Residents Still Fight Racism 57 Years After March On Washington

BOLINGBROOK, IL — To dismantle systemic racism and social injustice, a local nonprofit hosted a march Friday. The Black History Month Awareness Club led hundreds of Bolingbrook residents through the streets to shed light on the recent racial tensions and blatant inequality in treatment of the Black community.

The day also marked 57 years since thousands of people had converged at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 28, 1963, to march for civil rights and listen to Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have A Dream" speech.

The march began at the Bolingbrook Village Hall where there was a live-streaming of the 1963 march, along with speeches from various members of the community and a booth for voter registration. Janice Haywood, one of the members of the club, said the village officials helped them organize the walk.

She said as a Bolingbrook resident since 1989,she is "very proud" of the community that has treated the Black population with respect.

"Having said that, there is racism everywhere, whether it is covert or overt," Haywood said. "There should be more diversity in the school curriculum."

The Black History Month Awareness Club was founded in 2000 by Bolingbrook Attorney Anita Kontoh Scott, Felix George Dupage Township Trustee and Bernard Winston to promote diversity within the community with an annual social event that raises awareness about the history of Black Americans. The event is held annually during Black History Month, and is geared to all residents in the village, regardless of race and origin, to assist in building bridges of tolerance and understanding.

For more information on the club, visit here.

Haywood said the march was important given the current Black Lives Matter movement that has taken over the country following George Floyd's death.

"It's both part of a historical and present movement for justice, equality and the doing away with systemic racism.," she said. "As racism impacts everyone, this march was a great opportunity to educate the community to the historical event which occurred in 1963, and increase awareness about the civil rights injustices that has continued to impact the Black community."