02/15/2017 08:00 AM Senate EDUCATION

            SR 3-FEBRUARY 2017: BLACK HISTORY MONTH                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR HUGHES announced that the only order of business would be                                                                 
SR 3.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR TOM BEGICH, Sponsor, Alaska State Legislature, presented                                                                
SR 3. He paraphrased from the following sponsor statement:                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     In  1926, Dr.  Carter  G. Woodson  established a  Negro                                                                    
     History Week to coincide with  the birth week shared by                                                                    
     President  Abraham  Lincoln   and  abolitionist  leader                                                                    
     Fredrick  Douglass.   It  was  Fredrick   Douglass  who                                                                    
     observed  that it  is easier  to build  strong children                                                                    
     than to  repair broken men, which  makes it appropriate                                                                    
     that the Senate Education  Committee would be the first                                                                    
     committee  of  referral  for this  resolution  honoring                                                                    
     Black History Month.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     In  1976,   then-President  Gerald  R.   Ford  expanded                                                                    
     February  to  Black  History  Month  in  honor  of  the                                                                    
     nation's  bicentennial.  He  reinforced the  idea  that                                                                    
     African Americans  and the role they  played in history                                                                    
     are  not  forgotten.  The   "whereas"  clauses  in  the                                                                    
     resolution  cite some  of those  examples, such  as the                                                                    
      honoring of Company L, 24th Infantry, which was the                                                                       
        African American company which helped build the                                                                         
     Alaskan Highway.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR BEGICH  reported that last  night the  Anchorage Assembly                                                               
dedicated  their transit  center to  John S.  Parks, a  long-time                                                               
Black activist. He encouraged support of the resolution.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
8:04:08 AM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  GIESSEL  recommended  a  National  Geographic  video  on                                                               
YouTube  on  the  building  of  the  Alaska  Highway  by  African                                                               
Americans.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR HUGHES  asked Senator Begich  to provide the video  link to                                                               
the committee.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR BEGICH agreed to do so.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
8:05:07 AM                                                                                                                    
CELESTE  HODGE  GROWDEN,  Executive  Director,  Shiloh  Community                                                               
Development, Inc. (SCD),  testified in support of SR  3. She said                                                               
the main  goal of SCD  is to  empower youth, minorities,  and the                                                               
disadvantaged  to improve  lives. Their  goal is  to enhance  the                                                               
quality   of  life   of  those   less   fortunate  by   providing                                                               
transitional assistance, economic  and educational opportunities,                                                               
job  search support,  health education,  prevention and  wellness                                                               
programs,  and  youth  mentorship.  SCD's major  emphasis  is  to                                                               
develop and promote programs that  advance minorities, youth, and                                                               
the  disadvantaged in  health, education,  justice, and  economic                                                               
development. She thanked  Senator Begich for sponsoring  SR 3 and                                                               
urged passage of SR 3.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  HUGHES  thanked  Ms.  Growden  and  congratulated  her  on                                                               
receiving an honor at the Anchorage Assembly meeting.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
8:06:41 AM                                                                                                                    
ED  WESLEY,  Former   President,  NAACP-Anchorage,  Chair,  Black                                                               
History  Month  Committee,  testified  in support  of  SR  3.  He                                                               
pointed  out that  it is  unfortunate  that there  is a  separate                                                               
category  for Black  history. He  stressed that  the omission  of                                                               
Black  history from  American History  books takes  place due  to                                                               
those who want to keep that  history from being included. Over 50                                                               
percent  of comforts  and conveniences  enjoyed  today come  from                                                               
African American inventions.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
8:09:19 AM                                                                                                                    
CALVIN WILLIAMS,  Political Action  Chair, NAACP, Chair,  John S.                                                               
Parks Name  Panel, testified in  support of  SR 3. He  noted that                                                               
Anchorage's transit center  was named after Mr. Parks,  who was a                                                               
carpenter with little  education and yet able to  do great things                                                               
for  Alaska  and his  community.  He  pointed  out that  much  of                                                               
history has  been lost because  of lack of  a place to  house the                                                               
information.  He  thanked  the  committee  for  its  efforts  and                                                               
suggested  having  a  permanent   housing  place  for  historical                                                               
documents.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
8:12:13 AM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR HUGHES  opened public testimony. Seeing  no testifiers, she                                                               
closed public testimony.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  BEGICH noted  that colleagues  in the  Senate have  been                                                               
recognizing the  important contributions of national  and Alaskan                                                               
African Americans.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  HUGHES voiced  appreciation for  SR 3.  She asked  for the                                                               
will of the committee.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR GIESSEL moved  to report SR 3,  version 30-LS0418\D, from                                                               
committee  with   individual  recommendations.  There   being  no                                                               
objection, the motion carried.