HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolutions - 2015.05.21 - 21866MISCELLANEOUS RESOLUTION # 15149
BY: Commissioner David E.S. Bowman, District #10
IN RE: BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS — RECOGNITION OF THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF
JUNETEENTH AND DESIGNATION OF JUNE 19T"' 2015 AS JUNETEENTH NATIONAL FREEDOM
DAY IN OAKLAND COUNTY
To the Oakland County Board of Commissioners
Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen:
WHEREAS Juneteenth National Freedom Day, also known as "Emancipation Day", "Emancipation
Celebration", "Freedom Day", "Jun-Jun", "Juneteenth Independence Day" and "Second Independence
Day", commemorates the survival of African-Americans who were first brought to this country stacked in
the bottom of slave ships in a month long journey across the Atlantic Ocean known as the "Middle
Passage; and
WHEREAS approximately eleven and one-half million African-Americans survived the voyage to the New
World, the number that died is likely greater, only to be subjected to whipping, castration, branding, rape,
tearing apart of families and forced to submit to slavery for more than 200 years after arrival in the United
States; and
WHEREAS Juneteenth commemorates the day freedom was proclaimed to all slaves in the south by
Union General Granger, on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, more than two and a half years after the
signing of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln; and
WHEREAS President Barack Obama has proclaimed, "Juneteenth marked an important moment in the
life of our nation. But it was only the beginning of a long and difficult struggle for equal rights and equal
treatment under the law."; and
WHEREAS the U.S. Congress passed a resolution officially recognizing June 19 at Juneteenth
Independence Day in the United States in 1997 and efforts are ongoing to create a permanent holiday
designation; and
WHEREAS Michigan is one of 43 states to officially establish a Juneteenth holiday, beginning in 2005,
when state law was enacted designated the third Saturday of each June as Juneteenth National Freedom
Day in the State of Michigan; and
WHEREAS Americans of all colors, creeds, cultures, religions and countries of origin, share in a common
love of and respect for freedom, as well as a determination to protect their right to freedom through
democratic institutions by which the tenets of freedom are guaranteed and protected; and
WHEREAS "Until All are Free, None are Free" is an oft repeated maxim that can be used to highlight the
significance of the end of the era of slavery in the United States; and
WHEREAS on the 150th anniversary of Juneteenth, Oakland County citizens should be encouraged to
honor and reflect upon the unique sacrifices of African Americans to achieve their freedom, fair treatment
and equal rights
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Oakland County Board of Commissioners hereby
designates June 19th, 2015 as Juneteenth National Freedom Day in Oakland County and calls upon our
citizens, governmental agencies, businesses and schools to observe this 150 th anniversary by honoring
the unique sacrifices of African Americans in their struggle for freedom and equality.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Oakland County Clerk is requested to forward copies of this
adopted resolution to the National Juneteenth Observation Foundation, the Michigan Juneteenth Chapter,
the Detroit Branch of the NAACP, the Southern Oakland County Chapter of the NAACP, the Northern
Oakland County Chapter of the NAACP and Oakland Schools.
Chairperson, I move the adoption of the foregoing Resolution.
Commissioner David E.S. Bowman
District #10
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Resolution #15149 May 21, 2015
Moved by Jackson supported by Quarles and McGillivray to suspend the rules and vote on Miscellaneous
Resolution #15149 — Board of Commissioners — Recognition of the 150 1h Anniversary of Juneteenth and
Designation of June 19 th , 2015 as Juneteenth National Freedom Day in Oakland County.
Vote on motion to suspend the rules:
AYES: Long, Matis, McGillivray, Middleton, Quarles, Scott, Spisz, Taub, Weipert, Woodward,
Zack, Crawford, Dwyer, Fleming, Gingell, Gosselin, Hoffman, Jackson, Kowall. (19)
NAYS: None. (0)
A sufficient majority having voted in favor, the motion to suspend the rules and vote on Miscellaneous
Resolution #15149 — Board of Commissioners — Recognition of the 150 th Anniversary of Juneteenth and
Designation of June 19th , 2015 as Juneteenth National Freedom Day in Oakland County carried.
Moved by Jackson supported by Kowall and Long the resolution be adopted.
Vote on resolution:
AYES: Matis, McGillivray, Middleton, Quarles, Scott, Spisz, Taub, Weipert, Woodward, Zack,
Crawford, Dwyer, Fleming, Gingell, Gosselin, Hoffman, Jackson, Kowall, Long. (19)
NAYS: None. (0)
A sufficient majority having voted in favor, the resolution was adopted.
I HEREBY APPROVE THIS RESOLUTION
CHIEF DEPUTY COUNTY EXECUTIVE
ACTING PURSUANT TO MCL 45,559A (7)
STATE OF MICHIGAN)
COUNTY OF OAKLAND)
I, Lisa Brown, Clerk of the County of Oakland, do hereby certify that the foregoing resolution is a true and
accurate copy of a resolution adopted by the Oakland County Board of Commissioners on May 21, 2015,
with the original record thereof now remaining in my office.
In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the County of Oakland at
Pontiac, Michigan this 21 st day of May 2015.
Lisa Brown, Oakland County