NORTHAMPTON — Crowds started gathering around 6:30 p.m. They carried unlit candles and signs reading “Make America Kind Again” or “They’re Wrong, We Love You.”
The chanting started 20 minutes later. “No Trump, No KKK, No Fascist USA.”
They were angry but hopeful, and they would not stay silent.
Hundreds from across western Massachusetts gathered outside City Hall Sunday night to stand in solidarity with Charlottesville, Va., as a way to “mourn for the dead and fight like hell for the living.”
Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, civil rights and domestic relations lawyer from Springfield, told the crowd that their hope outnumbers that of neo-Nazis.
“I continue to pray that we never lose hope,” Amatul-Wadud said. “They want to steal our joy, and we will not let them.”
The gathering was part of a larger national movement to #DefendCville. Rallies, protests and vigils occurred throughout the country this weekend to stand with the city after clashes between white nationalists and anti-racism activists Saturday left three dead, dozens injured and the country in a state of confusion and controversy.
Diana Sierra, lead organizer at Pioneer Valley Workers Center, called the man who rammed a car into protests Saturday, killing a 32-year-old woman, a coward.
Pioneer Valley Workers Center, Hampshire-Franklin Central Labor Council and Western Mass Jobs with Justice organized the event as a way to stand up against white supremacy, racism, anti-Semitism and fascism.
“This is what happens when you give Nazis an inch of a platform,” Sierra said. “We will not give them any inch. Hate speech is not free speech.”
The Saturday morning of chaos came after a night when white nationalists marched throughout the University of Virginia campus holding torches and chanting “You will not replace us.” The “Unite the Right” rally was a response to the removal of Confederate monuments throughout the South, specifically a statue of Robert E. Lee in a Charlottesville park.
President Donald Trump’s statement Saturday condemning violence “on many sides” angered many Americans since it did not specifically denounce the racism and anti-Semitism on display at the rally.
At the Northampton rally, Jeff Napolitano, director and program coordinator of American Friends Service Committee, said there was not violence and hatred from all sides. It was just one, and most people are not on it.
He urged members of the crowd not just to condemn what was done in Charlottesville but to fight against it, calling legislators and standing up when local government bodies are voting on an important bill.
“Let’s not gather here just to decry what’s been done,” Napolitano said. “Join us in the fight.”
Among the crowd was Maria Moreno of Easthampton and her two daughters, Isabel, 6, and Olivia, 4. Olivia was wearing a “Star Wars” outfit and carried a sign that read “I’m a Jedi fighting the Evil Empire.”
When her mom asked who the Evil Empire was, Olivia answered by listing off Darth Vader, the emperor and Donald Trump.
“We cannot keep silent,” Maria Moreno said. “I want to raise activists. It’s important to me that they have a social conscience.”
The Western Massachusetts Raging Grannies, a group of older women who promote peace and justice, led the crowd in “When All the World Has Human Rights” sung to the tune of “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
Jacqui Wallace, 65, of Amherst, stood toward the back of the crowd, singing the harmony. Wallace is the Amherst Area Gospel Choir director.
Wallace said she came to show that violence and fear are not going to rule her life, or anyone else’s. She said those in attendance were standing up and celebrating that black lives do matter, that is OK to be part of the LGBT community and that all religions should be accepted.
Wallace compared the rally to a fire.
“When you’re in your home, you’re just one burning log,” Wallace said. “But when you get a whole bunch of logs together, you get a nice fire. We are standing strong, together. We are not alone.”
When the sun set, members of the crowd began lighting candles, slowly filling the crowd with light.
Local musical duo Flame and Peach then led the crowd in a protest song from 1931 by Florence Reece.
“Which side are you on, and what will you do?”