My husband and I sat watching a documentary celebrating the anniversary of the Freedom Riders. They were student advocates who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States in 1961 and we could not help but notice the struggle of separatism still continues in many places in this country. On the one hand, the belief was that the fight was for equality, a right to have that which was given through the wording of the Constitution. But if we were to really take a close look, what was really being sought was respect.
It is difficult to respect others when fear and uncertainty keeps us in our comfort zone. It has been 53 years since the Freedom Riders, of various ethnicities, religions, economic classes, and social belief systems, boarded buses and rode into known danger so all people could travel across this country with respect.
We are talking about what can be considered as small things, and many of us have read or been told, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” But consider this, how small is your dignity? It only takes a small step from people working together to achieve something big: UNITY.
As was stated in the documentary, unity is the non-violent quest for all people of all cultures to be able to openly and willingly show love and respect toward one another. And that statement continues to be the vision behind Unity in the Community.
Remember; “Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” - Vince Lombardi
If you would like to commit to unity, then please email us and we can give you more information on how. Please contact us at unitynthecommunity@unitynthecommunity.org