The Rockford Park District, Eliminate Racism 815 and Rockford’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People brought people together during a festival that is designed to create a sense of belonging in the community.
Unity Fest is an annual event that started in 2024.
This past Saturday afternoon, Aug. 8, a diverse crowd of people gathered around Levings Unity Pavilion at Levings Lake to celebrate the annual festival.
Dick Rundall is one of the cofounders of Eliminate Racism 815. This group has four action teams who work with certain sectors. Those areas are education, economics and criminal justice. The fourth team works on relationship building.
Rundall said the organization wants to create the beloved community that Martin Luther King Jr. talked about.
“Even if we're working with an organization, we've done the research," he added, "we've realized yes, they're creating disparities racially. They're not doing things equitably. Whatever, we come in and don't attack them or judge them or criticize them. We point out the facts and say, and we want to help you solve this problem.”
Rundall said they take a solutions approach by finding other organizations in the community who have solved similar issues and share those successes.
Tricia Carlson lives in Roscoe. This is her first time joining the unity event. Carlson said learning about other cultures through the media is not the way.
“By coming to these types of events,” she said, “we've learned a whole lot about humanity and the people that are around us every day, and it's not what the news says. We all want the same things."
Carlson’s vision is for the event to grow.
Her brother, Dominick Barcellona, attends quarterly meetings with Eliminate Racism 815.
“Which led me to meeting Ann and Dick Rundall,” he added, “and through that, making good connections and just continuing those relationships is very important.”
He said these types of events break down racial barriers.
Rundall, one of the cofounders of Eliminate Racism 815, explained how people like to be around those who they share similarities with.
“We grow when we're around people who are different,” he explained, "and so to me, being around a group of people with a lot of diversity is going to be growth producing, but also people find out, hey, we're alike in a lot of ways.”
He said these types of events remind people how much they have in common. Rundall adds it’s going to take an effort from everyone in the community to help alleviate racism.
