State College will join towns and boroughs around the country in acknowledging Tuesday, January 19, as the National Day of Racial Healing, Mayor Ron Filippelli announced Thursday.

Filippelli retroactively declared the borough’s recognition of the occasion on January 4. In his declaration, the mayor wrote borough citizens have a responsibility to promote equity and justice for all.

“We have all witnessed racial divisiveness rising in America’s urban, rural and suburban communities today that threatens the very core of this great nation’s united front,” Filippelli wrote in his proclamation. “And just like those who came before us, it is our duty to protect the children of this nation and maintain communities in which they may all be given the opportunity to succeed.”

Filippelli encouraged State College citizens to act on the occasion by promoting “racial healing and transformation” in the ways best suited for them individually.

“Every single person has the capability to make a simple change within him or herself that can have a profound effect on an entire society,” Filippelli wrote. “If we all dedicated ourselves to the principles of truth, racial healing and transformation, we can bring about the necessary changes in thinking and behavior that will propel this great nation forward as a unified force where racial biases will become a thing of the past.”

Over the summer, the State College community united in protest over the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others. Residents took to the streets in droves to advocate against police brutality and racial injustice on multiple occasions throughout the summer.

Meanwhile, groups like the 3/20 Coalition have spearheaded more local efforts to bring about change through weekly protests. The advocacy group came about as a direct response to the death of Osaze Osagie, who was fatally shot in his own home by a State College police officer completing a mental health check back in March 2019.