[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 24 (Monday, February 5, 2001)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 9025-9026]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-3163]



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Part III





The President





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Proclamation 7404--National African American History Month, 2001
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  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 24 / Monday, February 5, 2001 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

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                Proclamation 7404 of February 1, 2001

                
National African American History Month, 2001

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                In 1915, Carter Godwin Woodson, the father of Black 
                history, founded the Association for the Study of 
                African-American Life and History. Each February, the 
                Association proposes a theme to guide the celebration 
                of National African American History Month. For this 
                year, the Association has chosen ``Creating and 
                Defining the African-American Community: Family, 
                Church, Politics, and Culture.''

                This month in particular, we remember the stories of 
                those who have helped to build our Nation and advance 
                the cause of freedom and civil rights. We remember the 
                bravery of the soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts 
                Infantry Regiment and the sailors of the USS MASON in 
                service to our country. We remember those who marched 
                on Washington, sat at whites-only lunch counters, and 
                walked rather than use segregated buses. And we 
                remember those, known only to each of us, who helped to 
                build our families, places of worship, and communities.

                When we examine our Nation's history, we discover these 
                and countless other stories that inspire us. They are 
                stories of the triumph of the human spirit, tragic 
                stories of cruelty rooted in ignorance and bigotry, yet 
                stories of everyday people rising above their 
                circumstances and the prejudice of others to build 
                lives of dignity.

                This month, and throughout the year, let us celebrate 
                and remember these stories, which reflect the history 
                of African Americans and all Americans. We can all 
                enjoy the works of writers like Paul Laurence Dunbar, 
                James Weldon Johnson, Zora Neale Hurston, and Langston 
                Hughes. In our Nation's schools, our children can learn 
                to admire Booker T. Washington, Sojourner Truth, 
                Frederick Douglass, and others. And Americans from all 
                backgrounds can be ennobled by the examples of Thurgood 
                Marshall, Roy Wilkins, 
                Whitney Young, Mary Church Terrell, and other civil 
                rights leaders.

                As we celebrate African American History Month, let us 
                commit ourselves to raising awareness and appreciation 
                of African American history. Let us teach our children, 
                and all Americans, to rise above brutality and bigotry 
                and to be champions of liberty, human dignity, and 
                equality. And let us rededicate ourselves to affirming 
                the promise of our Constitution.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, 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 2001 as National 
                African American History Month. I call upon public 
                officials, educators, librarians, and all of the people 
                of the United States to observe this month with 
                appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs.

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                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                first day of February, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand one, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and twenty-fifth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

[FR Doc. 01-3163
Filed 2-2-01; 12:16 pm]
Billing code 3195-01-P