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4 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> BLACK HISTORY MONTH <br /> PROCLAMATION <br /> WHEREAS, it is essential to sustain a harmonious and inclusive society, Orange County <br /> discourage practices and actions deemed detrimental to the peace, welfare, and progress of our <br /> community; and <br /> WHEREAS, Orange County is home to Black Americans who descend from formerly enslaved <br /> peoples who were victims of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, captured and transported from the <br /> continent of Africa to the Americas where they were sold as property and endured brutal treatment <br /> while being forced to build and develop new lands which includes a country that they would have <br /> to fight to belong to; surviving more than 400 years of subjugation and oppression, all the while <br /> becoming a new and unique group whose lineage predates the founding of the United States of <br /> America; participants in every war fought to defend and protect this nation, even from itself, Black <br /> Americans hold a special place in the foundation of our country and continue to be the standard <br /> bearers of freedom and democracy despite the ever present residue and persistent ramifications <br /> associated with America's original sin of slavery; Black Americans worked and fought to improve <br /> their lives while facing down overt and systemic racism as well as racial violence and terror; Black <br /> Americans have, and continue to contribute to the nation's, and our community's social, economic, <br /> political, spiritual, and mental prosperity; and <br /> WHEREAS, Black Americans represent a diverse group of respected residents of this country and <br /> the Orange County community; and their contributions of humanitarian knowledge, technological <br /> and societal innovations are vital components of the cultural fabric of our County, nation and world; <br /> and <br /> WHEREAS, Black American experiences and unrelenting resilience inspire people in Orange <br /> County and around the world, we recognize a collective struggle for equality and inclusiveness now <br /> and into the future until our shared humanity is acknowledged and celebrated; and <br /> WHEREAS, every American recognizes the need for protest and the defying of cultural norms, <br /> practices, laws and systems that are unjust, oppressive, and exclusionary; we declare this year's <br /> Black History Month theme of "From the Ground Up: Rooted in Place, Land, and Body"; <br /> NOW, THEREFORE, we, the Board of County Commissioners of Orange County, do proclaim <br /> February 2023 as "BLACK HISTORY MONTH" and encourage our residents to honor this <br /> distinctive month by becoming more enlightened as to the true history of Black Americans in this <br /> Country and in our community. <br /> THIS THE 21St DAY OF FEBRUARY 2023. <br /> Jamezetta Bedford, Chair <br /> Orange County Board of Commissioners <br />