[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 6, 2013)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 8347-8348]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-02756]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 25 / Wednesday, February 6, 2013 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 8347]]


                Proclamation 8930 of January 31, 2013

                
National African American History Month, 2013

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                In America, we share a dream that lies at the heart of 
                our founding: that no matter who you are, no matter 
                what you look like, no matter how modest your 
                beginnings or the circumstances of your birth, you can 
                make it if you try. Yet, for many and for much of our 
                Nation's history, that dream has gone unfulfilled. For 
                African Americans, it was a dream denied until 150 
                years ago, when a great emancipator called for the end 
                of slavery. It was a dream deferred less than 50 years 
                ago, when a preacher spoke of justice and brotherhood 
                from Lincoln's memorial. This dream of equality and 
                fairness has never come easily--but it has always been 
                sustained by the belief that in America, change is 
                possible.

                Today, because of that hope, coupled with the hard and 
                painstaking labor of Americans sung and unsung, we live 
                in a moment when the dream of equal opportunity is 
                within reach for people of every color and creed. 
                National African American History Month is a time to 
                tell those stories of freedom won and honor the 
                individuals who wrote them. We look back to the men and 
                women who helped raise the pillars of democracy, even 
                when the halls they built were not theirs to occupy. We 
                trace generations of African Americans, free and slave, 
                who risked everything to realize their God-given 
                rights. We listen to the echoes of speeches and 
                struggle that made our Nation stronger, and we hear 
                again the thousands who sat in, stood up, and called 
                out for equal treatment under the law. And we see 
                yesterday's visionaries in tomorrow's leaders, 
                reminding us that while we have yet to reach the 
                mountaintop, we cannot stop climbing.

                Today, Dr. King, President Lincoln, and other shapers 
                of our American story proudly watch over our National 
                Mall. But as we memorialize their extraordinary acts in 
                statues and stone, let us not lose sight of the 
                enduring truth that they were citizens first. They 
                spoke and marched and toiled and bled shoulder-to-
                shoulder with ordinary people who burned with the same 
                hope for a brighter day. That legacy is shared; that 
                spirit is American. And just as it guided us forward 
                150 years ago and 50 years ago, it guides us forward 
                today. So let us honor those who came before by 
                striving toward their example, and let us follow in 
                their footsteps toward the better future that is ours 
                to claim.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim February 2013 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 programs, ceremonies, and activities.

[[Page 8348]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord 
                two thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
                seventh.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2013-02756
Filed 2-5-13; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F3