You’re invited to join Saturday’s March For Love

A grassroots March For Love will wind through Marshall Park uptown at noon on Saturday, Dec. 3. This is the same day The Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan will rally to celebrate Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election. The group is based in Pelham, N.C., near the Virginia border, but the exact time and location of the event has not been made public.

The March For Love is open to the public and is meant to counter the Klan rally with expressions of love, unity, compassion and hope. It was planned by community members, with support from partners like the Charlotte Clergy Coalition For Justice, the Stan Greenspon Center for Peace and Social Justice at Queens University, and Playing For Others.

If you go, expect a short program featuring poetry, song and prayer, and words from participants including Rev. Amantha Barbee, Matt Olin of Creative Mornings/Charlotte and Rabbi Judy Schindler.

“I want the audience to come away from the march with a newfound sense of strength and empowerment,” Olin wrote in an email. “When we gather together as a community and rally around our shared values of love, unity, compassion and hope, then I believe that we can come out the other side knowing that these values will prevail.”

Teens from the nonprofit Playing For Others (PFO) will perform an original song written specifically for this event, touching on the themes of love, compassion, hope and unity.

“PFO believes in creating a more compassionate world so the #march4loveCLT is in direct alignment with our mission,”wrote PFO executive director Jen Band in an email. “I hope Charlotte sees that our young people are committed to creating a more compassionate world, one filled with love and belonging, where everyone is honored and celebrated and we respect the inherent dignity and worth of every individual.”

To put that message into motion, the program will end in a processional to three nearby monuments that symbolize the power of love over hate: The Holocaust Memorial, the Martin Luther King Memorial and the memorial for Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi. A press release from Moira Quinn of Charlotte Center City Partners shared that participants are encouraged to place flowers at each monument “as a tribute to those whose loving footsteps we continue to walk in today.”

“In a world that feels increasingly divided with each passing day, it’s easy to get caught in the trap of hopelessness,” Olin said. “There’s only one way I know of to spring that trap: it’s in coming together to celebrate each other, to honor the loving leaders who cleared our path, and to remember that the more we amplify our love, the more we’ll crowd out the hate.”

Be there:

#march4loveCLT at noon Dec. 3 at Marshall Park, 800 E. 3rd St.

Photo: Diedra Laird

This story was originally published November 29, 2016 at 10:00 PM with the headline "You’re invited to join Saturday’s March For Love."