, violent system of oppression and racial segregation known as Apartheid, in which 30 million non-white South Africans were denied basic civil liberties, including the right to vote, and.
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council became one of the first city councils in the nation to officially condemn apartheid and impose sanctions and divestment against the South African Regime, which helped lead to the end of that brutal regime, and
WHEREAS, Rogers Park resident Soraya Sheppard, originally of South Africa, fought apartheid in her home country and is now working to share the stories and works of South African artists who were prohibited by the Apartheid regime from displaying their art because of the color of their skin and their anti-apartheid views, and
WHEREAS, Soraya Sheppard's work, and her organization Color Me Africa Fine Arts, have been praised by major news outlets including the Chicago Sun-Times for its innovative approach to bring attention to a previously overlooked component of the tragedy of Apartheid, and
WHEREAS, Soraya Sheppard, Color Me Africa Fine Arts, the South African Consulate in Chicago and the government of South Africa worked collaboratively to bring talented artists impacted by Apartheid to the 2014 African Festival of the Arts to display their work to many Chicagoans, and.
WHEREAS, The South African Consulate in Chicago and the government of South Africa have contributed greatly to the cultural and educational landscape of the City of Chicago by hosting numerous worthwhile events and programs and sharing the lessons of Nelson Mandela's legacy, now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and Members of the City Council of the City of Chicago, gathered here this 10th day of September, 2014, do hereby wholeheartedly commend the efforts of Soraya Sheppard, Color Me Africa Fine Art...
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