Bill Text: IL HR0277 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Recognizes Bishop Lance Davis for co-organizing the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus delegation's trip to Ghana in West Africa in January 2023.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-05-11 - Resolution Adopted [HR0277 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HR0277-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
Representatives wish to recognize Bishop Lance Davis for his
work in organizing the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus
delegation's West African trip to Ghana in January 2023; and
WHEREAS, From January 14, 2023 to January 23, 2023, the
eight member delegation visited Accra, Ghana, a prominent
African city that is rich in tradition, the homeland of many
Illinois residents, the capital of Ghana, and the first
African nation to gain independence from colonial rule; and
WHEREAS, Highlights of the trip included meeting with
Elizabeth Sackey, the first woman to serve as Mayor of Accra,
visiting the U.S. Embassy in Ghana, and meeting with John
Kufuor, the former President of Ghana; and
WHEREAS, Bishop Davis served as a co-organizer for the
Illinois Legislative Black Caucus delegation's trip to Ghana;
and
WHEREAS, Bishop Davis was born on the West Side of
Chicago; while still in high school, he co-managed his
father's organization, which included seven Popeyes chicken
restaurants and two McDonald's restaurants; he then opened two

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Docks Seafood restaurants in the 1980s, where he insisted on
hiring marginalized young people in an effort to help them
learn a solid work ethic and workplace disciplines; and
WHEREAS, Bishop Davis completed his seminary studies at
the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC); after
serving as a pastor at the Christian Methodist Episcopal
Church for 12 years, he founded the New Zion Covenant Church in
Dolton in 2003, which was later brought into the Evangelical
Covenant Church (ECC) in 2010; he was elected as the executive
minister of Ordered Ministry of the ECC in 2018, thereby
becoming the first African American to hold the position in
its 135-year history; he was responsible for the supervision,
care, discipline, and development of nearly 2,500 pastors, 207
military, hospital, and prison chaplains, and 157 missionaries
serving on five continents before concluding his term in
mid-2022; and
WHEREAS, Bishop Davis has operated several successful
businesses while serving the church; in 2002, he established
the XGD Corporation, a construction company contracted by the
Chicago Housing Authority to rehabilitate hundreds of
low-income housing units; in 2010, he and his wife, Kara,
established Zion Behavioral Health in order to provide safe
and caring mental health services to the South Suburbs; in
2015, he established Kinsmen Development, securing one million

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dollars in real estate financing to purchase and rehabilitate
nearly 20 dilapidated homes in Dolton; and
WHEREAS, Bishop Davis has also established several
not-for-profit agencies; he created Voices of Morality to
speak against police brutality and the unfair lending
practices of banks and other merchants; in 1996, he founded
Building Our Own Community, Inc. (BOOC), which has been
instrumental in feeding thousands of residents in the South
Suburbs, and opened the area's first robotics training program
for youth; in 2003, he and his family purchased the former
Dolton Expo Center, an 88,000 square foot multi-use facility,
where he has housed BOOC, the New Zion Christian Fellowship
Church, the Joseph Storehouse Food Pantry, and the Up-Scale
Rummage Sale resale shop and hosted many Christian hip-hop
concerts and events; and
WHEREAS, Bishop Davis has routinely invested in and given
back to Ghana; he established a water borehole drilling
company in Ghana, providing clean potable water for thousands
of Ghanaian villagers; in 2004, he founded Sankofa Venture,
which has a touring subsidiary, Sankofa US, that facilitates
and organizes travel to Ghana, West Africa for African
Americans who are interested in return, or heritage tracing,
journeys; to date, he and the Sankofa team have helped more
than 1,000 African Americans travel to Ghana; and

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WHEREAS, Bishop Davis has received a number of accolades
for his work, including by former Secretary of State Jesse
White, the Chicago Defender online newspaper with the Pastor's
Salute Award, the Human Resource Development Institute, and
the Village of Harvey, which renamed Cooper Avenue as Bishop
Lance Davis Street; and
WHEREAS, Bishop Davis is a life member of Kappa Alpha Psi
Fraternity, Inc., a member of the Druids Club of Chicago, and a
board member of the African Diaspora Sixth Region Association
of Illinois; and
WHEREAS, Bishop Davis is married to Kara E. Davis, M.D.,
and they have four adult children, Grace, Andrew, Lance
Nathaniel, and Natalie Kara; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we recognize Bishop Lance Davis for co-organizing the Illinois
Legislative Black Caucus delegation's West African trip to
Ghana in January 2023; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
presented to Bishop Davis as a symbol of our esteem and
respect.