Presidential Document2022-02456
National Black History Month, 2022
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
February 3, 2022
Signed
January 31, 2022
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 23 (Thursday, February 3, 2022)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 23 (Thursday, February 3, 2022)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 6397-6399]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-02456]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 23 / Thursday, February 3, 2022 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 6397]]
Proclamation 10337 of January 31, 2022
National Black History Month, 2022
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Each February, National Black History Month serves as
both a celebration and a powerful reminder that Black
history is American history, Black culture is American
culture, and Black stories are essential to the ongoing
story of America--our faults, our struggles, our
progress, and our aspirations. Shining a light on Black
history today is as important to understanding
ourselves and growing stronger as a Nation as it has
ever been. That is why it is essential that we take
time to celebrate the immeasurable contributions of
Black Americans, honor the legacies and achievements of
generations past, reckon with centuries of injustice,
and confront those injustices that still fester today.
Our Nation was founded on an idea: that all of us are
created equal and deserve to be treated with equal
dignity throughout our lives. It is a promise we have
never fully lived up to but one that we have never,
ever walked away from. The long shadows of slavery, Jim
Crow, and redlining--and the blight of systemic racism
that still diminishes our Nation today--hold America
back from reaching our full promise and potential. But
by facing those tragedies openly and honestly and
working together as one people to deliver on America's
promise of equity and dignity for all, we become a
stronger Nation--a more perfect version of ourselves.
Across the generations, countless Black Americans have
demonstrated profound moral courage and resilience to
help shape our Nation for the better. Today, Black
Americans lead industries and movements for change,
serve our communities and our Nation at every level,
and advance every field across the board, including
arts and sciences, business and law, health and
education, and many more. In the face of wounds and
obstacles older than our Nation itself, Black Americans
can be seen in every part of our society today,
strengthening and uplifting all of America.
Vice President Harris and I are deeply committed to
advancing equity, racial justice, and opportunity for
Black Americans as we continue striving to realize
America's founding promise. That began by building a
Federal Government that looks like America: including
the first Black Secretary of Defense, the first Black
woman to head the Office of Management and Budget, the
first Black man to lead the Environmental Protection
Agency, the first Black woman to lead the Department of
Housing and Urban Development in more than 40 years,
the first Black chair of the White House Council of
Economic Advisors, a Black Ambassador representing
America at the United Nations, and the first Black and
South Asian Vice President in our history. We have been
proud to appoint accomplished Black Americans to serve
in a vast array of roles across our Administration. I
am prouder still to have already nominated eight Black
women to serve as Federal appellate judges--matching in
just 1 year the total number of Black women who have
ever served on Federal appeals courts.
My Administration has worked hard to reverse decades of
underinvestment in Black communities, schools, and
businesses. Both the American Rescue Plan and the
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are making historic
investments in Black America--from vaccine shots in
arms to checks in families' pockets
[[Page 6398]]
and tax cuts for working families with children to a
landmark $5.8 billion investment in and support for
Historically Black Colleges and Universities. And in my
first year in office, the American Rescue Plan provided
the full Child Tax Credit to the lower income families
of more than 26 million children--who are
disproportionately Black--and put us on a path to cut
Black child poverty in half.
As the Infrastructure Law continues to be implemented,
we will expand on that progress. Lead service lines
that have contaminated the water of too many homes and
schools in Black communities will be removed and
replaced. We will deliver high-speed internet to every
community so that no Black family is left behind in the
21st century economy. Historic investments in public
transportation will help more people in more
neighborhoods get to where good jobs actually are
quickly and safely. We will reconnect Black
neighborhoods cut off from opportunity by highways that
were built to brush them aside. Long-standing
environmental injustices that have hit Black
communities the hardest will be remediated. We will
deliver major investments in Black entrepreneurs and
small businesses--including making the Minority
Business Development Agency permanent and seeding it
with a record $110 million in new resources to help
level the playing field for Black businesses.
But this is only the start. To fulfill America's
promise for all, we will work tirelessly in the year
ahead to deliver on my Build Back Better agenda,
bringing down the costs that families face on child
care, housing, education, health care, prescription
drugs, and so much more. We will continue to battle the
COVID-19 pandemic with equity at the center of our
response. We will not rest until we have protected the
foundation of our democracy: the sacred right to vote.
And we will fight to keep dismantling all of those
structural inequities that have served as barriers for
Black families for generations.
As we celebrate National Black History Month, let us
all recommit ourselves to reach for that founding
promise. Let us continue to fight for the equity,
opportunity, and dignity to which every Black American
is due in equal measure. Let us carry forward the work
to build an America that is, in the beautiful words of
the poet Amanda Gorman, ``Bruised, but whole--
benevolent, but bold, fierce, and free.''
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim February 2022
as National Black History Month. I call upon public
officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of
the United States to observe this month with
appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.
[[Page 6399]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord
two thousand twenty-two, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
sixth.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2022-02456
Filed 2-2-22; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3395-F2-P
</pre></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on February 3, 2022.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.