A walk for unity in community
Sep. 13—Saturday's Unity Walk event amassed droves of people in James L. Newkirk Memorial Park to advocate for hope and healing in the City of Clinton. At least 100 people marched from Union Grove Church of Christ on Lisbon Street to the park, singing praise songs like "You Deserve It" along the way and greeting the crowd of people already at the park.
Attendance at the event reached a high of about 200 and didn't shrink when the rain came.
The chief organizer of the event, Heather Dixon, founder at Changing Lives 365, encouraged attendees not to be deterred by the weather forecast. "I don't care about the rain," she declared. "The rain is an indication that the storm is passing."
That tenacious spirit was contagious. When the rain came down while people were line dancing to "The Electric Slide" in the park, no one missed a beat. Tim "DJ Square Knot" Wilson kept the music going, remarking that at least the temperature was relatively cool.
Later, Harriet Bryant, a nurse, taught people moves for various line dances before leading them through the songs, which ranged from hip hop to rock to country music.
Mayor Lew Starling spoke passionately about the need for Clinton's Day of Hope and Healing, which he hopes becomes an annual affair. "What a beautiful event. One thing the pandemic has proven is that we're all in this together, that no one is immune. No one is immune from violence, no one is immune from bigotry, no one is immune from any of the evils that we know are out there on a daily basis. But one thing is for sure, we're going to have to get out of this mess together."
Starling lamented the bullying and violence that is taking lives in the community. "When I come out at 10 o'clock at night and someone has shot someone and drives off, and we ask the victim who was it and they say none of your business — we're going to handle it ourselves. That's unacceptable," the mayor stressed. "We can't live like that. No one is going to live like that."
As many in the crowd wore their yellow "no community without unity" t-shirts, Starling put out the clarion call. "We're all in this together. We want good schools, good streets, good towns," he asserted. "We want everybody to get along, to love each other. And this racial hatred is going to stop, needs to stop, has got to stop. I want each of you tonight when you pray to say a very special prayer that we have unity in this park, in this city, in this state, in this nation, and in this world.
Mayor Starling spent part of the event with one of its organizers, Patty Cherry. He recalled how he and Cherry have travelled the country together, including a trip to Washington D.C. where they visited the small "cubbyhole" in the U.S. Capitol where President Lyndon Johnson took Martin Luther King, Jr. after the signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. "We've been to California, we've been all over, but we were in that room," he shared.
Organizer Dixon and Union Grove Pastor Elder Quaveon Richardson both referenced the marches led by King as inspiration for the Unity Walk that day. "Today we are going to walk, and we are going to pave a new way," Dixon announced.
Richardson called for the same spirit of equality that motivated the civil rights marches. "We're all Sampson County," he emphasized. "And the only way we can see change is if we forget about ourselves and remember one another and become one."
By 5 p.m., the event, which started at 2 p.m., was still going strong. Line 'Em Up Louie, the singing barber, was about to come back on stage for another performance, followed by the announcement of raffle winners and more motivational speakers. The crowds enjoyed free food and drinks. Those who couldn't fit under the covered tent and with the folding chairs didn't seem to mind at all. Very few umbrellas made an appearance in the carefree atmosphere.
Dixon reflected that a day of fun and uplifting is exactly what people in the city needed. "If we can all understand one thing today that we make a final decision that we bring back hope into our communities," she demanded. "We bring back jobs, but most of all we bring back the love, and we bring back the days when we can sit on our front porch."
During the march to the park, the jubilant participants passed elderly folks sitting outside their homes watching the festivities and waving in solidarity.
Motivational speaker Jacqueline Howard, a former advisor at Clinton City Schools, gave tips for supporting friends who are experiencing a hard time and how to facilitate healing after a time of grieving. "When you are at the end of your rope, as long as you're holding on to hope, that's when miracles can take place," Howard revealed. "That's when things can turn around for you in your life. Don't give up. Always keep hope."
India K. Autry can be reached at 910-249-4617.
