The Free Digital Book Celebrates his Life and Legacy
Harold Washington College and the Mayor Harold Washington Legacy Committee (MHWLC) will proudly announce the release of a free digital book celebrating the life and legacy of Chicago’s first Black Mayor during a virtual African-American History Month webinar celebration to be held from 5pm to 6:30pm on Wednesday, February 9, 2022. During the event, book excerpts will be shared, and the full book will be available in the coming weeks.
This virtual event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Tickets are available on Eventbrite, click here to register.
The digital book, HERE’S HAROLD! The Man, The Moment, The Movement is a collection of spectacular and rare images and filled with moving reflections from Legacy Committee members and others who were personally impacted by Chicago’s 51st Mayor’s work and legacy. HERE’S HAROLD! is intended to educate and inspire people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds in hope of keeping the historic civic legacy and activist momentum of Harold Washington alive for the generations to come. The book outlines his life, from birth until his untimely death in 1987.
MHWLC founder and President Josie Childs expressed the group’s enthusiasm, “The initial response from the multi-ethnic community of ‘Harold’s People’ regarding this digital publication has been truly remarkable. We the Legacy Committee members feel inspired and express our deep appreciation to this community of contributors who joined our 100th anniversary digital tribute, designed to honor Harold Washington’s profound life and legacy. This is an excellent educational way to invest in and protect the history of Chicago’s first Black Mayor.”
“Harold was in the machine but not of it. He knew how it worked including its weaknesses and its strengths. One day Harold sent Rudy Polk to meet with me. We met over his house on South Park (now King Drive), and he explained how the system worked and how temporary workers who could be fired if they didn’t deliver to the party like putting signs in people’s yard. If you didn’t do that, the committeeman would fire you. This system pitted people against people because if you were in the Ward and doing certain things, the precinct captain would move in on you. If you had a church and spoke out, they would condemn your church the next Sunday morning. Harold wanted to get free from all of that. Harold was very methodical in his approach to politics.” ~ Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
“During his term of office, Mayor Harold Washington was governing on the basis of a multi-racial progressive coalition. Previously overlooked minority groups started to get their voice heard during this time, and the Chinese community was one of them. Chinatown Square, a landmark not only for the Chinese community but also for the whole City of Chicago, was initiated during Washington’s term. He laid the foundation for Chinatown’s economic development in the following decades and played a key role in Chicago’s Chinatown growth —the only one that is still growing in the United States.” ~ Kaiyu Li, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Political Science, University of Illinois Chicago
For more information about MHWLC, visit https://www.facebook.com/mayorharoldwashington/
For more information about Harold Washington College, visit ccc.edu or call 773-COLLEGE
