2026 SESSION
ENROLLED
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 121
Celebrating the life of the Honorable Barnie Keith Day.
Agreed to by the Senate, February 26, 2026
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, March 2, 2026
WHEREAS, the Honorable Barnie Keith Day, an author, public servant, and compassionate community leader who was well-known for his vivid storytelling, boundless generosity, and genuine care for the well-being of others, died on May 12, 2025; and
WHEREAS, Barnie Day grew up in North Carolina and was captivated from a young age by his mother's ability to mimic entire conversations with astonishing accuracy and his uncle's dry wit and deadpan humor, experiences that shaped his oratory ability in later life; and
WHEREAS, to help support his family, Barnie Day worked at an aluminum factory while he was a student in high school; he began to cultivate his passion for activism when he learned that he was being paid more than a Black employee who had been with the factory for more than a decade and successfully convinced the foreman to give that employee a raise; and
WHEREAS, despite his own financial challenges, Barnie Day matriculated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC); he put off buying books whenever possible and often relied on the kindness of his roommate for access to the dining hall; and
WHEREAS, Barnie Day had a longtime dream to become a novelist and began working as a journalist after graduating from UNC in 1975; he worked for a series of small newspapers in North Carolina, then served as an editor for small newspapers in Kansas City, Missouri; and