An audience of about 150 gathered in Sandburg Auditorium Sunday in tribute to the late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington.

The tribute, sponsored by the NIU chapter of Phi Beta Sigma, included three speakers, a performance by the NIU Black Choir and performances by three vocalists.

All three speakers called for the citizens of Chicago and Chicago politicians to regroup and continue the political programs established by Washington.

Black Student Union President Pam Bozeman suggested Chicagoans stop mourning about Washington’s death and carry on in his political tradition.

“The time it takes for me to cry is time I could have used doing something more important, like continuing on in his (Washington’s) name,” Bozeman said.

“(Eugene) Sawyer is our mayor now, but the people are the ones who run the city,” she said. “Don’t let one monkey stop the show.”

Bozeman told the audience not to concern themselves with who holds the title of mayor.

“The real leaders of our nation never become public officials,” Bozeman said. “The same people who put Washington in office will find another leader.”

She added part of the people’s responsibility is understanding what Washington had to say.

“Washington will have died in vain if all the fifty-cent words he used weren’t understood,” she said. “Let’s not have any more memorial services for our mayor if we didn’t know him while he was alive.

“He (Washington) sat in Roosevelt University and said he was going to be mayor. Everyone laughed at him, but he got the last laugh.”

CHANCE counselor and tribute speaker Martha Palmer said Washington fought in favor of women, gays, blacks and whites, but especially was effective in making black men and women stand tall.

“He (Washington) will be remembered as a man who took control of Chicago and gave politics there a major change,” Palmer said.

She said Washington should be remembered as a “warrior of change.

“His pride, his victory, his honor and what he did for Chicago are all something hard to forget and replace,” Palmer said.

“For the first time in Chicago history, we had a mayor who really cared,” she said.

Speaker Stacy Bolton, former NIU Black Choir director, said, “It’s time to plant the seeds of unity in Chicago.”

Bolton honored Washington and gave suggestions to the audience on how to continue their personal lives.

The singers performing at the tribute were John Johnson, Kelly Longmire, and Tony Carter.