IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 41 
Recognizing 2011 as the Year for People of African Descent. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 19, 2011 
Mr. RUSH (for himself, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. COHEN, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. 
TOWNS, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. BROWN of Florida, 
Mr. BUTTERFIELD, and Mr. AL GREEN of Texas) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing 2011 as the Year for People of African Descent. 
Whereas, on December 18, 2009, the United Nations General 
Assembly proclaimed the year 2011 to be the Inter-
national Year for People of African Descent; 
Whereas at least 11,000,000 Africans were brutally forced 
from their homelands and shipped across the Atlantic 
Ocean during the 400 years of the trans-Atlantic slave 
trade; 
Whereas the slave trade both relied on, and reinforced, sys-
tematic racism within the United States and other na-
tions, and contributed to Africa’s impoverishment and de-
stabilization; 
Whereas European colonization further entrenched the sys-
tematic and inequitable looting of Africa’s natural re-
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•HRES 41 IH 
sources, the subjugation of its inhabitants, and the eco-
nomic and political marginalization of Africans and peo-
ple of African descent; 
Whereas Africa is the world’s poorest region, comprising only 
2 percent of the global gross domestic product; 
Whereas Africa’s population surpassed 1,000,000,000 per-
sons for the first time in 2009; 
Whereas significant populations of Africans and their de-
scendants live in North America (40,800,000), South 
America (102,500,000), the Caribbean (22,700,000), Eu-
rope (9,300,000), the Middle East, and Asia; 
Whereas people of African descent living in the Diaspora 
often face racial discrimination, xenophobia, and intoler-
ance, leading to widely documented disparities in access 
to education, justice, and economic opportunity; 
Whereas the African Diaspora is a vibrant and dynamic com-
munity that is also a potential lynchpin of Africa’s socio-
economic development, as exemplified by the estimated 
flow into Africa of $21,500,000,000 in 2010 from mi-
grant African workers abroad; and 
Whereas Africans and people of African heritage have made 
significant contributions to global culture and the arts: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That— 
(1) the House of Representatives supports the 
United Nations designation of the International 
Year for People of African Descent; and 
(2) it is the sense of the House of Representa-
tives that the United States should— 
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•HRES 41 IH 
(A) strengthen bilateral, regional, and mul-
tilateral cooperation to promote the empower-
ment of people of African descent in relation to 
their social, educational, political, and economi-
cal rights; 
(B) make every possible effort to advance 
the diverse cultural traditions and heritage of 
people of African descent; and 
(C) strengthen its commitment to eradicate 
racism, undo the injustices of history, and cele-
brate the contributions of people of African de-
scent across the political, social, and economic 
spectrum. 
Æ 
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