Governor Chafee, General Assembly, RI Black & Latino Caucus Celebrate Black History Month at State House

Rep. Anastasia Williams, Chair of both the House
Labor Committee and the Black & Latino Caucus, is pictured
with Governor Chafee 

Governor Chafee attended the 3rd Annual Joint Legislative Black History Month Celebration, titled “Hope, Unity, and Action,” on February 8. The program featured keynote speaker Corey D. B. Walker, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Africana Studies at Brown University.

At the event, the Governor spoke about the important contributions African Americans have made to Rhode Island over the centuries. As the Governor noted, the 1st Rhode Island Regiment, composed largely of African American soldiers, played a key role in winning the 1778 Battle of Rhode Island during the Revolutionary War. The Regiment is credited with saving the American line and widely believed to be the first African-American military regiment.

The Governor then spoke of Rhode Island African Americans who rose to national prominence in the years following the Civil War, such as landscape artist Edward Bannister, who helped found the Rhode Island School of Design, and Dr. John Hope, a Brown alumnus, who served as President of Morehouse College in the early 20th century.

More recently, in 2001, Ruth Simmons was sworn in as president of Brown University, making her the first black president of an Ivy League university and Brown’s first female president.

The celebration also included remarks from Speaker Fox and Senate President Paiva Weed.