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NSCD was a Gold Sponsor of the 2022 Ricky Byrdsong Memorial Race Against Hate held on June 19 in Evanston, IL. The school also had the largest team with 63 people including students, parents, faculty, staff and alumni, and raised $1,000.

The Race Against Hate brings together thousands of people from all over Chicagoland to run and walk in unity against racial hatred and violence.Comprised of chip-timed 5K and 10K runs, a 5K walk and a fun youth mile, the Ricky Byrdsong Memorial Race Against Hate also features on-field refreshments, music and fun for the whole family. Add to that technical t-shirts in women's and unisex cuts, give-away bags, awards, a fast, flat, and scenic race course.

This was the 23rd race honoring the legacy of Ricky Byrdsong, bringing attention to the need to combat hatred in all its forms. The former Northwestern University Basketball Coach, Vice President of Affairs at Aon Corporation, and Skokie resident who was murdered by a white supremacist in 1999 while walking in his neighborhood with two of his young children. On the same day, the shooter wounded six Orthodox Jews in Rogers Park. Over the subsequent weekend, he killed a Korean American graduate student in Indiana and wounded an African American minister in Decatur before taking his own life. Because of Ricky’s lifelong love of sports and his compelling work with young people in the community, the Race Against Hate was launched by his family and friends in 2000 (and entrusted to YWCA Evanston/North Shore in 2007) to honor Ricky’s legacy and bring attention to the need to combat hatred in all its forms.

Proceeds from the Race Against Hate are used to further the mission of YWCA Evanston/North Shore, in particular our efforts in the areas of racial justice and violence prevention.