Fiscal Note
No City appropriation required.
Title
Celebrating February 2025 as Black History Month in the City of Madison
Body
WHEREAS, to commemorate and celebrate the contributions to our nation made by people of African descent, American historian Carter G. Woodson established Black History Week nearly a century ago; and,
WHEREAS, the event was first celebrated during the second week of February 1926 and subsequently expanded to a month in 1976 during the nation’s bicentennial; and,
WHEREAS, Black History Month is an opportunity to reflect on the complex history of the United States, while remaining hopeful and confident about the path ahead; and,
WHEREAS, African Americans continue to serve our city, state, and the United States at the highest levels of business, government, non-governmental agencies, and the military; and,
WHEREAS, the theme of Black History Month for 2025 is “African Americans and Labor”, which “focuses on the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds […] intersect with the collective experiences of Black people”; and,
WHEREAS, 2025 is the 100th anniversary of A. Phillip Randolph founding the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids, which became the first labor organization led by African Americans to receive charter in the American Federation of Labor; and,
WHEREAS, Hilton Hanna was a longtime Madison resident who became a key figure in the local civil rights and labor movements, as he was a member and eventual international Vice President of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, assisted in re-establishing the Madison chapter of the NAACP, founded the Madison Urban League, and authored multiple labor-related books; and,
WHEREAS, this year’s theme of African Americans and Labor considers both compensated work in the traditional sense, as well as including “the community building of social justice activists, voluntary workers serving others, and institution building in chu...
Click here for full text