Proclamation
NATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN
HISTORY MONTH
“February 2022”
WHEREAS, as we celebrate National African American History Month, we recognize the heritage and achievements of African Americans. The contributions African Americans have made and continue to make are an integral part of our society, and the history of African Americans exemplifies the resilience and innovative spirit that continue to make our City and Nation great; and WHEREAS, for generations, African Americans have embodied the shared progress of our City and Nation. Through toil and struggle and with courageous actions that have broken barriers, they have made our City and Nation a better place to live and work for everybody. Women like Katherine Johnson, a pioneer in space history whose work helped America win the Space Race, and Madam C.J. Walker, who became one of the most successful female entrepreneurs of her time, paved the way for both women and African Americans in their respective fields. Robert Smalls, a man born into slavery, founded our Nation's first free and compulsory public school system. Later in life, he served as a lawmaker in South Carolina's State legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives. The strength and determination of men and women like these remind us that our City and Nation brims with people whose contributions continue to make it stronger and better; and WHEREAS, this year, African American History Month calls upon us to reflect on the crucial role of migration in the history of African Americans. Such migrations gave way to a more diverse and stratified interracial and intra-racial urban population amid a changing social environment, such as the rise of the Garvey movement in New York, Detroit and New Orleans; the emergence of both black industrial workers and black entrepreneurs; the growing number and variety of urban churches and new religions; new music forms like ragtime, blues, and jazz; the blossoming of visual and literary arts, as in New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, and Paris in the 1910s and 1920s. It reminds us of the importance of teaching and reflecting upon the many roles African Americans have played in building this Nation and driving it forward; and WHEREAS, as we journey toward a stronger, more united City and Nation, let us use this commemoration of African American History Month to serve as a reminder of the need for meaningful dialogue and shared commitment to collective action that uplifts and empowers, as well as of the strength, ingenuity, and perseverance required of us in the years to come.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that I Dennis McCord, by virtue of authority vested in me as Mayor of the City of Patterson, California, do hereby officially proclaim “February 2022” as National African American History Month. I call upon public officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of this City and Nation to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies and activities.
IN WITNESS HEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the City of Patterson to be affixed this 15
th day of February 2022.
__________________________
Dennis McCord
Mayor