File #: 24-078    Version: 1 Name:
Type: Resolution Status: Passed
File created: 2/1/2024 In control: County Legislature
On agenda: Final action: 2/12/2024
Title: DESIGNATING FEBRUARY 2024 AS “AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH” IN ALBANY COUNTY
Sponsors: William M. Clay, Beroro T. Efekoro, Samuel I. Fein, Merton D. Simpson, Mark A. Robinson, Carolyn McLaughlin, Wanda F. Willingham, Joanne Cunningham, Dennis A. Feeney, Robert J. Beston, Paul J. Burgdorf, Mickey Cleary, Frank J. Commisso, Ryan Conway, Gary W. Domalewicz, Todd A. Drake, Gilbert F. Ethier, Mark E. Grimm, Raymond F. Joyce, Jeffrey D. Kuhn, Susan C. Laurilliard, Lynne Lekakis, Patrice Lockart, Frank A. Mauriello, David B. Mayo, Alison McLean Lane, Matthew J. Miller, Jeff S. Perlee, Victoria Plotsky, Dustin M. Reidy, William Reinhardt, Bill L. Ricard, Ellen Rosano, Christopher H. Smith, Sean E. Ward, Jennifer A. Whalen
Attachments: 1. 24-078 IND - DESIGNATING FEBRUARY 2024
RESOLUTION NO. 78

DESIGNATING FEBRUARY 2024 AS "AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH" IN ALBANY COUNTY

Introduced: 2/12/24
By Clay, Efekoro, Fein, Simpson, Robinson, McLaughlin and Willingham:

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 "African Americans and the Arts" as its theme for the 2024 observance of African-American History Month, and

WHEREAS, African American art is infused with African, Caribbean, and the Black American lived experiences, contributing significantly to visual and performing arts, literature, fashion, folklore, language, film, music, architecture, culinary, and other forms of cultural expression, and

WHEREAS, African American artists have used art to preserve history and community memory as well as for empowerment, leading significant artistic and cultural movements such as the New Negro, Black Arts, Black Renaissance, hip-hop, and Afrofuturism, setting the standard for popular trends globally, and

WHEREAS, The contributions of people of African descent to the arts and history have been historically denied or minimized, but we recognize the unbroken chain of Black art production from antiquity to the present, revealing a rich history across continents, and

WHEREAS, The suffering of those in bondage gave birth to spirituals, the nation's first contribution to music, and Blues musicians such as Robert Johnson, McKinley 'Muddy Waters' Morganfield, and Riley "BB" B. King created and nurtured a style of music that became the bedrock for gospel, soul, and other still popular and evolving forms of music, and

WHEREAS, Black contributions to literature include works by poets like ...

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