NASHVILLE – Several Nashvillian community action groups have come together to host an upcoming ‘City-Wide’ Stop Hate In Nashville Rally. The rally was organized largely by longtime civil rights activist Venita Lewis, Hamid Abdullah of The Brothers Round Table, and John Smith of John Smith Marketing. The rally is scheduled for Aug. 17, 3 p.m. at the Nashville Metropolitan Courthouse steps. Venita Lewis said that the rally has a general but important purpose: to pull Nashville together and take a stand against hateful rhetoric and actions that have taken place across Music City at an alarming rate in recent years.
Lewis said citizens need to speak up often and loudly against hatemongering. She said, “The longer we don’t take a stand, the more we will see the ugliness manifest in intimidation and bodily injury,” adding it is especially important for Nashvillians to consistently come together to denounce hateful acts and show younger generations the city is a safe place where young people can feel protected by their community.
Lewis said examples of hateful rhetoric that have no place in Nashville include the recent pro-Nazi protest that took place in downtown Nashville organized by the documented hate group the Goyim Defense League. She added that America’s youngest generation, Generation Z, is acutely aware that a threat against the personal safety of one of them is a physical danger to all of them.
“The thing about them [Gen Z] is they really don’t see race, they see themselves as a unit,” Lewis said. “And when they watch television, or all of them have smartphones, and they see these Nazis threatening little children, it doesn’t matter what race they are. It impacts all of them because they don’t look at race the way the Nazis look at it.”
Lewis said that stronger community togetherness in which all of Nashville strives to protect its marginalized communities could even work to prevent such tragedies as the Covenant school shooting. She said because these sorts of tragedies impact Nashville’s most vulnerable, its children, the community must come together.
“These kids may live under a certain umbrella of fear that they might not even talk about,” Lewis said, describing a recent conversation she had with several grade schoolers in which one expressed his fear of being a victim of a school shooting. “When that young guy told me, ‘I sit right next to the door so the killer can get me first,’ I thought, wow, that comes out of the mouth of a third grader.”
Lewis said it is important for younger generations, who will soon run the country, to see older generations fight against hate and protect children’s future. Lewis said it is especially important to take this stance against hate and promote community togetherness as the upcoming political election cycle continues to heat up, straining the country’s already vicious political divide.
Sponsors of the Stop Hate In Nashville Rally include The Brothers Round Table, Nashville Peace Makers, Markus Tally, Zeal Outreach, Moms On A Mission, Middle Tennessee Mobilize, The Black Wellness Group, Keva Inc., Black Lives Matter Memphis, and American Muslim Advisory Council. There will be several speakers at the beginning of the rally, including one or more who will be representing groups hosting the event. Citizens seeking updates can do so on the Brothers Round Table Facebook page.
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