Title:
Committee(s) Assignment:
Amendment of Municipal Code Section 2-152-090 by adding Juneteenth as official City holiday and closure of municipal office in observance thereof
Committee on Workforce Development
CITY OF CHICAGO
COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND HUMAN RELATIONS CITY COUNCIL CITY HALL - ROOM 300 121 NORTH LASALLE STREET CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60602
ALDERMAN RODERICK T. SAWYER CHAIRMAN
PHONE: 312-744-1367 FACSIMILE: 312-744-2870
City Council Meeting January 15, 2020
To Madam President and Members of the City Council:
The Committee on Health and Human Relations held a meeting on January 10, 2020 considering the following Items:
02019-9156
Amendment of Municipal Code Section 2-152-090 by adding Juneteenth as official City holiday and closure of municipal office in observance thereof. Re-Refer to Workforce Development Committee
R2019-850
Call for hearing(s) on women's role in cannabis industry. Re-Refer to Workforce Development Committee
begs leave to recommend that this Honorable Body pass said it will be Re-Refer to the Committee of Workforce Development in which is transmitted herewith.
Roderick T. Sawyer, Chairman Committee on Health and Human Relations
This recommendation was concurred in by a viva voce vote ofthe Committee on Health and Human Relations.
ORDINANCE Q^J&~h <^S
WHEREAS, Juneteenth is the oldest recognized celebration observing the freedom of African-Americans from slavery in the United States. Juneteenth is a historic milestone reminding Americans of the triumph of the human spirit over the harshness of slavery and the basic civil right of freedom and equality for all; and
WHEREAS, The celebration honors those 11 14 million African-Americans who survived, in chains, the voyage to the Americas as well as the millions that did not survive. For more than 200 years, enslaved African-Americans were stripped of their humanity by forced family separation, rape, branding, whipping, mutilation, and death; and
WHEREAS, The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on September 22, 1862, with an effective date of January 1, 1863, but it had minimal immediate effect on the majority of enslaved people who remained in captivity and oppression by slave owners; and
WHEREAS, On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Confederate-controlled Texas to take possession of the state and to enforce the emancipation of enslaved people throughout the state; and
WHEREAS, Two years, five months, and eighteen days after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, the last of those enslaved within the borders ofthe United States were freed; and
WHEREAS, The word "Juneteenth" became the name for the joyous celebration of freedom from slavery as a result ofthe words "June Nineteenth" combined together in speech;
WHEREAS, Juneteenth is celebrated in more than 205 American cities and is officially recognized by 46 states including our state of Illinois; and
WHEREAS, It is not enough for the City of Chicago to just have parades, barbeques, and events celebrating Juneteenth. Chicago must recognize Juneteenth as an official City holiday, which will help support the campaign to recognize "Juneteenth National Freedom Day" as a national holiday; and
WHEREAS, Chicago, a city where millions of African-Americans fled to in two great migration waves, served as a refuge from terrorism; and
WHEREAS, Chicago is a place where millions of African-Americans never succumb to despair or cynicism and have always believed they could write their own destiny. It is from our many Chicago neighborhoods that African-Americans pursued personal and professional endeavors while building a community embodying the spirit of their ancestry; and
WHEREAS, From those battered bodies and souls, African-Americans, through blood, sweat, and tears have shaped the face ofChicago. Despite segregation and denial of fundamental rights, Chicago's politics, entertainment, sports, and civic life have all been impacted by the strength and heart of these descendants of enslaved people. Chicago's DNA would be incomplete without the contributions of African-Americans; and
WHEREAS, Chicago, a city founded by Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, an African descendant; the home of Barack Obama, the first African-American President; and now led by its first African-American, lesbian mayor, can serve as a symbol and vessel that pushes this campaign forward; now, therefore
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF CHICAGO
SECTION 1. The foregoing recitals are adopted and incorporated into and made a part ofthis Ordinance.
SECTION 2. Section 2-152-090 ofthe Municipal Code ofChicago is hereby amended by adding the language underlined and removing the language stricken, as follows:
2-152-090 Office hours.
The offices of the respective departments, bureaus or other agencies of the city government, except as hereinafter mentioned, shall be open during regular business hours as directed by the head of each department, bureau or other agency, and shall be closed on New Year's Day, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday, Lincoln's Birthday, Washington's Birthday, Casimir Pulaski's Birthday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth. Fourth of July, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
However, for the duration of any national emergency declared by authority of the Congress of the United States or during any war in which the United States is engaged all city offices in the central business district of the City of Chicago shall be open at such hours as the mayor shall prescribe.
' " MARIA HADDEN Alderman, 49th Ward
SECTION 3. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall take effect upon passage and approval.
V \0AVID MOORE Alderman, 17th Ward