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Proclamation honoring the YWCA, local business and local non-profits involved in Pittsburgh's first annual "Day of Inclusion," to be held on March 20, 2008.
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WHEREAS, on March 21, 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid “pass laws.” Since 1966, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has been observed in recognition of these events in South Africa and continues to serve as an effort to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination; and
WHEREAS, on March 20, 2008, the YWCA in conjunction with the business and non-profit community of Pittsburgh will hold its first annual “Day of Inclusion” in recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; and
WHEREAS, the Day of Inclusion will celebrate Pittsburgh's diversity through music, artistic expression and spoken word and will also offer attendees the chance to register to vote; and
WHEREAS, the celebration will feature Keynote Speaker Lawrence T. Potter, Jr., Ph.D. who in 2005 was appointed the first Executive Director of Institutional Diversity and Chief Diversity Officer at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. He is responsible for developing and implementing a campus-wide strategic diversity action plan and has distinguished himself as a national leader who has demonstrated his leadership ability and commitment to multiculturalism in higher education; and
WHEREAS, the program will also feature special guest Mongezi Sefika wa Nkomo who at 21 years old was the founding President of the Black Peoples Convention (BPC), King Williamstown Chapter, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Following his arrest and subsequent flee to exile in 1979, he became part of the exile Black Consciousness Movement of Azania (BCMA) that accentuated the cultural boycott that led to trade boycotts and US Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986; and
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, Allegheny County Council would like to honor the YWCA, local businesses, and local non-profits involved in Pittsburgh's first annual Day of Inclusion. Your commitment to eradicate discrimination is commendable and we thank you for all that you have done and all that you continue to do.