RESOLUTION
BY: COUNCIL PRESIDENT COLLINS-BELLAMY, MAJORITY LEADER RUBBO, MAJORITY WHIP ROBINSON, MINORITY LEADER BREEN, COUNCILMEMBERS PINEDA-ISAAC, DIAZ AND HODGES:
title
A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF YONKERS TO RECOGNIZE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH AND COMMEMORATE FEBRUARY 2026 THE CELEBRATION OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH IN THE CITY OF YONKERS.
body
WHEREAS, in 1776; people envisioned the United States as a new nation dedicated to the proposition stated in the Declaration of Independence that all are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and pursuit to Happiness; and
WHEREAS, Africans were first brought involuntarily to the shores of the United States as early as the 17th century; and
WHEREAS, African Americans suffered enslavement and subsequently faced the injustices of lynch mobs, segregation, and denial of the basic and fundamental rights of citizenships; and
WHEREAS, in 2023, the vestiges of those injustices and inequalities remain evident in the society of the United States; and
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; and
WHEREAS, African Americans such as Lieutenant Colonel Allen Allensworth, Maya Angelou; Louis Armstrong; Arthur Ashe, Jr., James Baldwin, James Beckwourth, Clara Brown, Blanche Bruce, Ralph Bunche, Shirley Chisholm, Holt Collier, Miles Davis, Larry Doby, Fredrick Douglass, W. E. B. DuBois, 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 King Scott, Thurgood Marshall, Constance Baker Motley, Rosa Parks, Walter Payton, Bill Picket, 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 Airman, Prince Roger Nelson, Recy Taylor, Fred Shuttlesworth, Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, Muhammad Ali, Ella Fitzgerald, Mamie Till, and Edith Savage- Jennings, along with many others worked against racism to achieve success and to make significant contributions to economic, educational, political, artistic, athletic, literary, scientific, and technological advancement of the United States; and
WHEREAS, the contributions of African Americans from all walks of life throughout the history if the United States reflect the greatness of the United States; and
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; and
WHEREAS, African Americans continue to serve the United States at the highest level of business, government and the military; and
WHEREAS, the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass inspired the creation of the Negro History Week, the precursor to Black History Month; and
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; and
WHEREAS, DR. Carter G. Woodson stated, “We have a wonderful history behind us…and it going to inspire us to greater achievements”; and
WHEREAS, in 1976, the week-long observance was extended to the entire month of February to hold celebratory programs and activities and was established as Black History Month; and
WHEREAS, since its founding, the United States has imperfectly progressed toward noble goals; and
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; and
WHEREAS, on November 4, 2008 the people of the United Stated 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, in the National Mall in Washington, District of Columbia:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED; this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to recognize the significance of Black History Month, as an important time to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of African Americans; in history of the Country, the State, the County and the City of Yonkers by commemorating February 2026 the celebration of Black History Month in the City of Yonkers; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted at events commemorating Black History Month throughout the City of Yonkers.