Glen Leach, Immigration and Disaster Relief Coordinator for Catholic Charities with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport:
"Hate and violence have become ingrained parts of our culture. We are so filled with them that we are in-sensitive to their effects, sometimes even when another horrific event occurs. We immediately divert our attention to ancillary issues, flags, militarization of police, the economy, lack of mental health support. The issue remains hate, and its inevitable sibling, violence. We deify hate, we worship it. We seek justification for our hate by reference to our religious texts, by defining individuals and groups as being less than us, less than loved by God. Our hate is the mirror of our own sense of inadequacy, our own fear that if we do not strike out at someone or something, we will be less or have less."
It is exactly because of that intransigent culture of hate that "Going to the River: the Quad Cities Standing United Against Hate," was started. Four City Governments are now poised to stand united against hate in the Quad Cities and organizers of this no hate event are challenging everyone to come down to the River that unites us on Sunday, August 30th at 5:00 p.m. When Rev. Rich Hendricks first heard the song, "Going to the River to Pray," by Ella Henderson, all he could think of was the need for Quad Citians to go use the resource of the mighty Mississippi River to unite us against the ghost of hate that so haunts our world today.
"In a world where our young people being recruited to join hate groups like the KKK and terrorist groups like ISIS, we need a proactive approach to combatting hate," says Hendricks. "We don't have to wait until some horrible tragedy strikes locally; we can be an example for communities all over the world."
The proclamation being considered by Davenport, Bettendorf, Rock Island and Moline states:
WHEREAS, one of the Quad Cities' greatest strengths is the diversity of its people, and
WHEREAS, the Quad Cities seeks to be a community that exemplifies the ideals of respect, fairness, diver-sity, equity, and the freedom to pursue an individually defined quality of life, and
WHEREAS, there is too much hate in our world, as evidenced by racism, gang violence, Islamaphobia, Anti-Semitism, homophobia, religious intolerance and lack of respect for one another, and
WHEREAS, on Sunday August 30th, 2015, friends and neighbors and various houses of worship and community organizations all over the Quad Cities will join together at the Mississippi River at 5:00 p.m. to stand united against hate;
NOW THEREFORE, We, the Mayors and the City Councils of the City of the Quad Cities, do hereby proclaim Sunday, August 30th, 2015 to be "Standing United Against Hate Day" in the Quad Cities, and encourage all citizens to join in celebrating the spirit of love and respect for one another.
"We want to stand shower to shoulder with one another and take a stand against hatred in our community," states Latrice Lacey, Director of the Davenport Civil Rights Commission.
Organizers of this event include leaders from Jewish, Muslim, Catholic and Protestant Christian and Unitarian houses of worship and persons without any religious affiliation. They are adamant in their belief that we as a community are not powerless against hate and that now is the time to stand united - both to remind ourselves and to show the world that the power of love and peace is greater than the forces of evil in our world.
Rev. Jay Wolin of the Davenport Unitarian Universalist Congregation states: "My peace is not a passive peace but an active peace. We need to act with compassion to build the world we dream about." Any and all individuals or groups that support this simple premise are invited to come participate and to get out the word to all.
Kent Ferris, Director of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Davenport reminds us of Pope Francis' words regarding civil dialog: "Indeed, we are a single human family that is journeying on toward unity, making the most of solidarity and dialogue among peoples in the multiplicity of differences."
At each site, there will be an opportunity for people to participate through chants and music. An interfaith prayer will also be offered, with the leaders symbolically dipping their hands in the Mississippi River as a sign of cleansing against the ghosts of hate in our world. Ella Henderson's song has a refrain that states: "Give up the ghost." That's exactly what organizers of the event are asking people to do?to give up the ghost of hate. Quad Cities Interfaith Executive Director, Leslie Kilgannon says: "This gathering is an important opportunity for our Quad Cities to come together to proclaim that there is no room for hate in our community. Bringing together people to celebrate the human dignity in all of us is a powerful thing."
Representatives of Quad Cities Standing United Against Hate Committee:
Kent Ferris, Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport ferris@davenportdiocese.org
Rich Hendricks, Metro Community Church pastorrich@mccqc.org
Rabbi Henry Karp, Temple Emanuel ravkarp@msn.com
Lisa Killinger, Muslim Community of the Quad Cities killingerlisaz@gmail.com
Anne Walchal, Churches United of the Quad Cities Area
Jay Wolin, Davenport Unitarian Universalist Congregation jaywolin@gmail.com
There is no "other" - one human race, one planet earth
The Quad Cities Standing
United Against Hate
5 pm Sunday, August 30th
LeClaire Park, Davenport; Leach Park, Bettendorf
Butterworth Park, Moline; Sunset Marina Park, Rock Island
For more info contact MCC QC at 563.324.8281
