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Rally a shining example of what unity looks like

It doesn’t take a lot of bigoted people to stain a nation. That much we learned from the recent tragedy in Charlottesville. But a crowd of any size that has peace-building and unity in mind can turn the momentum in the other direction.

That was evident at Brandon Park, where a crowd of about 80 gathered at the entrance for the cause of unity among all people in our community.

We hear their voices loudly and clearly. And we know that the overwhelming majority of people in our region pay no mind to the sludge of racism and hate that has been too much in the news for several months now. We salute those who organized the rally for solidarity.

“Everything is so fractured and splintered that having solidarity is such a huge part of cultivating a community,” Eddie Kiersnowski, the organizer of the event, said.

The Rev. Bradley Walmer, pastor of the New Covenant United Church of Christ, pointed across the river to the ongoing Little League World Series as an example of diverse people coming together. And that is so much what the Series is about – kids from all parts of the world representing different nationalities, languages and cultures finding unity through sport.

Similarly, all of us in this community, regardless of political differences, need to find common bonds. Those bonds are the heart and soul that define us. And when others are tearing away at those unifying bonds, we all need to come together and take the steps to keep similar divisions from happening in our community. That includes not denigrating each other if our politics happen to be different from each other.

The rally was a great effort to that end, but there are other sources that can be tapped in the name of unity – the neighborhood we live, the church we attend, the schools of our children and grandchildren, the sports and group activities in which they participate. We all need to resolve to do our part in the name of unity.

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