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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives are pleased to congratulate William Garth, Sr. | ||||||
| 4 | for awarding college scholarships to black youth for 18 years | ||||||
| 5 | and congratulate the staff of the Citizen newspaper for serving | ||||||
| 6 | the black community for 45 years; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, William Garth, Sr. currently serves as publisher | ||||||
| 8 | and CEO of the Chicago Citizen Newspaper Group and Garthco, | ||||||
| 9 | Inc.; he is also the Founder/Chairman of the QBG Foundation; | ||||||
| 10 | and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, William Garth, Sr. began his career with the | ||||||
| 12 | Citizen Newspaper in 1969 as an advertising sales | ||||||
| 13 | representative under the leadership of former Congressman Gus | ||||||
| 14 | Savage; in 1980, he purchased the Chatham Citizen, South End | ||||||
| 15 | Citizen, and Chicago Weekend; he later added the South Suburban | ||||||
| 16 | and the Hyde Park editions and founded Garthco Publications, | ||||||
| 17 | which published PUSH Magazine, a bi-monthly national | ||||||
| 18 | publication; and
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| 19 | WHEREAS, Under the direction of William Garth, Sr., Citizen | ||||||
| 20 | Newspapers has a total circulation of 121,000 and a weekly | ||||||
| 21 | readership of over 400,000; the newspapers' circulation areas | ||||||
| 22 | cover Chicago's South and West sides, as well as the South | ||||||
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| 1 | Suburbs; and
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| 2 | WHEREAS, William Garth, Sr. is the first black person to be | ||||||
| 3 | elected President of the Illinois Press Association, the | ||||||
| 4 | state's largest newspaper association and the office trade | ||||||
| 5 | organization for Illinois' weekly and daily newspapers, and the | ||||||
| 6 | second black person in the nation to be elected president of a | ||||||
| 7 | statewide press association; he currently sits on the Board of | ||||||
| 8 | Government Affairs Committee of the Illinois Press Association | ||||||
| 9 | and has served as a board member for 15 years; he was elected a | ||||||
| 10 | stockholder in the Cook County South Suburban Publishers | ||||||
| 11 | Association; his business savvy and knowledge in the publishing | ||||||
| 12 | industry allowed him to also serve as Chairman of the Midwest | ||||||
| 13 | Black Publisher Association; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, In December of 1998, William Garth, Sr. received | ||||||
| 15 | the honor of being appointed to Governor-elect George Ryan's | ||||||
| 16 | Transition Team; in appreciation of his role and the support | ||||||
| 17 | shown during the election, Governor-elect Ryan appointed him to | ||||||
| 18 | the Board of Directors for the Illinois Inauguration 1998, | ||||||
| 19 | Inc.; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, In 1995, William Garth, Sr. founded the Quentis | ||||||
| 21 | Bernard Garth (QBG) Foundation in memory of his youngest son, | ||||||
| 22 | Quentis B. Garth, to provide scholarships to the | ||||||
| 23 | disenfranchised, college-bound youths of the Chicagoland area; | ||||||
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| 1 | to date, the Foundation has helped 36 students realize their | ||||||
| 2 | dream of becoming college graduates and has underwritten the | ||||||
| 3 | education of 49 students, with 11 scholars currently enrolled | ||||||
| 4 | in colleges and universities across the country; the QBG | ||||||
| 5 | Foundation has disbursed close to $1 million in scholarship | ||||||
| 6 | awards; and | ||||||
| 7 | WHEREAS, William Garth, Sr. is well known among his peers | ||||||
| 8 | as a dedicated activist and leader in the business community; | ||||||
| 9 | he serves in numerous positions within several business | ||||||
| 10 | organizations, including Chairman of the Chatham Business | ||||||
| 11 | Association, President of Midwest Region III of the National | ||||||
| 12 | Newspaper Publishers Association, Vice-Chairman of Advertising | ||||||
| 13 | with the National Newspaper Publishers Association, member of | ||||||
| 14 | the Transition Team for IDOT's Dan Ryan Project, board member | ||||||
| 15 | of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, member of the Far Southside | ||||||
| 16 | Business Association, and member of the NAACP, the Chatham | ||||||
| 17 | Lions Club of Chicago, and the Association of Black | ||||||
| 18 | Journalists; and
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| 19 | WHEREAS, William Garth, Sr. has received numerous awards | ||||||
| 20 | and honors from both local and national organizations; he also | ||||||
| 21 | served as a carrier of the Olympic Torch in Chicago during the | ||||||
| 22 | 2002 Torch Relay; therefore, be it
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| 23 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
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| 1 | NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 2 | congratulate William Garth, Sr. for awarding college | ||||||
| 3 | scholarships to black youth and congratulate the staff of the | ||||||
| 4 | Citizen newspaper for serving the black community for over 45 | ||||||
| 5 | years; and be it further
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| 6 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 7 | presented to William Garth, Sr. as a symbol of our esteem and | ||||||
| 8 | respect.
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