La Grange will celebrate the diversity of its residents Sunday afternoon, Sept. 13, at the 18th Annual Race Unity Rally. The event begins at 3:00 p.m. in the village hall auditorium.
"The rally is an annual reminder to our community that we all need
to work together to appreciate our differences while recognizing our
similarities," said Marion Honel-Wilson, co-chair of the event, which is sponsored by the CommUNITY Diversity Group of La Grange.
The theme for this year's rally is “Quality Education for All Our Children,” Honel-Wilson said.
"We believe, as President Obama said in Philadelphia last year, that '…we
cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together
- unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have
different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the
same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to
move in the same direction - towards a better future for our children
and our grandchildren,'” she said.
The event's keynote speaker is Henri Boyd Banks, a former La
Grange resident, who currently is with Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In addition, Lyons
Township High School’s new Superintendent, Dr. Timothy Kilrea, will
introduce himself.
The CommUNITY
Diversity Group will present its annual achievement award to Joyce
and Gaylon Lightner in
recognition of their active contributions to
the La Grange community.
The CEP youth leadership performance group
“Watch My Feet” will perform skits and dances to
get their message across, and
the Village of La
Grange will present its annual proclamation recognizing the event.