Joliet’s Speak Up to host ‘March 2 Vote’ on election day

The community is invited to “Walk to the Vote” on April 4 in downtown Joliet.

The event is hosted by Speak Up, a community-based, grassroots organization, according to its founder, Trista Graves Brown of Joliet.

Anyone interested in walking should gather at noon at 14 W. Jefferson St. in Joliet, the site of the former Will County Courthouse. At 1 p.m., attendees will walk to the Will County Clerk’s Office building at 302 N. Chicago St., Joliet.

Graves Brown said the walk is to remind people that “voting is power,” and that they should “wise up and exercise your vote.” She said one of the walkers is a first-time voter.

“He’s 40 and never voted before,” Graves Brown said.

The walk is in the spirit of Graves Brown’s mother, Margaret D. Graves, who was an activist.

In 2018, the city of Joliet designated a section of Eastern Avenue for honorary signage in her honor. This was where Margaret Graves lived before her death in 2008, according to a 2018 Herald-New story. Graves Brown said her mother was heavily involved in the areas of social justice, civil rights and voter registration in the Joliet community.

Graves Brown said she hopes people will see the walkers and then go to their own precincts and vote. She said she feels people should vote with themselves in mind and also with the next generation in mind.

“We always say, ‘No child left behind,’ ” Graves Brown said. “And then we leave them behind anyway.”

Walkers are encouraged to wear red to symbolize the struggles to make voting equitable for all, Graves Brown said.

For information, call 779-379-2390 or email infoatspeakup@gmail.com.