Community Corner
Speak Up To Host A Business Expo, Rally And Protest Saturday
The event will also be a space for Speak Up to award those in the community who have been working to uplift and create equity and education.
JOLIET - Speak Up, an organization founded by Trista Graves Brown, wanted to celebrate Black culture without losing the message of change that needs to happen so Black lives matter.
On Saturday, June 27, starting at 10 a.m., the outside area of the Warren-Sharpe Community Center, 454 S. Joliet St., will be filled with business vendors, music and speakers. The event will conclude with a rally and a march.
"What’s the next step?" Graves Brown, of Joliet, said. "You’re gonna have some artists in there and some people who are civil rights leaders."
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"It’s not just about the Black lives, its about economy, education, all the things we have to do to build ourselves up.”
Graves Brown said she chose the Warren-Sharpe Community Center for its significance in the community. She also chose speakers she thought could embody mentorship for younger generations.
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"We want the kids to be able to look up on these mentors," she said.
Among the speakers are Ernest Crim, a teacher at Joliet Central High School and author, Roosevelt McCullum, a celebrity boxer and Joliet native, and Mary White, who will speak about the the history of the Warren-Sharpe Community Center.
“The mentors, the older people are passing the torch to the younger people.” Graves Brown said.
Shanon Harris and Chris Michael will be performing as will Marcella Graves, the first Miss Black Joliet. Dj Booda will be playing music from 10 to noon.
Speak Up will also be issuing awards to people in the community who "contribute to Black Lives Matter now," Graves Brown said.
The Margaret Graves Humanitarian Award, named after Graves Brown's mother.
"These are the people who feed into positiveness that we all need," she said of those chosen for an award.
At noon, the business expo will transition into a rally and the participants will march from the Warren-Sharpe Community Center to Chicago Street Bar and Grill. The event will conclude around 1:45 p.m.
Attendees are invited to wear African attire or the colors red, black or green.
For more information, visit the Speak Up Facebook page.
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