2022 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 42
BY SENATOR BOUDREAUX
A RESOLUTION
To commend and recognize the Asosyasyon Peyizan Fondwa Global (APF) for its
successful efforts at empowering the poor to create wealth through co-ops and
grassroots developments in their communities.
WHEREAS, APF Global-Louisiana has recently secured an office in Opelousas,
Louisiana, the burial home of its founder: a remarkable African-American Spiritan priest
named Father Albert McKnight, often referred to as the Black Catholic Cooperativist or the
Catholic combination of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X; and
WHEREAS, the social vision of his ministry led Father McKnight to lead a peaceful
economic revolution among low income families in rural areas by teaching community
members the importance of self-help by working together through cooperatives; and
WHEREAS, upon recognizing the national significance of his cooperative leadership,
President Jimmy Carter appointed Father McKnight to the first board of directors of the
National Cooperative Bank; and
WHEREAS, in the late 1990s, Father McKnight moved to Haiti where he helped
launch Fondwa University in 2004, teaching courses on co-ops and serving as university
chaplain; and
WHEREAS, Fondwa, a small community village in the western province of Haiti is
where APF translated means the Association of the Peasants of Fondwa, started in 1988 and
now which is a national peasant organization; and
WHEREAS, their objective is to empower the local grassroots organizations to create
wealth in their communities by creating jobs, business opportunities for everyone, and to
development improvements in areas such as healthcare, water and energy, agriculture,
construction, radio stations, small businesses, education, and economic tourism promotion;
and
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WHEREAS, the success of APF in Haiti led to the creation of APF Global in
Washington, DC, and its incorporation on August 1, 2014, received accreditation from the
Internal Revenue Service in April 2016; and
WHEREAS, on Haitian Flag Day, the APF is planning a memorial day celebration
in honor of Father Albert McKnight on May 18, 2022, at Holy Ghost Catholic Church.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby commend and recognize the Asosyasyon Peyizan Fondwa Global (APF) for its
successful efforts at empowering the poor to create wealth through co-ops and grassroots
developments in their communities, and acknowledges May 18, 2022, as Haitian Flag Day.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
LeMar Clifford, Director APF Global-Louisiana.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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