LEMON GROVE HONORS RACE AMITY DAY WITH PICNIC AND FILM

East County News Service

Photo: Mayor Racquel Vasquez

May 26, 2019 (Lemon Grove) – Lemon Grove  Mayor Racquel Vasquez has issued a proclamation designating June 9 as Race Amity Day in Lemon Grove.  The Mayor urges all residents to join in support of the goals and ideals for racial amity (friendship and peaceful harmony) , encouraging residents to observe the day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.    

The Race Amity Committee of Lemon Grove will sponsor a Race Amity Day Potluck Picnic on June 9th from 12 p.m. – 4 p.m. in Berry Street Park, 7071 Mt. Vernon Street, Lemon Grove.   Attendees are asked to bring a dish to share. The park offers free parking and is handicapped accessible. All are welcome.

An hour-long documentary, An American Story--Race Amity and the other Tradition, which aired earlier this year on KPBS, will be shown the day before the picnic on Saturday, June 8th at 2:00 pm at the Lemon Grove Library Community Room, 3001 School Lane.  This is free and open to all. A discussion will follow.

These events were inspired by the work at the National Center for Race Amity at Wheelock College in Boston. The Massachusetts Legislature was the first to pass a Race Amity Day Bill in 2016, designating the second Sunday in June as Massachusetts Race Amity Day to celebrate diversity, and to encourage friendship, civility, kindness and respect among all people.

The National Center for Race Amity and its allies are calling on the U.S. Congress for a joint resolution to establish the second Sunday in June of each year as a time for Americans to reflect and affirm the “dignity of the diverse racial, cultural, and religious backgrounds of the human mosaic that constitutes the United States of America.”

For more information, contact Mike Lavach (619) 851-4689. Email: mlavach1@att.net.