Christopher Lockridge 
Josh Solomon, Youth Empowerment, and Build put together a MLK Unity Day and it was amazing. The MLK Unity Day was definitely good for the culture and bringing Chicago teens and young adults together. The event kicked off at 10am at Build Community Center.
The Unity event catered to close to 200 kids. When the kids and young adults first entered, all were given a shirt to wear showing MLK pride. DJ Lil Jon Stop It played the tunes as everyone entered the building. Once everyone received their shirt, they then took a seat and waited for opening remarks.
Once everyone was settled, the crowd began to learn the history behind Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Soon after that, participants began to split into different groups for different activities, which were: spiritual healing through smell and sound, the importance of communication, learning technology, breaking down and putting together a gaming console, and the last activity was an motivational speaker.
Around 12:30 everyone started to head to lunch. Once 1pm hit Mayor Brandon Johnson showed up to give the kids a speech on the importance of history and the legacy MLK left behind. After Mayor Johnson finished his speech, he began to head upstairs to have a circle talk with different kids and the counselor of the community. In the circle they all did introductions and began to talk about issues they have in their neighborhood. Mayor Johnson then shared his story about his upbringing and what he plans to do to change everything in Chicago.
Not long after that, Power 92’s Briah Banks hosted the show for the next acts. Banks brought Chicago’s very own G Herbo out and the audience was excited. G Herbo spoke about mental health, his organization Swervin Through Stress, and how becoming a father helped him become a better person.
Once G Herbo finished his session, Banks and Chicago Sky Emcee Shaun Redwell introduced Creation Global to perform one of their iconic dances. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, Redwell then brought out his clients and Chicago’s very own famous comedians Korporate, Skinbone, Big Twan, and WGCI radio host Lil Cuz.
The event wrapped up around 3:00 pm. Solomon stated, “I love the outcome. It’s all about bringing everyone together like MLK wanted. We plan on doing this again next year but bigger.”
By Christopher Lockridge
Instagram: Lockotb
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