[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 24 (Friday, February 5, 2010)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 6083-6084]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-2742]



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Part II





The President





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Proclamation 8476--National African American History Month, 2010



Proclamation 8477--American Heart Month, 2010



Memorandum of February 3, 2010--A Comprehensive Federal Strategy on 
Carbon Capture and Storage


                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 24 / Friday, February 5, 2010 / 
Presidential Documents

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Title 3--
The President

[[Page 6083]]

                Proclamation 8476 of February 1, 2010

                
National African American History Month, 2010

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                In the centuries since African Americans first arrived 
                on our shores, they have known the bitterness of 
                slavery and oppression, the hope of progress, and the 
                triumph of the American Dream. African American history 
                is an essential thread of the American narrative that 
                traces our Nation's enduring struggle to perfect 
                itself. Each February, we recognize African American 
                History Month as a moment to reflect upon how far we 
                have come as a Nation, and what challenges remain. This 
                year's theme, ``The History of Black Economic 
                Empowerment,'' calls upon us to honor the African 
                Americans who overcame injustice and inequality to 
                achieve financial independence and the security of self 
                empowerment that comes with it.

                Nearly 100 years after the Civil War, African Americans 
                still faced daunting challenges and indignities. 
                Widespread racial prejudice inhibited their 
                opportunities, and institutional discrimination such as 
                black codes and Jim Crow laws denied them full 
                citizenship rights. Despite these seemingly impossible 
                barriers, pioneering African Americans blazed trails 
                for themselves and their children. They became skilled 
                workers and professionals. They purchased land, and a 
                new generation of black entrepreneurs founded banks, 
                educational institutions, newspapers, hospitals, and 
                businesses of all kinds.

                This month, we recognize the courage and tenacity of so 
                many hard-working Americans whose legacies are woven 
                into the fabric of our Nation. We are heirs to their 
                extraordinary progress. Racial prejudice is no longer 
                the steepest barrier to opportunity for most African 
                Americans, yet substantial obstacles remain in the 
                remnants of past discrimination. Structural 
                inequalities--from disparities in education and health 
                care to the vicious cycle of poverty--still pose 
                enormous hurdles for black communities across America.

                Overcoming today's challenges will require the same 
                dedication and sense of urgency that enabled past 
                generations of African Americans to rise above the 
                injustices of their time. That is why my Administration 
                is laying a new foundation for long-term economic 
                growth that helps more than just a privileged few. We 
                are working hard to give small businesses much-needed 
                credit, to slash tax breaks for companies that ship 
                jobs overseas, and to give those same breaks to 
                companies that create jobs here at home. We are also 
                reinvesting in our schools and making college more 
                affordable, because a world class education is our 
                country's best roadmap to prosperity.

                These initiatives will expand opportunities for African 
                Americans, and for all Americans, but parents and 
                community leaders must also be partners in this effort. 
                We must push our children to reach for the full measure 
                of their potential, just as the innovators who 
                succeeded in previous generations pushed their children 
                to achieve something greater. In the volumes of black 
                history, much remains unwritten. Let us add our own 
                chapter, full of progress and ambition, so that our 
                children's children will know that we, too, did our 
                part to erase an unjust past and build a brighter 
                future.

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                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim February 2010 as 
                National African American History Month. I call upon 
                public officials, educators, librarians, and all the 
                people of the United States to observe this month with 
                appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                first day of February, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.
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                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2010-2742
Filed 2-4-10; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3195-W0-P