In our ethnic and racial diversity, we are all brothers and sisters in a quest for greatness. Our creativity and energy are unequaled by any city anywhere in the world. We will not rest until the renewal of our city is done…[W]e are going to do some great deeds here together.

- Former Mayor of Chicago, Harold Washington, born today in 1922. Washington surpassed racial barriers, becoming the first African-American Mayor of Chicago from 1983 until his death in 1987.