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WHEREAS, Anne Feeney, dubbed "the best labor singer in North America" by fellow folksinger Utah Phillips, has enriched the culture of labor activists and all who fight for the rights of working people with her decades of community activism and musical performances; and
WHEREAS, Anne Feeney, the granddaughter of a mineworkers organizer and a Pittsburgh native, has twice been voted Best Folk Act by the Pittsburgh Music Awards and has received the Joe Hill Award from the Labor Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C., whose past recipients include Cesar Chavez, Pete Seeger, Faith Petric, and Hazel Dickens; and
WHEREAS, her anthem "Have You Been to Jail for Justice?" has been sung worldwide, notably covered by Peter, Paul, and Mary, and featured on the PBS documentary Get Up/Stand Up: The History of Pop and Protest; and
WHEREAS, along with being the first and only woman president in the 115-year history of the Pittsburgh Musicians' Union, Anne Feeney helped found Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, the Women's Bar Association of Allegheny County, and the Gender Bias Committee of the Allegheny County Bar Association, and served as Pennsylvania chapter president and state executive board member of the National Organization for Women; and
WHEREAS, in August of 2010 Anne Feeney was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer and, despite a grim prognosis, almost nineteen months later is cancer-free, her defiance of the disease a fitting testament to her career of defiance.
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THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh recognizes Anne Feeney as a dedicated, talented, and fiery advocate for workers' rights and a proud daughter of the City of Pittsburgh.
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby declare Tuesday, March 20, 2012 to be Anne Feeney Day in the City of Pittsburgh.