[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 23 (Thursday, February 4, 1999)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 5585-5586]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-2855]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 23 / Thursday, February 4, 1999 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 5585]]
Proclamation 7165 of February 1, 1999
National African American History Month, 1999
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
The story of African Americans is one of strength,
suffering, courage, and triumph. Arriving on these
shores more than 350 years ago, African Americans have
been a central element of our national identity, and
their long journey from the horrors of slavery and
oppression through the struggle for equality and
justice informs our national experience. By observing
African American History Month each year, we not only
remember the tragic errors of our past, but also
celebrate the achievements of African Americans and the
promise they hold for our future as one America.
This year's theme, ``The Legacy of African American
Leadership for the Present and the Future,'' is a
recognition that we can draw strength and inspiration
to face our challenges from the vision, voices,
character, and accomplishments of the many
extraordinary African Americans who have gone before
us. These gifted men and women, from every walk of life
and every field of endeavor, were shaped but not
defeated by their experience of racism, and their
response was to move our Nation closer to our ideals of
freedom, justice, and equality.
We remember Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth,
whose powerful firsthand accounts of their lives as
slaves and the moral strength of their argument helped
create the momentum that brought an end to slavery in
America. In our own century, we all have benefited from
the skills, determination, and indefatigable spirit of
such African American leaders as Booker T. Washington,
W.E.B. Du Bois, A. Philip Randolph, Ella Baker,
Thurgood Marshall, Medgar Evers, and Martin Luther
King, Jr. Whether organizing peaceful demonstrations,
creating educational and economic opportunities,
fighting Jim Crow laws in the courts, or conducting
peaceful protests, they awakened the conscience of our
Nation and won signal victories for justice and human
dignity. We recall the courage of the Little Rock Nine,
who opened the doors of American education for so many
other deserving young people. We remember the strength
of Rosa Parks, who stood up for civil rights by sitting
down where she belonged. We continue to draw
inspiration from the leadership of Dorothy Height, who
has done so much to strengthen families and communities
not only in our own Nation, but also around the world.
These and so many other African American leaders have
enriched our national life and shaped our national
character. They have challenged us to recognize that
America's racial, cultural, and ethnic diversity will
be among our greatest strengths in the 21st century.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim February 1999 as National
African American History Month. I call upon public
officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of
the United States to observe this month with
appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs that
raise awareness and appreciation of African American
history.
[[Page 5586]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
first day of February, in the year of our Lord nineteen
hundred and ninety-nine, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
third.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 99-2855
Filed 2-3-99; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P
