Invitation to the Joliet Community

Event Details

You are invited to attend a community gathering designed to promote voter turnout for the forthcoming primary election on Saturday, March 7th, 2026.

Location: New Canannland Church (225 Clinton Street, Joliet, IL)

Time: 1:00 PM–3:30 PM

We are pleased to extend this invitation to you and your family to participate in an event focused on civic engagement ahead of the primary election on March 17, 2026. This occasion will provide valuable opportunities to meet local candidates, connect with fellow residents, and learn how you can actively contribute to shaping the future of our community.

Activities and Purpose

The event will include engaging activities suitable for all ages, refreshments, and informative sessions about candidates running in the upcoming primary election. Our initiative emphasizes understanding the influence local elected officials have on daily life, encouraging community involvement, and promoting unity to support the election of candidates committed to building a stronger and more inclusive community.

Join Us

Plan to attend this educational and informative event, which will feature candidates from all political parties. We look forward to your participation.

We are grateful for the support we received.

On behalf of New Canaanland Christian Church and Men of Valor, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to all who contributed to making this year’s Super Soul Bowl Celebration a tremendous success. Thank you to our generous donors, dedicated sponsors, enthusiastic public participants, and all radio and news media outlets who helped share our mission and impact with the broader community.

Juneteenth, America’s newest federal holiday, was meant to symbolize a national reckoning with history and a celebration of freedom when President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan legislation into law in 2021. Yet, just a few years later, we find Juneteenth events canceled in cities across Indiana, Illinois, and Oregon, as backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives intensifies. This is not just an administrative shift, it’s a cultural one. As some seek to erase or diminish Black joy, we must remember that indulging in joy itself has always been an act of resistance.

From the earliest Juneteenth celebrations to today’s block parties and art festivals, play and happiness have been tools for survival and defiance. For Black and brown communities, joy has always been revolutionary. BLM was founded in 2013 in response to unspeakable tragedies, ones where ruthless oppression, abuse of power, and brutalities flooded our social media timelines following the murder of innocent young men like Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. Yet even in mourning, our communities found ways to laugh, dance, and dream together. The movement’s global resonance is rooted in this duality, the courage to confront injustice, and the audacity to celebrate life.

More recently, we’ve invested in youth sports programs in local communities and abroad, from Brooklyn, New York to Ghana, to ensure we are building from the inside out and advocating for the most vulnerable. We are guided by the wisdom of our ancestors, who, even in the darkest times, found ways to nurture hope and rebuild. This Juneteenth, let us do more than remember the past. Let us build the future. Migration is a declaration of hope. Just as Black Americans fled the South during the Great Migration seeking dignity, safety, and opportunity, today’s immigrants are doing the same. We call on local leaders, philanthropists, and allies to invest in Black communities and to stand in solidarity with all who are still fighting for freedom. The right to give, to gather, and to celebrate, are as vital as any policy change.

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Event Details

Activities and Purpose

Join Us

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