2020 -- S 2336

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LC003380

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2020

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

EXPRESSING CONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF MICHAEL VAN LEESTEN

     Introduced By: Senators Ruggerio, Metts, Goodwin, Picard, and Rogers

     Date Introduced: February 11, 2020

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, Michael Van Leesten, a Rhode Island Civil Rights icon and a successful

businessman and devoted public servant, passed away on August 23, 2019; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Van Leesten was a Hope High School and Rhode Island College

graduate, where he was a star basketball player. After graduating college in 1965, Mr. Van

Leesten became active in the civil rights community, and together with six other courageous

students, participated in civil rights and voter registration activities in Alabama and Mississippi at

a time when doing so put one’s life in great jeopardy; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Van Leesten spent his entire life in service to the public and in pursuant

of justice for all, especially those who never received the promises made to all Americans in the

Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Van Leesten was one of the founders, and had served as the Chief

Executive Officer of the Opportunities Industrialization Center of Rhode Island (OIC), an

organization that provides job training and career counseling to underrepresented groups within

American society and the business community; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Van Leesten also served as an Executive Assistant to the Chairman of

the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in Connecticut and assisted with the development of the

Foxwoods Resort Casino. Additionally, he served as Director of the Department of Planning and

Development for the City of Providence, as Chairman of the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage

Finance Corporation, and has held leadership positions within the NAACP, Urban League, the

Black Repertory Company, and the Black Heritage Society; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Van Leesten will long be remembered by his many friends and admirers

for his tireless advocacy in support of civil rights and equality. He was a courageous man, a man

of deep personal conviction and integrity, and a loving person who cared deeply about others,

especially those living on the margins of American society; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby expresses its deepest condolences on the passing of Mr. Michael Van Leesten; and be it

further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Rhode Island NAACP and the

Opportunities Industrialization Center of Rhode Island.

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