New York J 2215: Commending the New York Urban League upon the occasion of hosting its 60th Annual Frederick Douglass Awards Dinner and recognizing the distinguished recipients of the 2026 Frederick Douglass Medallion

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J02215 Summary:

BILL NOJ02215 

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SAME ASNo Same As

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SPONSORPARKER

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COSPNSRCLEARE

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MLTSPNSR

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Go to top J02215 Actions:

BILL NOJ02215 

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05/22/2026REFERRED TO FINANCE

05/27/2026REPORTED TO CALENDAR FOR CONSIDERATION

05/27/2026ADOPTED

Go to topJ02215 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topJ02215 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topJ02215 Text:

Senate Resolution No. 2215

BY: Senator PARKER

 COMMENDING the New York Urban League upon the
 occasion of hosting its 60th Annual Frederick
 Douglass Awards Dinner and recognizing the
 distinguished recipients of the 2026 Frederick
 Douglass Medallion

 WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to recognize and
pay tribute to those institutions of high purpose and worthy
accomplishment whose enduring commitment to civil rights, economic
equity, and the full inclusion of African Americans and underserved
communities in every dimension of American life has enriched the civic
life of the State of New York; and

 WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to
commend the New York Urban League upon the occasion of hosting its 60th
Annual Frederick Douglass Awards Dinner on Thursday, June 4, 2026; and

 WHEREAS, For more than 100 years, the New York Urban League has led
the way in the education, employment, and empowerment of underserved
African Americans across the five boroughs of New York City, inspiring,
influencing, and igniting more than one million Black people to achieve
their highest aspirations; and

 WHEREAS, Under the leadership of President and CEO Arva Rice, the
New York Urban League continues to fulfill its mission of enabling
African Americans and other underserved communities to secure a
first-class education, economic self-reliance, and equal respect of
their civil rights through programs, services, and advocacy; and

 WHEREAS, In 1966, the first Frederick Douglass Awards Dinner was
organized by New York Urban League Secretary Ann Sunstein Kheel to
commemorate the work of both the New York Urban League and those
like-minded individuals whose work embodied Frederick Douglass' legacy;
and

 WHEREAS, As Executive Chairman of these dinners for 25 years, Ann S.
Kheel was a pillar of support for the New York Urban League and, by
conceiving and organizing this annual dinner in Frederick Douglass's
name, she advanced his hope, and that of countless others, that anyone,
however disadvantaged, could rise to greatness through determination,
education, and the unyielding pursuit of justice; and

 WHEREAS, Frederick Douglass, born into bondage, self-educated, and
risen by the sheer force of his extraordinary mind and indomitable
spirit to become the foremost abolitionist, orator, statesman, and moral
authority of his age, embodied a vision of American possibility that
this Nation is still striving to realize; his words, engraved upon the
award that bears his name, "I know of no rights of race superior to
those of humanity," remain as urgent, radical, and necessary today as
when he first spoke them; and

 WHEREAS, The 2026 Frederick Douglass Medallion is awarded to Whoopi
Goldberg, one of only 14 performers in history to achieve the EGOT
(Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony), whose extraordinary career has been
matched every step of the way by an equally extraordinary commitment to
advocacy; and

 WHEREAS, Born Caryn Elaine Johnson in New York City, Whoopi Goldberg
has used her celebrity to champion human rights, AIDS awareness, and the
fight against homelessness and has served as a United Nations
Ambassador, working on behalf of women's rights, children's rights, and
HIV/AIDS; and

 WHEREAS, Whoopi Goldberg's 1990 Academy Award for Best Supporting
Actress for the movie, "Ghost," made her only the second
African-American woman to win an Oscar for acting (the first was awarded
to Hattie McDaniel more than fifty years prior), and her lifelong
insistence on using her platform to speak truth to power places her
squarely in the tradition of the man whose name this award carries; and

 WHEREAS, The 2026 Frederick Douglass Medallion is also awarded to
Priscilla Sims Brown, President and CEO of Amalgamated Bank, the largest
union-owned bank in the Uni