Choirs serenaded Carbondale community residents while children of different races played together and their parents joined hands in song at the first Carbondale in Harmony celebration.

The celebration took place Sunday afternoon in Attucks Park under a blue sky and a spirit of brotherhood.

Southern Illinois Healthcare Community Benefits Coordinator Melissa Michaels, RN, said Carbondale in Harmony was a collaboration of Carbondale churches, schools and citizens in a partnership with Southern Illinois Healthcare.

Michaels said the program was created to improve the well-being of people in the community while promoting positive values like respect, compassion and collaboration.

Some participants said the most compelling aspect of the event was the true spirit of harmony present.

There’s a lot of misunderstanding among people, said the Rev. James A. Hailey III, pastor of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, 316 E. Jackson St. Anytime you can come together as a people in celebration rather than during a catastrophe, it’s a success.

Michaels, who estimated an attendance of more than 1,000 people, said the spirit present at the celebration was felt in an important way.

When you walked across the park, you saw people holding hands, and you knew it was from the heart, she said. You knew it for sure.

A gallery of artwork by Carbondale children was set up for viewing, and boxes of food were made available during lunch for all to enjoy.

Various choir performances from groups ranging from the Covenant Christian School Youth Choir to SIUC’s Voices of Inspiration were featured during the event

The event’s featured speaker, Tim Wise, from Missouri, said in his speech the events like Carbondale in Harmony should be used as a call to action to be effective.

If we just get a bunch of people in a room together, we think that’s progress, but it’s not, Wise said.

Wise said true efforts at embracing diversity are not effective if the acknowledgment is not made that oppression and injustice still exist.

No justice, no peace,” Wise said. We cannot be satisfied with our efforts for diversity. We must recognize that oppression still exists.”

After the crowd joined hands and sung Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand at the end of the day, Mayor Neil Dillard said the effort for harmony made by Carbondale should not end once the celebration was finished.

We need to continue to make a better understanding, he said.

Dillard said the collaboration resulted in an important realization.

The ministers, churches and the school district all came to realize that Carbondale as a community has a lot in common, he said.

Dillard said the event brought an intimacy among different backgrounds.

We saw people come together shaking hands, hugging and learning about each other, he said.

Cleveland Matthews, Carbondale community relations officer, said the first Carbondale in Harmony celebration went well and was only a small indication of the diversity that can be found in Carbondale.

We’ve been mixing ever since I can remember, he said. This town is well-integrated.