RESOLUTION NO. 53
DESIGNATING FEBRUARY 2021 AS “AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH” IN ALBANY COUNTY
Introduced: 2/8/21
By Mr. Clay, Ms. Chapman, Messrs. Efekoro, Fein, Ms. McLaughlin, Mr. Simpson, Ms. Willingham, Messrs. A. Joyce, Feeney, Beston, Bruschi, Cleary, Commisso, Ethier, R. Joyce, Ms. Lekakis, Mr. Mayo, Ms. McLean Lane, Messrs. Miller, O’Brien, Peter, Ms. Plotsky, Messrs. Reidy, Reinhardt, Ricard, Smith and Ward:
WHEREAS, This month Albany County will join citizens from around the nation to commemorate African-American History Month and pay tribute to the determination and triumphs of African-Americans throughout our Country’s history and the legacy of their experience, and
WHEREAS, Albany County, along with the Nation, has selected “The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity” as its theme for the 2021 observance of African-American History Month, and
WHEREAS, The Black family has been a topic of study in many disciplines-history, literature, the visual arts and film studies, sociology, anthropology, and social policy. Its representation, identity, and diversity have been reverenced, stereotyped, and vilified from the days of slavery to our own time, and
WHEREAS, The Black family knows no single location, since family reunions and genetic-ancestry searches testify to the spread of family members across states, nations, and continents. Not only are individual black families diasporic, but Africa and the diaspora itself have been long portrayed as the black family at large, and
WHEREAS, The role of the Black family has been described by some as a microcosm of the entire race, its complexity as the “foundation” of African-American life and history can be seen in numerous debates over how to represent its meaning and typicality from a historical perspective-as slave or free, as patriarchal or matriarchal/matrifocal, as single-headed or dual-headed household, as extended or nuclear, as fictive kin or blood lineage, as legal or common law, and as black or interracial, etc., and,
WHEREAS, The variation appears, as well, in discussions on the nature and impact of parenting, childhood, marriage, gender norms, sexuality, and incarceration. The family offers a rich tapestry of images for exploring the African-American past and present, now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, By the Albany County Legislature that February 2021 is hereby designated as African-American History Month in Albany County, and all citizens of Albany County are encouraged to reflect upon the history of Black families, and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the County Legislature is directed to forward certified copies of this resolution to the appropriate County Officials.