Cleveland Protesters Counter Noise of Hate With Silence and Love

CLEVELAND--On a day that started with news of the murder of police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, thousands of people gathered here on the eve of the Republican National Convention in a “a nonpartisan, no-labels, no-issue event” designed to “Circle the City with Love.”

On Sunday afternoon, thousands of people, many in white T-shirts declaring Standing in Love, walked in two lines onto the art deco Hope Memorial Bridge over the Cuyahoga River. Once the marchers were in place and formed a circle, the Dixieland band stopped playing and conversation ended as the group observed a half-hour of silence. Many held hands, some prayed, and when an air horn signaled the end of the silent period, the crowd broke into good-natured cheers, exchanged hugs, and began leaving the bridge.

Peter Corrigan was wearing a neon colored shirt that marked him as a volunteer. He is a high school principal and board member of the Rivers Edge Conference Center, which is run by the Sisters of St. Joseph, whose Sister Rita Petruziello was the event’s prime mover. The event was also sponsored by other religious orders and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which already had plans in the works for a Sunday evening concert featuring the Roots and Mary Mary. From there, word spread through Facebook, and excitement built. “It’s caught on. It’s really caught,” Petruziello told reporters earlier this month. “This is something we need. People crave this.”

The idea for the gathering came from a conversation among friends who were commiserating about the state of affairs, “with all the negativity and the shenanigans going on in our political world,” Petruziello told coolcleveland.com. Then someone asked, ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could circle the city with love?’”

“We want,” she said, “to embody the power of love that brings peace and justice to our city at this important moment in history.” 

The event’s origins may explain the organizers’ confidence in the power of silence. Corrigan said that reflected the their belief in silence as a form of prayer and a witness for love as a force in the universe. Indeed, in the midst of the angry ugliness of the presidential campaign, on the eve of a week of non-stop talking, the communal silence felt like a strikingly palpable plea for peace.

Rosalind Hughes, an Episcopal priest who serves the Church of the Epiphany in the nearby suburb of Euclid, said she found the silence to be “profound.” Hughes said she got involved when she saw information circulating online. “With everything that’s been going on in our country and our city,” she said, referring to the killing of Tamir Rice, “I feel our role is to stand against fear and bring the peace that passes understanding to the communities we serve.”

Mary Maynard was there with her granddaughter Tatiana Laureano, who is of mixed race and ethnicity. Maynard said members of her multicultural family have African-American, Puerto Rican, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese roots. Maynard, who said she came with a group of friends of the Unity Spiritual Center in Westlake, said it felt like it was time to take a stand for every person, and “the time to start is now.”

Hanif Phelps was doing a brisk business dispensing hugs and posing for selfies with his sign, “U Matter 2 Me.” He said he heard about the event from Facebook. “In light of everything that’s happening, people need some kind of outlet,” he said. He wanted to send a message to counter what he said were divisive messages sent via the media. “We’re real people,” he said. “I want them to know they matter to me.”

Steve Ostrow led the band that played as marchers strode onto the bridge. “I’m not doing the rest of the convention,” he said. “This is what I wanted to do.”

When I asked Carol Ineman whether it was Trump, or violence, or something else that made her want to be there, she said, “Everything in the world” -- a sentiment shared by a number of participants.

After the march, Ineman was sitting on the roadway, leaving a message in chalk: “The opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference.” Asked why she was there, she said, “Unless we participate, become involved, there is no change.” She said she is from Cleveland and she said she thought it was something the city needed. “The spirit of it is love,” she said. “It’s peace. It helps.”