[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]


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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 23 / Thursday, February 4, 1999 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 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