Bill > HR0292

This Resolution declares that the State of Illinois should lead on matters of Pan-Africanism, which is the ideology and movement that promotes the unity and solidarity of all people of African descent worldwide, and on issues of citizenship in Africa and reparatory justice, which refers to making amends for historical injustices. The State is urged to support the Eighth Pan-African Congress Part 1 (8PAC1), a significant gathering focused on creating a continental citizenship plan for people of African descent living outside Africa, establishing this diaspora as the sixth region of the African Union (AU), an organization of African states, and deciding on a permanent headquarters for this region. Furthermore, Illinois is called upon to immediately use its African Descent-Citizens Reparations Commission (ADCRC) to offer DNA testing to Black residents to identify their ancestral origins in Africa, enabling them to pursue citizenship in their ancestral homelands if they wish. Finally, the Resolution calls for Illinois to be the first state to conduct a census to prepare for a voluntary repatriation program with compensation, honoring a past proposal by President Abraham Lincoln, and to make this census its top priority.