Title: Caribbean-American Heritage Month

Summary: Urging Congress to recognize the month of June each year as "Caribbean-American Heritage Month", etc.

Full Text:
WHEREAS, emigration from the Caribbean region to the American colonies began as early as 1619, with the arrival of indentured workers in Jamestown, Virginia, and since 1820, millions of people have emigrated from the Caribbean region to the United States, and WHEREAS, as educators, authors, community leaders and activists, musicians, and politicians, Caribbean-Americans have made their mark on every facet of our society and have contributed to the betterment and diversity of our state and nation, and WHEREAS, counted among the many famous sons and daughters of the Caribbean are activist W. E. B. Du Bois; Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton; the first African-American Secretary of State, Colin Powell; actress Cicely Tyson; actor Sidney Poitier, the first African-American actor to receive the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role; author, poet, and civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson; musician, actor, and activist Harry Belafonte; athlete Roberto Clemente, the first Latino inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame; and numerous others who have displayed great strength and resiliency while serving as pioneers among the people of the Caribbean, and WHEREAS, the modern political influences of Caribbean Americans are evident in the election of a former member of the Florida House of Representatives, Jennifer Carroll of Trinidad and Tobago, as Florida s first Caribbean-American Lieutenant Governor; the election of former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Anthony G. Brown, who is of Jamaican descent; and the continued representation in local, state, and national governments by members from the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Haiti, Jamaica, and other Caribbean nations, and WHEREAS, in June 2005, the United States House of Representatives unanimously adopted a concurrent resolution recognizing the significance of Caribbean people and their descendants in the history and culture of the United States and observing the month of June as  Caribbean-American Heritage Month,  and WHEREAS, on February 14, 2006, the United States Senate unanimously passed the resolution, culminating a two-year bicameral effort, and WHEREAS, since the passage of the resolution in 2005, the White House has issued an annual proclamation recognizing June as  Caribbean-American Heritage Month,  exemplifying the importance of this observance across the nation, and WHEREAS, the United States of America has thrived as a country of immigrants, united by common values and the promise of a better tomorrow, NOW, THEREFORE, Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: That the Congress of the United States is urged to recognize the month of June each year as  Caribbean-American Heritage Month  as a celebration of our shared past with the Caribbean region, intertwined present, and inextricably linked future, as well as the strength, diversity, and richness that Caribbean-Americans have woven into the fabric of this nation. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State is directed to dispatch copies of this memorial to the President of the United States, to the President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and to each member of the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.