HouseH.Res. 1080119th Congress
Original Black History Month Resolution of 2026
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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1080 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1080
Recognizing and celebrating the significance of Black History Month
2026 and its theme, ``A Century of Black History Commemorations''.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 25, 2026
Mr. Green of Texas (for himself, Ms. Adams, Mr. Amo, Ms. Ansari, Mrs.
Beatty, Mr. Bell, Mr. Bera, Mr. Bishop, Ms. Bonamici, Ms. Brownley, Ms.
Bynum, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Ms. Clarke of New York,
Mr. Cohen, Mr. Conaway, Ms. Crockett, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Mr.
Deluzio, Mrs. Dingell, Ms. Elfreth, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Evans of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Figures, Mrs. Fletcher, Mrs. Foushee, Mr. Frost, Mr.
Garamendi, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Ms. Scanlon,
Mr. Goldman of New York, Ms. Norton, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Ivey, Mr. Jackson
of Illinois, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Ms.
Kamlager-Dove, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Landsman,
Mr. Larsen of Washington, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr. Lieu, Ms.
Lofgren, Mr. Lynch, Mrs. McClain Delaney, Ms. McClellan, Mr. McGarvey,
Mr. McGovern, Mrs. McIver, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Meng, Mr. Mfume, Ms. Moore of
Wisconsin, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Mullin, Ms. Pressley, Mr. Quigley, Mrs.
Ramirez, Ms. Ross, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Sewell, Ms. Simon, Ms.
Strickland, Mr. Swalwell, Ms. Titus, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Torres of New York,
Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Vindman, Mr. Walkinshaw, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms.
Williams of Georgia, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Ms. Brown, Ms. Wasserman
Schultz, and Ms. Rivas) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing and celebrating the significance of Black History Month
2026 and its theme, ``A Century of Black History Commemorations''.
Whereas this resolution may be cited as the ``Original Black History Month
Resolution of 2026'';
Whereas the Association for the Study of African American Life and History is
the preeminent organization of its kind;
Whereas the theme for Black History Month 2026 is ``A Century of Black History
Commemorations'', which explores how Black history and life
commemorations impact and transform the status of Black people in the
United States and across the diaspora;
Whereas this resolution highlights aspects of momentous events, seminal moments,
and historic personalities in Black history that have been historically
denied a true and factual spotlight;
Whereas it is hereby declared and decreed that Black women and men of African
ancestry whose historic records of accomplishments have not been proudly
and widely celebrated shall be honored as ``unsung souls'';
Whereas history is impacted by heroic individuals who are not unsung souls that
take extraordinary steps to ensure that our world imbues liberty and
justice for people of African descent, they shall be celebrated as
righteous intercessors;
Whereas all unsung souls and righteous intercessors deserve to be credited for
their historic contributions, and their stories must be widely
celebrated;
Whereas it should be understood that the untold or understated accomplishments
of African Americans and historic events that follow are less than an
introduction to the greatest story yet to be told;
Whereas, in spite of more than 240 years of enslavement, approximately 100 years
of convict leasing, and centuries of lawful segregation and continued
racism, Black history commemorations are transforming the incomplete
collective narrative from one that minimizes Black identity to one that
affirms the powerful reality that the unsung souls enslaved in America
were America's economic foundational mothers and fathers who helped
build and shape the Nation's prosperous history;
Whereas, on December 31, 1862, many free and enslaved unsung souls gathered in
secret to await the news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken
effect, marking the first ``Watch Night'', also known as ``Freedom's
Eve'';
Whereas Watch Night remains a living tradition, with annual services held in
African American churches on New Years Eve that extend through midnight
and include praise and worship;
Whereas this celebration of freedom transformed January 1 from ``Heartbreak
Day'', a painful and historically dreaded day when families of unsung
souls were separated at slave auctions, into a day of liberation and
commemoration;
Whereas, on May 1, 1865, following the end of the Civil War, newly freed unsung
souls in Charleston, North Carolina organized one of the earliest
commemorations for fallen soldiers in the Union Army;
Whereas the commemoration drew approximately 10,000 mostly Black participants
and featured a parade, grave dedications, prayer, spiritual singing, and
communal picnics;
Whereas this commemoration played a prominent role in the creation of Decoration
Day, which later became the national holiday, Memorial Day;
Whereas the brigade of the 25th Army Corps of the Union Army, comprised of
approximately 1,000 Black soldiers are unsung souls;
Whereas this brigade advanced Major General Gordon Granger, a righteous
intercessor, to Galveston, Texas, prior to his arrival, captured
Galveston, chased rebel soldiers into Mexico, spread news of
emancipation, and liberated thousands of enslaved unsung souls;
Whereas the actions of the 25th Army Corps made it safe for Major General Gordon
Granger to issue General Order Number 3 in Galveston, formally
announcing freedom to formerly enslaved unsung souls, symbolizing the
end of slavery in the United States and giving birth to Juneteenth;
Whereas Juneteenth was proclaimed a national holiday on June 17, 2021, after
having been historically celebrated by people of African descent in
Texas and the United States, as well as other countries such as Canada,
Jamaica, and Nigeria;
Whereas, across the globe, commemorations marking the end of slavery, including
the Haitian revolution, the abolition of the slave trade, and the end of
slavery in Jamaica, serve to unite the diaspora through shared
traditions of resistance and the celebration of freedom;
Whereas John Brown, an abolitionist, Christian, and radical opponent of slavery,
is an exemplar of a righteous intercessor;
Whereas Brown led several armed anti-slavery movements, in accordance with his
strongly held Christian beliefs, including during the 1850s Bleeding
Kansas crisis and the 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia;
Whereas Brown's efforts led to his execution as the first person in the United
States to be tried for treason, transforming him into a heroic martyr
who inspired Union soldiers during the Civil War;
Whereas Frank M. Johnson, a White United States district and circuit judge known
to have ``altered forever the face of the South'', is a preeminent
exemplar of a righteous intercessor;
Whereas Judge Frank M. Johnson often faced death threats and intimidation from
the Ku Klux Klan for issuing landmark civil rights rulings that ended
segregation, advanced racial integration, and challenged state
resistance, most notably in Browder v. Gayle and Williams v. Wallace;
Whereas Browder v. Gayle ended the invidious segregation of Alabama's public
transportation system and brought closure to the historic Montgomery Bus
Boycott led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.;
Whereas Williams v. Wallace provided for the safety of the historic Selma to
Montgomery march which provided President Lyndon B. Johnson the
political muscle necessary to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965;
Whereas Claudette Colvin is a preeminent exemplar of an unsung Black soul;
Whereas Colvin, a 15-year-old high school student and NAACP Youth Council
member, is an exemplar of an unsung soul;
Whereas Colvin was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a White woman, 9
months prior to Rosa Parks' refusal, and was a plaintiff in the Federal
court case, Browder v. Gayle, referenced above, that subsequently led
the Supreme Court to declare segregation on all public transportation
unconstitutional;
Whereas, in the early 1900s, Black scholars worked to institutionalize the study
of Black history, recognizing that the White-dominated historical spaces
refused to develop the institutional infrastructure necessary to study
Black history and often diminished, distorted, or intentionally deleted
Black experiences;
Whereas Carter G. Woodson, the son of formerly enslaved unsung souls, is the
``father of Black History Month'' and the supreme exemplar of an unsung
Black soul;
Whereas Woodson founded the Journal of Negro History, and the Association for
the Study of Negro Life and History, now the Journal of African American
History, and the Association for the Study of African American Life and
History, respectively;
Whereas, in 1926, Woodson established Negro History Week, the precursor to what
is now Black History Month, selecting the second week in February to
coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass;
Whereas Woodson's Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now the
Association for the Study of African American Life and History) helped
legitimize the study of Black history within White academic circles and
created the organizational structure to make Black history
commemorations possible;
Whereas Woodson's Journal of Negro History (now the Journal of African American
History) provided opportunities for women scholars to publish their
work, free from ridicule, in the 1900s, and continues to advance
research on all aspects of African-American life today;
Whereas Woodson's work has had a profound and lasting impact, fundamentally
reshaping how Black history is researched, preserved, and shared in the
United States today;
Whereas George Washington Williams, a Civil War soldier, Baptist minister, and
historian, is an exemplar of an unsung soul;
Whereas Williams wrote pioneering histories on the contributions of African
Americans in the United States, including the ``History of the Negro
Race in America from 1619-1880'', one of the first overall histories of
African Americans, recognizing Black agency and achievements in the
broader public sphere;
Whereas Mary McLeod Bethune, an educator, institution builder, and civil rights
leader, is an exemplar of an unsung soul;
Whereas Bethune founded several organizations including, the Aframerican Woman's
Journal, the National Council of Negro Women, and Bethune-Cookman
University, which expanded educational access to Black history in the
United States institutions of higher education;
Whereas W.E.B. Du Bois, a sociologist, historian, scholar, and civil rights
leader, is an exemplar of an unsung soul;
Whereas Du Bois advanced the academic study of African-American history and
social conditions through pioneering works such as ``The Souls of Black
Folk'', co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP), advocated for the importance of academic
intellect in the African-American society, and challenged racist systems
by asserting the intellectual, political, and cultural equality of Black
Americans;
Whereas Zora Neale Hurston, a prominent writer, anthropologist, and cultural
preservationist, is an exemplar of an unsung soul;
Whereas Hurston documented the richness of African-American life, folklore, and
culture through its own perspective, preserving the authenticity of
Black cultural identity free from colonial distortions, laying the
foundations for Africana Studies;
Whereas Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, a historian, writer, and collector, is an
exemplar of an unsung soul;
Whereas Schomburg dedicated his life to preserving books, manuscripts, and
artifacts on African and African diasporic history, leading to the
foundation of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New
York, which continues to ensure Black people can research, define, and
tell their own stories;
Whereas these scholars rejected racist historical frameworks and built durable
scholarly traditions that cultivate a comprehensive public education of
Black history centered on self-representation and intellectual autonomy;
Whereas Black history and life commemorations are made possible today because of
the foundational work of these and many other scholars as well as the
Association for the Study of African American Life and History;
Whereas institutions such as museums, libraries, places of worship, parks, and
cultural heritage sites annually celebrate and uplift Black history
through programming, exhibitions, camps, and book displays;
Whereas national Black history and life commemoration sites include national
monuments, such as the National Museum of African American History and
Culture, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the African American Civil
War Memorial, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and the
African Burial Ground National Monument;
Whereas Black history and life commemorations are a moral imperative as they
serve as a critical counterweight to recurring historical narratives
that seek to whitewash, eradicate, or minimize the significance of Black
people and their contributions to American history;
Whereas the intentional obfuscation and elimination of the truth about Black
history serves to protect White supremacy, avoid societal reckoning on
race relations, and set the conditions to preserve White superiority
through a tradition of denying the true history of Black people;
Whereas, today, the Trump administration's attempts to erase and sanitize
Blackness out of history, by removing the slavery exhibit at
Independence National Historical Park, censoring content at institutions
like the Smithsonian, banning books, and terminating Diversity, Equity,
and Inclusion initiatives across sectors, represent the continuation of
a tradition of diminishing and denying the true history of Africans in
America;
Whereas Black life and history commemorations thwart these attempts to diminish
African-American history by recognizing and recovering the legacies of
unsung heroes who disrupted the forces of invidious discrimination and
demanded systems of power to bend toward justice;
Whereas these Black history and life commemorations inspire the Nation to have
the courage to look back thoughtfully so it can move forward with
intentional resolve toward the American ideals of liberty, equality,
justice, and freedom for all; and
Whereas, as the Nation marks its 250th year of independence, this resolution,
grounded in a century-long tradition of commemorating Black history and
life, recognizes Black people as unsung souls and the mothers and
fathers whose more than 400 years of free labor, activism, and
achievements are intrinsic to the United States history and success:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
short title
Section 1.
This resolution may be cited as the ``Original Black History Month
Resolution of 2026''.
supporting black history month
Sec. 2.
The House of Representatives recognizes the importance of
commemorating Black History Month as it acknowledges the achievements
of Black American unsung souls throughout the Nation's history and
encourages the continuation of Black history celebrations to raise the
awareness of the great contributions and accomplishments of Africans in
America that benefit all Americans.
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