Community Solidarity Day

Heavy rain showers, resulting from two tropical storms, parted long enough for more than 200 people to walk through Elkhart, Ind., for peace and unity Saturday, September 13.

The event, called Community Solidarity Day, was initiated by an Indianapolis-based group, Unity Being United (UBU). Several Elkhart and Goshen organizations, including Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary and Mennonite Central Committee Great Lakes, joined in the effort.

“This is a civil rights movement of the soul. We have to look deep inside ourselves to find those things that we don’t find comfortable and deal with them so we can come together in peace and love,” Summer Snow Peters, representative of UBU, said. The organization works in communities where hate crimes have been committed. Peters contacted AMBS in early summer to request help in planning a response to a cross-burning at the home of an interracial couple in Elkhart.

AMBS provided the beginning point for the two-mile walk that ended at the Civic Plaza in downtown Elkhart. Along the way, walkers had opportunities to learn to know each other, to progress through some of the city’s lower-income neighborhoods and to share their message with onlookers and drivers on the streets.

A program at the Civic Plaza featured city officials and leaders from a variety of organizations working to meet needs and bring unity where racial tensions occasionally erupt. All comments by presenters were shared in both Spanish and English, reflecting the diversity in both Elkhart and Goshen.

Dick Moore, mayor of Elkhart, said, “We cannot talk about the future of Elkhart without talking about everyone. We must renew our commitment that in Elkhart we will find peace, hope, charity and love.”

Zulma Prieto, editor of a Spanish-language newspaper for northern Indiana and graduate of AMBS, said, “We recognize the community receives power by working together. If we are together we can do a lot of things. Unity is always positive. Unity is always creative. Together we can change the future. We must change the future.”

Adam and Maggie Williams and their four children were central to the day’s event and the planning for it. They have been a target of several racist acts, including the cross burning. Both spoke at the program. Maggie said, “We have a responsibility to each other and that is to walk in each others’ shoes.”

Adam Williams roused listeners to their feet with a call for stepping out for peace and unity. “Figure out what you can do. Find what you can contribute. I challenge you to do an act of kindness to a stranger every day.”

Another powerful plea for unity came from fifth grader Tylar Roberson and fourth grader Diana Martinez. They represented two Elkhart grade schools and shared their call in two languages: “Please help the kids in our community by showing them that violence does not solve problems. The hard work you do building this community will only be magnified as our generation takes over.”

“Participation in this event helped students and the seminary as an institution because it was an opportunity to live our theology out loud and collectively,” Sarah Thompson, AMBS student on the planning committee, said. “It was an opportunity to be brave, to take risks for peace and justice, to organize.

“As students, we were able to grapple directly with issues of pacifism, activism, race, class and the economy. Our classroom discussions can now build on these real experiences; actually ‘walking the walk’ makes our classroom discussions have more integrity,” Thompson added.

Hilary Scarsella, another AMBS student who helped in planning, reflected, “When we open ourselves to building relationships with those around us, we begin the necessary work of breaking down the walls of fear that stand between us. And it is only at this point of openness that we can build a foundation for lasting peace and solidarity in our communities.”

By joining in the event, “we show we care about racism,” Bob Rosa, AMBS director of enrollment services, said. “We not only said it; we did something about it.” Rosa serves on the seminary’s anti-racism team, which leads the seminary’s work of dismantling racism.

Along with AMBS and MCC Great Lakes, others who participated in the planning and coordination were Southside Fellowship, a Mennonite congregation in Elkhart, and representatives of several churches, neighborhoods and businesses.

The goals of Community Solidarity Day were to:

• demonstrate that our communities are not places of fear and hatred,
• walk with those who are affected by fear and hate crimes,
• identify next steps toward a hate-free community,
• encourage others to step out for understanding and justice.

Mary E. Klassen, September 2008