HomeMy WebLinkAboutProclamation - Black History Month 2025ASHLAND
A Proclamation in Honor of Black History Month 2025
WHEREAS, Black History Month, first proposed by scholar Carter G Wilson in 1926, seeks to
rightfully center the role of Black Americans in our national narrative; and
WHEREAS, this year's theme is "African Americans and Labor" with a focus on the various and
profound ways that work of all kinds - free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and
voluntary - intersects with the collective experiences of Black people.
WHEREAS, 2025 marks the 100-year anniversary of the creation of the Brotherhood of
Sleeping Car Porters and Maids by labor organizer and civil rights activist A. Philip Randolph,
which was the first Black union to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor.
WHEREAS, the theme, "African Americans and Labor," intends to encourage broad reflections
on the intersections between Black people's work, their workplaces, and our larger society
across time and space throughout the U.S.
During Black History Month, let us draw inspiration from this legacy as we continue together
on the path toward equality, liberty, and opportunity for all. Our shared history shows us that
we rise and fall together, an enduring lesson reflected in the words of Dr. Maya Angelou "The
truth is no one of us can be free until everybody is free."
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Tonya Graham, Mayor of the City of Ashland, Oregon, on behalf of the City
Council, do hereby proclaim the month of February 2025 as Black History Month and call upon
the people of Ashland to observe this month with appropriate reflection and learning and to
continue our efforts to create a more just and equitable community and society. In Ashland
we are Better Together.
Dated this 4th day of February 2025
Tonya Gr am, Mayor
Alissa Kolodzinski, City Recorder