ABT vigil EC 2017-08-13 071
Local News

Vigil held Sunday in Homewood in response to Charlottesville violence

Violent clashes between white nationalists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday provoked a response from some Homewood and Flossmoor residents who gathered in Irwin Park on Sunday evening to express their support for the victims and their dismay at the racist idealogy of right-wing extremists.

 

  Members of the H-F community listen to 
  speakers at a candlelight vigil in response to 
  violence in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday. 

  (Photos by Eric Crump/H-F Chronicle)
 

Violent clashes between white nationalists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday provoked a response from some Homewood and Flossmoor residents who gathered in Irwin Park on Sunday evening to express their support for the victims and their dismay at the racist idealogy of right-wing extremists.
 

  Jessie Cunningham of 
  Homewood claps for a 
  speech during the vigil 
  Sunday evening at Irwin 
  Park. 

 

During the confrontation in Charlottesville, a man who reportedly has Nazi sympathies drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing one woman and injuring 19 people.

The candlelight vigil, hosted by the south suburban chapter of Action for a Better Tomorrow (ABT), was put together in about 10 hours, organizers said. It was announced Sunday morning on local social media channels. Organizers estimated the crowd at anywhere from 100 to more than 200 people, a mix of white and black residents.

One Homewood woman who helped get the vigil idea going was Jessie Cunningham, who said the events in Charlottesville required a response.

“I could not believe what happened yesterday,” she said. “It’s like going back to the 1960s. The whole atmosphere of the country is such that it feels like we’re starting all over again. We can’t go back.”

Her comments were echoed by Beverly Austin of Homewood.

“I’m a 67-year-old black woman, born in the south. I had to be here,” she said.
 

  ABT leader Danielle
  Nolen-Ragland addresses
  the crowd while flanked
  by co-leaders Annie
  Lawrence, left, and
  Anne Bailey.

 

Although she was horrified as she watched the news from Charlottesville, she found one source of inspiration in the confrontation there.

“The people who were so angry and were arguing with the Klan were other white people,” she said. “It was a beautiful thing to see that they were fighting and arguing for me. It gives me hope.”

White residents at the vigil expressed simillar convictions with the Charlottesville counter-protesters.

“I’m outraged. That’s why I’m here. Our country has created an environment where that kind of thing is acceptable,” Brian Quirke said, referring to the white nationalist movement.

“It’s good to see people gather” to protest racist extremists, Mike Hoffman said. “Not speaking out is like tacit approval.”

Three local leaders spoke to the crowd shortly after 6 p.m. The first was Homewood Trustee Anne Colton. She noted that she was speaking as a Homewood resident and not on behalf of the village government because she hadn’t had time to consult with other members of the board.

She said her family will soon be celebrating the 94th birthday of her father-in-law, a decorated veteran who fought against Nazi Germany in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II.

“The Nazis are back. I don’t know how we’re going to face him,” she said.

She noted encouraging signs that both sides in the country’s partisan divide were expressing outrage over the incident in Charlottesville.

“This is not right versus left,” she said. “This is right versus wrong.”

The next speaker was Danielle Nolen-Ragland, co-administrator of ABT.

“We want the world to know that in Homewood and Flossmoor, we do not stand for it,” she said, referring to racist idealogies.

She then read an essay, “Dear Liberal Allies,” that she found posted on the Universal Unitarian Association website that explains and underscores the difference between knowing of and experiencing bigotry.

She ended with an exhortation to action, thanking the people who attended the event but urging them not to be satisfied that they had done enough by showing up.

“I want to see what you’re going to do when the vigils are over,” she said. “Don’t let this be the thing you do. Let this be the beginning of what you do. What are you going to do to make sure this doesn’t happen here?”

After Nolen-Ragland, Flossmoor Community Church Senior Pastor Fred Lyon spoke. He began by noting his head gear, a University of Virginia cap. Lyon and his family spent more than 20 years in the Charlottesville area, and his daughter graduated from the school in 2014.

He noted that it’s important not to see the events in Charlottesville as remote and unconnected to Homewood and Flossmoor.

“We know a number of the clergy folks who were roughed up. We know people who were surrounded by the torch bearers,” he said. “Things need to get personal for us to really take action. When my daughter is crying on the phone and when I know a friend has been roughed up, that’s personal.”

In order to prevent similar violence and confrontation here, he said, everyone should take the events in Charlottesville personally.

“We need to create an atmosphere in this community where there is no room for hate, where there is no room for fear, but instead have it replaced with faith, hope and love.”
Following the speakers, cellist Ingrid Krizan took the stage to provide music, and she was soon joined by blues and roots guitarist M.G. Bailey. They led the audience in singing several songs, including the traditional “This Little Light of Mine,” “Imagine” by John Lennon and Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come.” 

Then Cunningham joined the musicians to lead the audience in “We Shall Overcome.”

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