An event that sought to encourage the community to love all people with no exceptions drew in a larger crowd than anticipated.

Indivisible, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, and the Community Unitarian Universalists in Brighton, held their “Livingston for Love” rally at the Brighton Mill Pond on Sunday. Event organizers say the message they intended to send was that every human being has worth and is deserving of love, and the importance of showing that love to one another.

The rally was heavily attended, as organizers say they stopped counting after 250 people. Community members made signs with positive messages, chanted together, and sang songs about world peace. Julie Brock, Pastor of the Community Unitarian Universalists, says she believes more people are recognizing the extent of their connection to other human beings and are demanding that that connection is acknowledged and reflected in the words and actions of the country’s leaders. Brock feels gatherings like Sunday’s rally begin a chain reaction of positive interactions.

The rally came together as a reaction to the white nationalist march and violent acts that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia just a little over two weeks ago. In response, event leaders shared ideas about how racism has been combated in the past and what can be done to continue to do so in this day and age.

Afterwards, those in attendance marched around the millpond singing and carrying signs speaking messages of love. Quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Rev. Deon Johnson, from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, says, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that.” (DK)