[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 127, 113th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
PROCLAMATION 8930--JAN. 31, 2013

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 Con-



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stitution 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.
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.
BARACK OBAMA