IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 184 
Recognizing and celebrating the significance of Black History Month. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 28, 2023 
Mr. GREEN
of Texas (for himself, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. ALLRED, Mr. 
AUCHINCLOSS, Ms. BALINT, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BLU-
MENAUER, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. 
BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. BROWN, Ms. BUDZINSKI, Ms. BUSH, Mr. 
CARBAJAL, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. 
CASAR, Mr. CASTEN, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. CLARKE of New York, 
Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. COSTA, Ms. CROCKETT, 
Mr. CROW, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Ms. 
DELBENE, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. 
ESHOO, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Mrs. FLETCHER, Mrs. FOUSHEE, 
Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. VICENTE GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, 
Mr. HIGGINS
of New York, Mr. THOMPSON
of California, Mr. 
HORSFORD, Ms. JACOBS, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KAMLAGER- 
DOVE, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. LARSEN 
of Washington, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
LYNCH, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MENG, Mr. 
MFUME, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. 
NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OMAR, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. 
PAYNE, Ms. PETTERSEN, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. PLASKETT, Ms. PORTER, 
Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. ROSS, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Ms. 
SA´NCHEZ, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Geor-
gia, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. SMITH
of Washington, Mr. SOTO, Ms. 
STANSBURY, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. THOMP-
SON of Mississippi, Ms. TITUS, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. TONKO, Mr. TORRES of 
New York, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. TRONE, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. 
VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. WATERS, Mrs. WATSON 
COLEMAN, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. WILSON of Florida, and Mr. 
JACKSON of Illinois) submitted the following resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability 
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•HRES 184 IH 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing and celebrating the significance of Black History 
Month. 
Whereas this resolution may be cited as the Original Black 
History Month Resolution of 2023; 
Whereas this resolution has been endorsed by the Association 
for the Study of African American Life and History; 
Whereas the theme for Black History Month 2023 is ‘‘Black 
Resistance’’, which chronicles how African Americans 
have resisted oppression in all its invidious forms includ-
ing: enslavement, lynching, mob violence, police brutality, 
Black codes, convict leasing, Jim Crow laws, lawful seg-
regation, and invidious discrimination; 
Whereas slavery was a brutal and inhumane system that 
treated human beings as property and stripped them of 
their inalienable human rights of life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness; 
Whereas the history of Black resistance in the United States 
predates the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 
1960s, as it historically spans centuries from colonial 
slavery through contemporary invidious discrimination; 
Whereas this resolution illuminates some of the momentous 
recondite history of Black resistance that predates the re-
sistance movements of the 20th and 21st centuries; 
Whereas Black resistance to slavery was a constant presence 
throughout the history of enslavement in the United 
States, and it took many forms, including acts of rebel-
lion, escape, suicide, sabotage, litigation, work slowdowns, 
feigning illness, misplacing or damaging tools, and other 
forms of noncompliance; 
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•HRES 184 IH 
Whereas there is historical evidence of as many as 250 in-
stances of slave revolts involving 10 or more slaves dur-
ing the history of American slavery; 
Whereas the Nat Turner and Gabriel Prosser rebellions were 
two of the most significant acts of armed resistance to 
slavery in the United States, inspiring other enslaved 
people to resist and making clear the determination of 
enslaved people to fight for their freedom; 
Whereas Gabriel Prosser’s rebellion against Virginia and the 
United States in 1800 was a landmark event in the his-
tory of Black resistance to slavery in the United States 
and, although he and his followers were hanged, his brav-
ery and leadership continue to inspire generations of ac-
tivists and advocates; 
Whereas the Stono Rebellion, the New York City Conspiracy, 
and the German Coast Uprising are other instances of 
significant slave uprisings in the United States and its 
predecessor colonies; 
Whereas in the fight for freedom, liberty, justice, and equal-
ity the righteous resistance of many Black freedom fight-
ers has been depreciated, downplayed, deprecated, dispar-
aged, denigrated, disrespected, and demonized; 
Whereas the story of Claudette Colvin who refused to give up 
her seat on a segregated bus months before the famous 
incident where Rosa Parks refused to do the same has 
been deprecated, downplayed, and disrespected; 
Whereas Bayard Rustin, a lifelong civil rights advocate and 
lead organizer of the March on Washington, was nearly 
written out of history merely because of his sexual ori-
entation; 
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Whereas John, 23, ran away from Levi Williams, and had a 
$25 reward offered for John’s return; 
Whereas George, 20, was captured in Mobile County after he 
had escaped from owner James Edward Wilson in Mem-
phis, Tennessee; 
Whereas Hannah, arrested in Pickens County, was a 75-year- 
old woman who was said to belong to John Smith of 
Lowndes County, Mississippi; 
Whereas Frank, whose age was described only as a boy, was 
an at-large runaway with a $15 reward for his capture; 
Whereas Lucinda, 20, was jailed in Mobile County, Alabama, 
belonged to Mrs. Elizabeth Hinsley of Sumter County, 
Alabama, and had multiple scars on her right arm; 
Whereas Black resistance to slavery was confronted with 
harsh court decisions that stripped Blacks of their human 
rights; 
Whereas in the 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, the 
Supreme Court ruled that having lived in a free State 
and territory did not entitle an enslaved person, Dred 
Scott, to his freedom; 
Whereas the Court further ruled in Dred Scott v. Sandford 
that people of African descent ‘‘are not included, and 
were not intended to be included, under the word ‘citi-
zens’ in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none 
of the rights and privileges which that instrument pro-
vides for and secures to citizens of the United States’’; 
Whereas in Dred Scott v. Sandford, Chief Justice Roger 
Taney declared, in the Supreme Court’s infamous major-
ity opinion, that Dred Scott, a Black slave, ‘‘had no 
rights a white man was bound to respect’’; 
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Whereas the Supreme Court in the 1896 case Plessy v. Fer-
guson embraced legal segregation, which advanced con-
stitutional justification for laws that allowed for separate 
and supposedly equal public facilities for White and 
Black Americans; 
Whereas the Underground Railroad, led by figures such as 
Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, played a vital 
role in resistance by helping enslaved people escape to 
freedom; 
Whereas, during the Civil War, Black soldiers made up ap-
proximately 10 percent of the Union Army, with approxi-
mately 180,000 Black soldiers enlisting to fight for their 
freedom and the abolition of slavery; 
Whereas despite facing discrimination and being paid less 
than White soldiers, Black soldiers played a crucial role 
in the Union’s victory in the Civil War by risking and in 
too many instances sacrificing their lives in the fight for 
the freedom of their fellow man; 
Whereas the Black soldiers’ participation in the Civil War 
was not only significant in terms of numbers, but also in 
terms of the impact their participation had on the fight 
for racial equality and civil rights, as it challenged the 
notion that Black Americans were not capable of fighting 
for their own freedom; 
Whereas the Civil War, as well as the 13th, 14th, and 15th 
Amendments, emanated from Black resistance to slavery 
in the United States; 
Whereas the abolition of slavery did not end White suprem-
acy; 
Whereas the period between the end of the Civil War and the 
civil rights movement was marked by continued discrimi-
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nation and oppression of African Americans, despite the 
abolition of slavery; 
Whereas the history of Black resistance in the United States 
has demonstrated that the fight for racial justice and 
equality is ongoing and multifaceted, and that despite the 
massive strides that have been made in the name of jus-
tice, there are still many areas where progress is needed; 
Whereas Black activists in the United States have inspired 
many other marginalized communities around the world 
to fight for their rights and equality; 
Whereas the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick 
Douglass inspired the creation of Negro History Week, 
the precursor to Black History Month; and 
Whereas the month of February is officially celebrated as 
Black History Month, which dates to 1926 when Dr. 
Carter G. Woodson set aside the second week in Feb-
ruary as Negro History Week to recognize the heritage 
and achievement of Black Americans: Now, therefore, be 
it 
Resolved, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Original Black 
History Month Resolution of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. RECOGNIZING AND CELEBRATING THE SIGNIFI-
CANCE OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH. 
The House of Representatives recognizes the impor-
tance of commemorating Black History Month as it ac-
knowledges the achievements of Black Americans through-
out the Nation’s history and encourages the continuation 
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of its celebration to raise the awareness of this commu-
nity’s accomplishments for all Americans. 
Æ 
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