Diane S. Sykes: “today I rise with profound pride and gratitude as we honor the bicentennial of my hometown, Akron, Ohio. For 200 years…”

“today I rise with profound pride and gratitude as we honor the bicentennial of my hometown, Akron, Ohio. For 200 years, Akron has stood as a place where ordinary people dare to do extraordinary things. It is a place shaped not only by industry or geography, but by courage, resiliency, and an unshakable belief in what a community can be. Long before 1825, the land that would become Akron was home to native indigenous peoples who understood its beauty and its promise. Two centuries ago this week, Simon Perkins and Paul Williams laid out a new town on a watershed divide. They named it after the Greek word 'akros,' which means summit or high point. In that single word, they captured both our geography and our destiny. Akron quickly grew into a city of builders and innovators. It became known as the Rubber Capital of the World and served as the home of Goodyear, Firestone, and Goodrich. Workers in Akron shaped an industry that moved a nation forward. When those workers demanded dignity, fairness, and safety, Akron became the birthplace of the modern sit-down strike and a proving ground for the strength of solidarity. It is also a city of justice seekers. John Brown once walked our streets and lived in a house on the same street where I grew up, a rabid abolitionist who ultimately died for the freedoms of enslaved people. Sojourner Truth delivered her famous 'Ain't I A Woman' speech in Akron as well, spurring the foundation of understanding intersectionality.”