Athens, GA faith communities march to resist mass deportation

Athens faith organizations joined together for a “March of Faith in Resistance to Mass Deportation” which took place this Sunday. Marchers gathered on Prince Avenue and marched to the downtown post office where several ministers and faith leaders spoke to a crowd of hundreds.

Speakers

Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

Rev. Dr. Daryl Bloodsaw, Ebenezer Baptist Church West

Rev. Miki Chastain, Oconee Street Methodist Church

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TRANSCRIPT

Athens faith organizations joined together on Sunday for a “March of Faith in Resistance to Mass Deportation.” Participants marched to the downtown post office where ministers and faith leaders spoke to a crowd of hundreds.

“We cannot sit by while people live in terror, while our friends are taken from their families from their children, while our children’s friends are taken from their classmates. We cannot sit by and say we love our neighbor. Our actions define the limit of our willingness to heed this divine call.”

“I feel like our democracy is melting. It’s melting, it’s being eroded. There are some guarantees our constitution gives us and one of those is due process.”

“Dehumanization flies directly in opposition to the coming together of all the law and the prophets in our tradition. And we consider the evils which we human beings have been known and can inflict upon one another, we do it under this blanket of dehumanization. I tell myself that those folks are not as human as I am. They are not as beloved as I am by my creator. They don’t love their children in the way that I love my children and all of the lies that we need to call out in our own selves in this hour. All of the ways that we use to subconsciously justify our own greed and comfort and freedom of movement and consumption. And to justify our own complacency and apathy. We remember in our tradition that we are called to works of repentance, beloved. And it is a good place to be together. As a people of faith, may we seek freedom in these days from our own deceptions, that we may continue to witness the suffering of our siblings and those we serve and may we respond from a posture of humility and repentance and here’s why: that we may be an example of the ancients of our faith. And may we be a people of courage. A people of true faith. A people of sacrifice, going without, grieving, giving, serving, speaking until all see the same peace that we have here gathered in this space today.”