“Bring a candle in a jar and stand with us on the Common this Friday, Jan. 22, at 5 pm,” noted organizer Mark Bailey. “As a town and as a country, we are experiencing a generations-long collective trauma that began with the conquering of indigenous people and continued through slavery and Jim Crow and into the tensions that characterize our time. Our town’s cherished battle flag has been there for all of it.
“This trauma, and the fear, alienation, and exacerbation of inequalities that came with the pandemic, are resulting in a collective grief,” he continued. “As anyone who has grieved knows, grief cannot be ignored or bypassed. Grief insists that we integrate it in order to move forward. And grief generally suggests that we do this together. Ibram X. Kendi said that denial is the heartbeat of America. We stand for justice in defiance of that denial and to draw strength from being together.”
Observances will continue on Friday afternoons at 5 pm, weather permitting.
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