Not In Our Town planning 20th anniversary event

Posted on June 7, 2016
Not In Our Town leaders
The event was announced Tuesday at the McLean County Museum of History. (Adam Studzinski/WJBC)

By Adam Studzinski

BLOOMINGTON – Not In Our Town leaders are planning a celebration later this month to mark 20 years of fighting racism and discrimination in Bloomington-Normal.

The event will be held in downtown Bloomington on June 28.

“Our purpose is to stand up and say, we will not tolerate racism and discrimination in our community,” Group organizer Mark Miller said.

Miller added the group began out of discussions regarding what they could do about church burnings in the south. Willie Holton-Hallbert has been with the group since the beginning. She said they know there will always be those who disagree with their efforts.

“The best that I can say is: I can’t stop your behavior, I can bring attention to it. I can say that this is not acceptable,” said Holton-Hallbert. “For us, this is just what we do.”

Another group leader, Mike Matejka, said the national Not In Our Town movement probably would not have began if Bloomington-Normal citizens had not taken up the issues.  The 20th anniversary event is being aimed primarily towards youth in the community.

Adam Studzinski can be reached at [email protected].

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