HR1101 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1101 LRB100 22077 MST 40320 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Rev. Dr. James Hal Cone, who passed away on April 28, 2018; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Cone was born in Fordyce, Arkansas; he attended Shorter College and graduated from Philander Smith College in Little Rock in 1958 with a Bachelor of Arts; he graduated from Garrett Theological Seminary with a Bachelor of Divinity in 1961 and received his Master of Arts from Northwestern University in 1963; two years later, a Ph.D. was conferred on him by Northwestern University; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Cone is known as the father of black liberation theology; he joined Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York in 1969 and was promoted to full professor of theology in 1973; he was named the Bill & Judith Moyers Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology in 2017; he researched and taught Christian theology, with special attention to black liberation theology and the liberation theologies of Africa, Asia, and Latin America; he also taught 19th and 20th-century European-American theologies; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Cone is an award-winning author; he penned Black Theology & Black Power (1969), A Black Theology of Liberation (1970), and God of the Oppressed (1975); his most recent book, The Cross and the Lynching Tree, was awarded the 2018 Grawemeyer Award in Religion; and

WHEREAS, On April 18, 2018, Rev. Cone was elected to the 2018 class of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences; among other numerous awards he received are the American Black Achievement Award in religion given by Ebony Magazine (November 1992), the Fund for Theological Education Award for contributions to theological education and scholarship (November 1999), the Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion (2009), and the Eliza Garrett Distinguished Service Award in recognition of seminal theological scholarship from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (2010); he received 13 honorary degrees, including an honoris causa from the Institut Protestant de Théologie in Paris, France; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Cone was an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church; he was listed in the Directory of American Scholars, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Religion, Who's Who Among African Americans, and Who's Who in the World; he was the author of 12 books and over 150 articles and lectured at many universities and community organizations throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Cone was an active member of numerous professional societies, including the Society for the Study of Black Religion, the American Academy of Religion, and the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT) in the Philippines; he was a founding member of the Society of Race, Ethnicity, and Religion (SRER); and

WHEREAS, Rev. Cone is survived by his sons, Michael and Charles; his daughters, Robynn and Krystal; and his grandchildren, Jolei and Miles; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Rev. Dr. James Hal Cone, and extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Rev. Cone as an expression of our deepest sympathy.