BY JOHN SNYDER
OF PASCACK PRESS
WESTWOOD, N.J.—“Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with me…”
These were the words many of an estimated 200 men, women, and children from Westwood and the greater Pascack Valley drew together to sing
at the outset of an interfaith unity rally at Veterans Memorial Park the evening of August 16.
“Let there be peace on Earth, the peace that was meant to be…”
The event, organized by Mayor John Birkner Jr., the Rev. Thomas Pranschke of Zion Lutheran Church, and the Westwood Clergy Council, comes as a wrenching national crisis develops around the defense of American greatness.
For Heather Heyer, 32, who was killed in a crowd of counter-protesters who gathered in Charlottesville, Va., last Saturday—in opposition to a rally against the removal of a statue of the Confederate general Robert E. Lee—American greatness is alive and well, and includes social justice and neighbors helping neighbors.
She was killed, and dozens around her injured, as a white supremacist representing klansmen and neo-Nazis drove through her group in an attempt to silence them.
Two Virginia State Police officers, Berke M. M. Bates and H. Jay Cullen, were also killed when their helicopter crashed outside of Charlottesville.
As Birkner noted in his remarks to Westwood’s service, the killer’s kinsmen “wore helmets and they carried rifles, shields, and dressed in paramilitary gear. They carried Nazi flags, Confederate flags, and torches. They chanted ‘blood and soil’ and ‘make America white again,’ and they parroted a war cry to ‘make America great again.’”
The assailant himself wore a muscle car. He was charged in Heyer’s death and the grisly wounding of 20 other protesters.
And from Trump Tower? First silence, then a muddled condemnation of the killing, then a reversal and fury: the president invented an “alt-left” that he said came in “swinging clubs” as they “came charging at, as you say, at the alt-right.”
He allowed that some of the far-right-wing members of the crowd in the Virginia park were “bad,” but also asserted, falsely, that Heyer’s contingent came “charging in without a permit and they were very, very violent.”
There were “very fine people on both sides,” Trump insisted. He has since grieved most convincingly for the loss of Confederate statues.
And, in gatherings physical and virtual, the killer’s people exult. The president’s got their back.
Westwood and communities across America have Heather Heyer’s.
“They tried to kill my child to shut her up,” Heyer’s mother, Susan Bro, said at her daughter’s memorial. “Well, guess what – you just magnified her.”
Birkner led his remarks by quoting Barack Obama in the aftermath, himself quoting Nelson Mandela and earning a place in Twitter history as having sent the world’s most popular tweet:
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion, people must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love … For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
“Thank you, President Obama, for sending that message out to a grieving nation,” Birkner said.
“Hate has no place in this country, and certainly no place here in Westwood. We are here tonight because we all feel the pain of intolerance in our country,” he said, including that of bigotry, misogyny, anti-Semitism, and anti-Muslim rhetoric.
“We feel the pain of those who have been bullied and assailed because of their sexual identity or orientation or who they love. We feel the pain of women condemned for the choices they make. We feel the pain of those who are ridiculed because of their physical or developmental challenges. We feel the pain of a country being divided,” he said.
The reason for the vigil, he said: “Tonight we are here to help heal those pains. We are here to lift up what is good in America.”
King featured prominently at the event, where spirituals such as “Amazing Grace” were sung.
Also speaking at the bunting-bedecked bandstand were former Bergenfield Councilman Christopher Tully on behalf of Rep. Josh Gottheimer; Pastor JerQuentin Sutton of Lebanon Baptist Church; Pastor Wayne Jones of Westwood United Methodist Church; Father Anthony Puca of Grace Episcopal Church; Pastor Calvin Miller of Mount Zion Baptist Church; Anthony Cureton, president of the NAACP of Bergen County; and Pastor Matt Nelson-Rogalski of Parkside Community Church.
Eight residents, including Abigail Hill, 14, took turns reading from King’s “I Have A Dream” speech to a rapt, responsive audience.
Participants arrived around 8 p.m. in summer weather meant for inner tubes and ice cream and stayed about an hour and a half to hold hands, grieve, sing, and shine the way forward.
Families with toddlers, teens, and dogs were there, as were folks carrying signs of peace and love, and there were police officers, at least one of whom held a lit candle.
“It’s a good community. We always come together for everything,” Officer Scott McNiff said, with Officers Ryan Sestanovich and and John Forte at his side.
Jack Cleary, 11, planted himself front and center at the bandstand to catch all the speeches, readings, and songs.
He proudly carried a poster he made featuring Dr. King’s speech and a photo of his grandparents, Carole and Eddie of Milford, who have been married 38 years. Carole said she is a 50-year member of Parkside Community Church.
Jack explained, “It’s wrong what they did in Charlottesville. It was very wrong of them to do that. Everybody has their opinions and stuff, but what’s wrong with each race, you know?”
Among those singing “We Shall Overcome” was Rosemary Parks from Woodcliff Lake, who attends Mount Zion Baptist Church in Westwood.
“It’s nice to see everyone out tonight,” she said.
Resident Stephanie Perry, who attends her church services in Teaneck, brought a sign reading, “Let us spread love not hate.”
She told Pascack Press that the news has been overwhelming.
“There’s too much hatred. I just feel we need to stand up and let our voices be heard for the unity,” she said.
Is it going to make any difference, we asked?
“I hope so. As Dr. King said, ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’ We can’t do nothing. We can’t be silent.”
She added her view that those who spread hate are a small fraction of the country.
“It’s a small group but we still have to stand up,” she said.
She attended the vigil with her friend Andra Bell, one of the speakers who delivered a portion of King’s speech.
“This is a fantastic show of community. I think it’s great that they did it, and I hope it’s something that catches on from town to town,” she said. She added that she had been among several whose friends had advised her not to attend on the grounds that the event could be met with danger.
“I’m like, well, what’s more dangerous than just letting people talk crazy on TV?” she said.