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Rally for solidarity in Rochester to support Charlottesville

Randy Gorbman
/
WXXI News

Hundreds of people rallied at Washington Square park  in Rochester Sunday night to stand in solidarity with people who were the victims of violence and hate in Charlottesville Virginia.

A rabbi, a poet, an author, a politician, were just some of the people who spoke at the rally organized quickly by the groups Indivisible Rochester and Action Together-Rochester.

The messages varied, but they basically all keyed in on the need to repudiate hatred, and rally for justice.

Ashley Gantt was one of the organizers, and she said this reaction has to be about more than just people who are oppressed marching to fight for their freedoms.

“I think at this point it’s white people’s responsibility to talk to other white people, to talk to their friends and their family about these things that are happening because what’s going on in Charlottesville, the people in the streets are lawyers and doctors and teachers and landlords and home loan officers and it’s up to other white people to start having these hard conversations.”

Rochester’s Deputy Mayor Cedric Alexander, a former city police chief and also a former public safety official in Georgia talked about the need to call people out when they make racist or sexist remarks, and he asked the crowd not to be intimidated by hatred. 

“We’re not going to accept hate, we’re not going to lay down to hate, we’re not going to be intimated by hate, and we’re going to take every breath in our body, whatever it takes to make sure that every person in this community , in this state, in this country, are treated equally and fairly.”

Community activist Melanie Funchess was also among the speakers, and she says it's nice when people of privilege stand together with people who are disenfranchised, but she says they need to take it a step further, and take action.

“When the black woman is standing and trying to make her point and they’re calling her ‘angry’ you stand with her;  that means you stand with my son when they’re trying to put him in special ed, that means you stand at the bank when they’re trying to deny me the loan, that means you stand in all the ways you can stand, and spend your power and your privilege, start spending.”

Some of those at the rally expect more vigils and rallies in the days ahead.

Video of comments made by Deputy Mayor Cedric Alexander:

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.