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Office of the Mayor-President


For release: IMMEDIATELY

Release Date: 01/18/2017

Mayor proclaims National Day of Racial Healing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:

Dr. Tamiara Wade, Asst. Chief Administrative Officer: (225) 389-3100
Michelle McCalope, Communications Office: (225) 389-7957
John Deveney, Denise Davila, Media Contacts: (225) 389-5100

January 17, 2017
Baton Rouge, LA
Mayor Sharon Weston Broome, today with Baton Rouge community leaders and partners, is pleased to proclaim January 17, 2017, as a National Day of Racial Healing.
This proclamation comes in conjunction with the City and Mayor’s collaboration with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which has called upon civic, religious, community and philanthropic organizations to facilitate racial healing in their communities. This nationwide effort includes more than 130 other leaders and leading organizations and municipalities across the country.
“The timing of this commemoration is ideal,” said Mayor Broome. “This extends our tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in a meaningful way. On the eve of this presidential inauguration, our nation, and especially our Baton Rouge community, hungers for unity. The National Day of Racial Healing calls us to come together, to reach through the divides that diminish, weaken and impoverish us. This day seeks to transform our commitment to collaborate and create a more equitable community.”
Mayor Broome urges residents, businesses and organizations to recognize the National Day of Racial Healing through thoughtful and concerted efforts to come together. She encourages constructive dialogue, healing, and ultimately, transformation.
As part of The National Day of Racial Healing, the Baton Rouge area community can get involved by:
Mapping the Movement, sponsored by Urban Congress, featuring events for dialogue among African-American men in Baton Rouge: Thursday, Jan. 19, 6 p.m., McKinley Alumni Center (1520 Thomas H. Delpit Drive, Baton Rouge, LA, 70802). RSVP at www.theurbancongress.com.
“We have to come together and commit to changes that will impact our community and make it a better place to live, work and play. Participating in The National Day of Racial Healing is a step towards bringing us all together, closing the divide which separates us from greater prosperity, and will help propel the region forward by relegating bias firmly in the past.”
“This can be more than a day or an observance. This is the start of our community’s collective march toward unity and greater prosperity”, Broome said.
In the days ahead, Mayor Broome plans to announce programs, initiatives, partnerships and municipal leaders that will advance the city’s efforts to unify Baton Rouge, the central platform of her election campaign.

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