~Photos by Bobbie Toner

In light of the recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia, the Somerville community came together for a solidarity vigil last Wednesday night in Davis Square.

Mayor Curtatone, residents, elected officials, members of Temple B’nai Brith, Somerville Human Rights Commission, Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church and many others filled Statue Park to honor those lost and injured, denouncing hate and intolerance.
Mayor Curtatone’s remarks were as follows:

“I want to thank everyone who’s come here this evening. It’s a testament to this community’s strength of character and conviction that so many of you recognize the need to stand up for a better version of America than the wretched display we saw put on by the hate groups that descended upon Charlottesville.”

“Yet first I want to start with a recognition of Heather Heyer, who was killed by act of terrorism this weekend, along with Virginia state trooper Lt. H. Jay Cullen and trooper-pilot Berke Bates, who died while trying to contain the hostilities set off by the white supremacist rally. It should serve as a shock to every conscience that good people’s live have been lost in the re-emergence of this twisted ideology. So please join me in a moment of silence.”

“I suspect many of you watched Charlottesville unfold with the same sense of revulsion I experienced. I could not believe I was watching this happen in the United States of America – the KKK, Nazi flags and an emboldened form of racism that has no place in a civil society. Charlottesville was a wakeup call for anyone who didn’t realize the effort being made to push white supremacy into the mainstream. The leaders of this movement on the alt-right try to claim it has something to do with patriotism even though it’s un-American to its core.”

“Thomas Jefferson gave birth to the idea of America with the worlds: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” It took us some time to grasp that women count just as much as men, and we have struggled to live up to the ‘all’ part of it.”

“Yet take some comfort that cities and towns all across this nation have held rallies like this to decry the hatred of the would-be storm troopers who took to the streets of Charlottesville. They wanted to ‘Unite the Right.’ Instead they’ve united far more Americans behind the principles of equality and human dignity. Tonight we join with those people to become something far bigger and far better than anything a pack of outright racists can imagine.”

Additional attendees and speakers at the event included Somerville Police Chief David Fallon, U.S. Representative Mike Capuano, State Representatives Denise Provost, Mike Connolly, and Patricia Jehlen. Additionally, the Somerville Board of Aldermen was well represented by many attending.