[Title 3 CFR 7165]
[Code of Federal Regulations (annual edition) - January 1, 2000 Edition]
[Title 3 - Presidential Documents]
[Proclamation 7165 - Proclamation 7165 of February 1, 1999]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]


3Presidential Documents12000-01-012000-01-01false7165Proclamation 7165Presidential Documents
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

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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.
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.
                                                    WILLIAM J. CLINTON