Norton Says Emancipation Day Requires Greater Insistence on Freedom from Congress
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will be joined by D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, the Reverend Al Sharpton, and other notable leaders to commemorate the District of Columbia Emancipation Day with the "March Through the Monuments,"Today, April 11, 2012. Norton, who will speak at the Lincoln Memorial at 2:00 p.m. today, will also introduce a resolution when Congress returns from its spring recess on Monday "[r]ecognizing the enduring cultural and historical significance of emancipation in the Nation's capital on the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's signing of the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act."
Norton said, "Emancipation Day will seem a little peculiar for a city that remains under the thumbs of Congress unless, of course, that recognition fuels our indignation and determination to free ourselves and give full meaning to the term ‘emancipation'." Norton, whose great-grandfather was a runaway slave in the District when President Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, noted that she is introducing her resolution not only to commemorate an important public holiday and monumental event in the history of the nation and the city, but also to help Congress and the nation take note that 150 years after the emancipation of slaves here, the residents of the District of Columbia are still without the fundamental rights enjoyed by other American citizens.
Still, Norton, who believes that only statehood will fully emancipate the residents of D.C., says she is nevertheless encouraged by favorable developments even in this Republican controlled-House. She cited House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa's (R-CA) budget autonomy proposal, President Obama's strong support for budget autonomy and for a bill preventing shutdowns of the D.C. government and, more recently, budget autonomy endorsements by two important Republican leaders, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell.
Who: Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Mayor Vincent Gray, Council Chairman Kwame Brown, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, the Reverend Al Sharpton, and civil rights and other local and national leaders
What: March Through the Monuments
Where: Starting at the Lincoln Memorial
When: Wednesday, April 11, 2012, at 2:00 p.m.
Published: April 11, 2012