III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 551 

Celebrating Black History Month. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 8 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 7), 2024 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, Mr. WARNOCK, Ms. 

BUTLER, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. RISCH, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. MORAN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. 

CAPITO, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. KAINE, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. 

PADILLA, Mr. SULLIVAN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. REED, Mr. 

COONS, Mr. CASEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. FETTERMAN, Mr. 

SANDERS, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. WARREN, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. KING, Ms. CANTWELL, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. SMITH, Mr. OSSOFF, Mr. 

KELLY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. WYDEN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. WARNER, Mr. 

MURPHY, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. WELCH, Mr. WICKER, Mr. CORNYN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Mr. PETERS, Mrs. BRITT, 

and Mr. BROWN) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Celebrating Black History Month. 

Whereas, in 1776, people envisioned the United States as a 

new nation dedicated to the proposition stated in the 

Declaration of Independence that ‘‘all men are created 

equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness’’; 


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Whereas Africans were first brought involuntarily to the 

shores of the United States as early as the 17th century; 

Whereas African Americans suffered enslavement and subsequently faced the injustices of lynch mobs, segregation, 

and denial of the basic and fundamental rights of citizenship; 

Whereas, in 2024, the vestiges of those injustices and inequalities remain evident in the society of the United 

States; 

Whereas, in the face of injustices, people of good will and of 

all races in the United States have distinguished themselves with a commitment to the noble ideals on which 

the United States was founded and have fought courageously for the rights and freedom of African Americans 

and others; 

Whereas African Americans, such as Lieutenant Colonel 

Allen Allensworth, Maya Angelou, Arthur Ashe, Jr., 

James Baldwin, James Beckwourth, Clara Brown, 

Blanche Bruce, Ralph Bunche, Shirley Chisholm, Holt 

Collier, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Larry Doby, 

Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Du Bois, Ralph Ellison, 

Medgar Evers, Aretha Franklin, Alex Haley, Dorothy 

Height, Jon Hendricks, Olivia Hooker, Lena Horne, 

Charles Hamilton Houston, Mahalia Jackson, Stephanie 

Tubbs Jones, B.B. King, Martin Luther King, Jr., 

Coretta Scott King, Thurgood Marshall, Constance 

Baker Motley, Rosa Parks, Walter Payton, Bill Pickett, 

Homer Plessy, Bass Reeves, Hiram Revels, Amelia Platts 

Boynton Robinson, Jackie Robinson, Aaron Shirley, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, 

the Greensboro Four, the Tuskegee Airmen, Prince Rogers Nelson, Recy Taylor, Fred Shuttlesworth, Duke 


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Ellington, Langston Hughes, Muhammad Ali, Elijah 

Cummings, Ella Fitzgerald, Mamie Till, Toni Morrison, 

Gwen Ifill, Diahann Carroll, Chadwick Boseman, John 

Lewis, Katherine Johnson, Rev. C.T. Vivian, Hank 

Aaron, Edith Savage-Jennings, Septima Clark, Mary 

Mcleod Bethune, Cicely Tyson, John Hope Franklin, 

Colin Powell, bell hooks, Bob Moses, Sidney Poitier, Bill 

Russell, and Chief Justice of South Carolina Ernest 

Finney, along with many others, worked against racism 

to achieve success and to make significant contributions 

to the economic, educational, political, artistic, athletic, 

literary, scientific, and technological advancement of the 

United States; 

Whereas the contributions of African Americans from all 

walks of life throughout the history of the United States 

reflect the greatness of the United States; 

Whereas many African Americans lived, toiled, and died in 

obscurity, never achieving the recognition those individuals deserved, and yet paved the way for future generations to succeed; 

Whereas African Americans continue to serve the United 

States at the highest levels of business, government, and 

the military; 

Whereas the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick 

Douglass inspired the creation of Negro History Week, 

the precursor to Black History Month; 

Whereas Negro History Week represented the culmination of 

the efforts of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the ‘‘Father of 

Black History’’, to enhance knowledge of Black history 

through The Journal of Negro History, published by the 

Association for the Study of African American Life and 


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History, which was founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson 

and Jesse E. Moorland; 

Whereas Black History Month, celebrated during the month 

of February, originated in 1926 when Dr. Carter G. 

Woodson set aside a special period in February to recognize the heritage and achievements of Black people in the 

United States; 

Whereas Dr. Carter G. Woodson stated, ‘‘We have a wonderful history behind us. . . . If you are unable to demonstrate to the world that you have this record, the world 

will say to you, ‘You are not worthy to enjoy the blessings of democracy or anything else.’ ’’; 

Whereas, since its founding, the United States has imperfectly progressed toward noble goals; 

Whereas the history of the United States is the story of people regularly affirming high ideals, striving to reach those 

ideals but often failing, and then struggling to come to 

terms with the disappointment of that failure, before 

committing to try again; 

Whereas, on November 4, 2008, the people of the United 

States elected Barack Obama, an African-American man, 

as President of the United States; and 

Whereas, on February 22, 2012, people across the United 

States celebrated the groundbreaking of the National 

Museum of African American History and Culture, which 

opened to the public on September 24, 2016, on the National Mall in Washington, District of Columbia: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 


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1 (1) acknowledges that all people of the United 

2 States are the recipients of the wealth of history 

3 provided by Black culture; 

4 (2) recognizes the importance of Black History 

5 Month as an opportunity to reflect on the complex 

6 history of the United States, while remaining hope7 ful and confident about the path ahead; 

8 (3) acknowledges the significance of Black His9 tory Month as an important opportunity to com10 memorate the tremendous contributions of African 

11 Americans to the history of the United States; 

12 (4) encourages the celebration of Black History 

13 Month to provide a continuing opportunity for all 

14 people in the United States to learn from the past 

15 and understand the experiences that have shaped the 

16 United States; and 

17 (5) agrees that, while the United States began 

18 as a divided country, the United States must— 

19 (A) honor the contribution of all pioneers 

20 in the United States who have helped to ensure 

21 the legacy of the great United States; and 

22 (B) move forward with purpose, united 

23 tirelessly as a nation ‘‘indivisible, with liberty 

24 and justice for all.’’. 

Æ 


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