Bill Text: TX HR152 | 2017 | 85th Legislature 1st Special Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Commemorating the 2017 Juneteenth celebration at Lifeway Church in Dallas.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-07-28 - Reported enrolled [HR152 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HR152-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Commemorating the 2017 Juneteenth celebration at Lifeway Church in Dallas.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-07-28 - Reported enrolled [HR152 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HR152-Introduced.html
85S11730 KSM-D | ||
By: Giddings | H.R. No. 152 |
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WHEREAS, Members of Lifeway Church in Dallas gathered | ||
together on June 15, 2017, to promote cultural awareness and honor | ||
diversity through the celebration of Juneteenth; and | ||
WHEREAS, The oldest known observance commemorating the end of | ||
slavery in the United States, Juneteenth specifically celebrates | ||
the emancipation of African American slaves throughout Texas; and | ||
WHEREAS, On June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger | ||
arrived in Galveston with federal troops to provide military | ||
support for Reconstruction efforts and to enforce President Abraham | ||
Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation; that same day, General | ||
Granger read publicly his General Order No. 3, which proclaimed | ||
that all slaves were undeniably free from that date onward and that | ||
there would be "an absolute equality of rights and rights of | ||
property between former masters and slaves"; and | ||
WHEREAS, Held on June 19 of each year, the commemoration of | ||
this momentous event became known as "Juneteenth," and celebrations | ||
grew over the decades to include recitations of the Emancipation | ||
Proclamation, readings by notable people, and such festive | ||
activities as singing, parades, rodeos, street fairs, and cookouts; | ||
and | ||
WHEREAS, Juneteenth has been observed as an official holiday | ||
in Texas since 1980, when legislation introduced by African | ||
American State Representative Al Edwards during the 1979 | ||
legislative session took effect; with the adoption of that bill, | ||
this special day became the first emancipation holiday in the | ||
country to be granted official state recognition; and | ||
WHEREAS, More than 150 years after emancipation was | ||
proclaimed in Texas, Juneteenth continues to inspire gatherings | ||
that honor the myriad achievements and immeasurable fortitude of | ||
the African American community in the Lone Star State; now, | ||
therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas | ||
Legislature, 1st Called Session, hereby commemorate the 2017 | ||
Juneteenth celebration at Lifeway Church and extend to all those | ||
associated with the church sincere best wishes for the future; and, | ||
be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
prepared for Lifeway Church as an expression of high regard by the | ||
Texas House of Representatives. |