LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION memorializing Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to
proclaim July 2, 2013, as Medgar Wiley Evers Day in the State of New
York

WHEREAS, From time to time this Legislative Body takes note of certain
extraordinary individuals of remarkable courage and strength of charac-
ter who risked their own lives for others, and stood with fortitude for
freedom and humanity; and
WHEREAS, It is with profound conviction that this Legislative Body is
moved to honor a man of indomitable faith and dedication whose purpose-
ful life and accomplishments will forever stand as an example and inspi-
ration for others; and
WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is justly proud to memorialize Governor
Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim July 2, 2013, as Medgar Wiley Evers Day in
the State of New York; and
WHEREAS, Medgar Wiley Evers was field secretary for the National Asso-
ciation for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); his assassination
in June 1963, sparked a national outcry that increased support for
legislation that ultimately became the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and
WHEREAS, Civil rights leader Medgar Wiley Evers was born on July 2,
1925, in Decatur, Mississippi, where he daily witnessed and experienced
the horrors of discrimination and racism from an early age; his father,
James Evers, owned his own land and served as a model of independence
and courage for the future organizer who grew up determined to resist
oppression; and
WHEREAS, Medgar Evers served in the United States Army during World
War II, fighting in both France and Germany; after being honorably
discharged in 1946, he returned to Decatur, and took on his first direct
challenge to discrimination by attempting to vote in the next election;
thwarted in his efforts by an armed crowd of approximately 200 racists,
he joined the NAACP and quickly rose to prominence in Mississippi; and
WHEREAS, Medgar Evers consistently sought to promote understanding and
equality between blacks and whites, and of the need to overcome racial
hatred; he organized voter-registration drives, economic boycotts and
demonstrations to end segregation and worked tirelessly to support the
efforts of his fellow civil rights advocates; and
WHEREAS, Medgar Evers also fought racial injustices in education, as
well as in state and local legal systems; he worked with famed civil
rights attorney and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall to
desegregate the University of Mississippi Law School, called for a new
investigation into the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till, and protested the
conviction of fellow Mississippi civil rights activists; these activ-
ities made him a prime target for those who opposed racial equality; and
WHEREAS, On the night of June 12, 1963, 38-year-old Medgar Evers had
just returned home from a series of NAACP functions when he was shot in
the back; he died in a hospital shortly thereafter, leaving behind his
wife, Myrlie Evers, and their three children; and
WHEREAS, Although African-Americans were routinely murdered for
resisting oppression, Medgar Evers was the first major civil rights
leader to be assassinated; and
WHEREAS, Medgar Wiley Evers' death was a milestone in the African-Am-
erican civil rights movement, spurring civil rights leaders and advo-
cates to work all the more towards the goal of freedom, inspiring new
advocates, and enlightening and motivating the President and Congress to
take decisive action to protect the rights of African-Americans; and
WHEREAS, Since his passing, Medgar Wiley Evers' immeasurable contrib-
utions to the cause of freedom have been honored in many ways; he was

buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery in Wash-
ington DC, and posthumously awarded the NAACP Spingarn Medal in 1963; in
1969 the City University of New York named a college in his honor and,
in 2009, the United States Navy bestowed his name on one of their
vessels; and
WHEREAS, The sacrifice of Medgar Wiley Evers helped to open the doors
of freedom for millions of Americans; his life was a study in courage
and conviction, a model of hope and belief in the highest possible
ideals to which all should aspire; and
WHEREAS, Armed with a humanistic spirit, imbued with a sense of
compassion, and inspired by the spirit of justice, Medgar Wiley Evers
has left behind a legacy which will long endure the passage of time;
now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim July 2, 2013, as Medgar
Wiley Evers Day in the State of New York; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of New
York.