SR0035LRB104 07347 ECR 17387 r SR0035 LRB104 07347 ECR 17387 r
SR0035 LRB104 07347 ECR 17387 r
1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, January 1st marks the official day when enslaved
3 people were declared free following President Abraham
4 Lincoln's issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation; and
5 WHEREAS, The Confederate states were mandated to free the
6 slaves at midnight on January 1, 1863; however, it took nearly
7 two more years, until June 19, 1865, for many individuals to be
8 informed that they were free; this freedom mandate included
9 short-term and long-term contingencies for the Black and
10 Diaspora communities; and
11 WHEREAS, While Juneteenth is celebrated as the day
12 enslaved people learned of their freedom, January 1st will
13 forever be the official freedom date; and
14 WHEREAS, Frederick Douglass argued that freedom would be
15 empty if the formerly enslaved were not guaranteed the rights
16 and protections of American citizens; and
17 WHEREAS, Fannie Lou Hamer once said, "Nobody's free until
18 everybody's free"; and
19 WHEREAS, Acknowledging January 1st as the day enslaved
20 people officially received their freedom will enhance our
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1 understanding of the oppression and challenges they faced,
2 including the denial of their rights and the struggle for
3 equality; therefore, be it
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