PRINTER'S NO.  2186

  

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

  

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

No.

361

Session of

2009

  

  

INTRODUCED BY MYERS, BEYER, BISHOP, BROWN, CALTAGIRONE, COHEN, D. COSTA, CRUZ, DENLINGER, DiGIROLAMO, DONATUCCI, D. EVANS, FLECK, GEIST, GINGRICH, GRUCELA, HICKERNELL, JOHNSON, JOSEPHS, KIRKLAND, KORTZ, LONGIETTI, MAHONEY, MANN, MARKOSEK, McCALL, M. O'BRIEN, O'NEILL, OLIVER, PALLONE, PARKER, PAYTON, PRESTON, ROEBUCK, SANTONI, SCAVELLO, SONNEY, THOMAS, VULAKOVICH, WATERS, WATSON, WHEATLEY, WILLIAMS, YOUNGBLOOD, HENNESSEY, SEIP AND MAJOR, JUNE 17, 2009

  

  

INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, JUNE 17, 2009  

  

  

  

A RESOLUTION

  

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Recognizing the third Friday of June 2009 as "Juneteenth

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National Freedom Day" in Pennsylvania.

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WHEREAS, Originating in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865,

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when slaves in that state learned that they had been freed,

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"Juneteenth National Freedom Day" is the oldest African-American

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holiday observance in the United States; and

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WHEREAS, "Juneteenth National Freedom Day" commemorates the

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survival instinct of Africans who endured a transatlantic

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journey known as the Middle Passage on slave ships from their

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homeland to this country; and

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WHEREAS, Approximately 11.5 million Africans survived the

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harsh voyage to slave markets in the New World during the late

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17th century, and the slave population in the American colonies

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grew quickly; and

 


1

WHEREAS, "Juneteenth National Freedom Day" further

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commemorates the impact of slavery, the abolition movement and

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African-American emancipation in the United States and has

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become a traditional celebration of independence, human rights

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and African-American culture in many communities; therefore be

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it

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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize the

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third Friday of June 2009 as "Juneteenth National Freedom Day"

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in Pennsylvania.

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