Stand Against Racism Community Rally – Votes Against Violence
Co-Sponsored by Metro Human Relations Commission
Thursday, Sept.. 28 | 11:30 AM – 1 PM CST
Diane Nash Plaza – Public Square Park
Join us at this year’s Stand Against Racism Community Rally – Votes Against Violence, presented by The Harnisch Foundation, as we recognize and celebrate those at the nexus of voting rights and gun violence prevention. Tennessee is in the spotlight due to the dedication of activists and citizens striving for safer communities and amplified voices. Our unity underscores that safeguarding lives transcends politics. We’ll hear from voting rights advocates and gun violence prevention champions, highlighting the fusion of democracy and safety. The Stand community rally is co-sponsored by the Metro Human Relations Commission and will embody the power of collective action, illuminating a path to a future where our voices shape positive change in a state grappling with crucial issues. Stand with us for a better tomorrow.
Advocacy Fair – 11:30am – Noon
Program – Noon – 1pm CST
Keynote Speaker Maryam Abolfazli
Nashville Youth Poet Laureate Lochlan Cook
Music by Johna Jackson from the W. Crimm Singers
Special guests: Metro Nashville Vice Mayor Angie Henderson
About our keynote speaker: Maryam Abolfazli is a storyteller, nonprofit leader, and mother. For twenty years, she built her career as an international economic and political development professional, working in Eurasia and the Middle East, to assist in improving the political and economic realities of marginalized communities there. Today, she serves the political and economic development of her state of Tennessee and city of Nashville as Chair of the Metro Human Relations Commission. Most recently, she organized the March 30 Gun Reform Rally with friends, organizations and neighbors that re-energized a powerful movement for democracy and gun control in Tennessee and led to the establishment of Rise and Shine TN a volunteer organization of Tennesseans wanting decisive change in gun laws in Tennessee.
THANK YOU TO OUR ADVOCACY PARTNERS
American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC), Ancora TN (formerly End Slavery TN), API Middle Tennessee, AWAKE, Bridges for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing, Black Mental Health Village, League of Women Voters Nashville, Metro Nashville Community Oversight, Moms Demand Action, Monroe Harding, Nashville Defenders, Nashville Peacemakers, Recycle Reinvest, Soul’d, Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, Tennessee Justice Center, Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors, Tennessee Health Care Campaign, The Porch, Trinity Community Commons, Walk Bike Nashville
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
Learn more about our social justice work and advocacy platform here.
Pledge Against Racism
As an individual committed to social justice, I stand with YWCA against racism and discrimination of any kind. I will commit to a lifetime of promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all people in my community and in the world.
The Stand Against Racism is a signature campaign of YWCA USA and is part of the larger national strategy to fulfill our mission of eliminating racism. Race and the legacy of discrimination continue to affect our lives – whether in our everyday interactions with others at work, school, or in our neighborhoods and communities.
CHECK OUT SCENES FROM LAST YEAR’S STAND AGAINST RACISM RALLY BELOW
The 2022 Stand Against Racism Community Rally took place in person on the steps of the Historic Metro Nashville Courthouse. This lunchtime event featured acclaimed author and scholar, Caroline Randall Williams, music, and an advocacy fair of community partners who are working for social and racial justice.
Our country was founded on the idea of building a government of the people, by the people, for the people. More than two hundred years later, this vision has yet to be fully achieved. Though generations of civil rights activism have led to important gains in legal, political, social, educational, and other spheres, the forced displacement of indigenous peoples and the institution of slavery marked the beginnings of a system of racial injustice from which our country has yet to break free. That’s why the 2022’s Stand Against Racism theme was WE CAN’T WAIT – EQUITY & JUSTICE NOW.
The Stand Against Racism is a signature campaign of YWCA USA and is part of the larger national strategy to fulfill our mission of eliminating racism. Race and the legacy of discrimination continue to affect our lives – whether in our everyday interactions with others at work, school, or in our neighborhoods and communities.
2022 COMMUNITY RALLY ADVOCACY PARTNERS
Metro Nashville Human Relations Commission (co-sponsor), ACLU – Tennessee, American Muslim Advisory Council, API Middle Tennessee, AWAKE (Advocates for Women’s & Kid’s Equality), Black Mental Health Alliance – Nashville, Islamic Center of Nashville, Nashville Chapter of the NAACP, Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, Tennessee Innocence Project, Tennessee Justice Center, Walk Bike Nashville
Photos from 2022 Stand Against Racism Community Rally & Advocacy Fair
The 2022 Stand Against Racism Community Rally and Advocacy Fair took place on Thursday, May 5 at Diane Nash Plaza and featured powerful remarks from scholar, poet, and Vanderbilt University’s Writer in Residence, Caroline Randall Williams, Deputy Mayor Brenda Haywood, and Vice Mayor Jim Shulman. Inspirational music was performed by singer Patrick Dailey, Dr. Yvonne Kendall, and Adam Smith. Sen. Brenda Gilmore was honored with the Carrie Hull Award.
2019 Stand Against Racism
YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee hosted the annual Stand Against Racism on Thursday, April 25 on the steps of the Historic Metro Courthouse and Public Square Park. Neither the threat of rain nor the NFL Draft (kicking off a few blocks away) could keep more than 100 advocates, supporters, and partners away from this annual gathering that builds community among those working for racial and social justice. The program was packed with prominent political leaders and Civil Rights icons, including Kwame Lillard, King Hollands, Gloria McKissack, and Ernest “Rip” Patton. The Freedom Rider led the crowd in a powerful rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Mayor David Briley and Congressman Jim Cooper urged the crowd to continue working towards justice and reducing racism and intolerance. YWCA was presented with a Metro Council Resolution for its social justice work, and YWCA President and CEO Sharon K. Roberson shared with the crowd how national policies can have a very real local impact during the public rally. This year’s Stand Against Racism theme was aptly titled No Hate No Fear – and examined the intersection of racism and immigration.
“In recent months, YWCA presented a series of community conversations where we heard compelling stories of the human cost of racism for very vulnerable people,” she said. “We learned that immigrant children are being separated from their parents right here in Nashville. These conversations served as a call to action for all of us to understand the moral imperative that we must treat all people with dignity and respect.”
Martesha Johnson, the first African American and woman elected to lead the Metro Davidson Public Defender’s Office, urged the crowd to speak up and speak out against racism and hate. Chris Echegaray with Metro Nashville Public Schools reminded the crowd that the “It City” of Nashville is being supported through immigrant labor. Co-founder of the American Muslim Advisory Council, Sabina Mohyuddin, made a passionate plea on how we can work together to eliminate racism.
“These systems are not just about our individual biases or fear of others or even ignorance, but it is about institutionalized methods of discriminating against people of color, immigrants, and Muslims,” said Mohyuddin. “In order to dismantle and eliminate racism, we must bring down all of these systems.”
The Metro Human Relations Commission and Tennessee Human Rights Commission co-sponsored the event and luncheon series. TN HRC Executive Director Beverly Watts led the crowd in the pledge against racism to close the event. MHRC board members Dr. Erin Pryor and Commissioner Kobie Pretorius attended the Stand Against Racism and joined Watts and the Civil Rights icons and speakers in the pledge.
2018 Stand Against Racism
YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee hosted the annual Stand Against Racism April 27 and 28 with a community rally in Public Square Park and a Youth-Led Forum at the Downtown Nashville Public Library. The Stand Against Racism is a signature campaign of YWCA USA to build community among those who work for racial justice and to raise awareness about the negative impact of institutional and structural racism. More than 400 Stand Against Racism events were held across the country between April 27 and 29.
Mayor David Briley welcomed the crowd to the annual event that drew more than 200 people. Civil Rights Activist and retired educator Gloria McKissack shared how young people in the 1960’s sat down so we could all stand today. McKissack was part of the student movement from Tennessee A & I (now Tennessee State University) and Fisk University that integrated the lunch counters and other businesses across Nashville. Legal Aid Executive Director and YWCA Board Member DarKenya Waller urged the attendees to work together. “If Black or Brown people could have solved this problem by ourselves, we would have done so already,” she said.
The Friday rally included a look to the future, with remarks from Antioch High School senior and Girls Inc. club member Carol Salas. Singer Dara Tucker entertained the crowd and Southern Word Poet and Hume-Fogg High School student Bella Dotson shared a powerful spoken word piece. Two dozen community partners took part in an advocacy fair.
The first-ever, intergenerational Youth-Led Forum took place at the Downtown Nashville Public Library the following day. Planned by the YWCA’s Youth Empowerment Committee, the event kicked off with the Tennessee Titans’ Caravan. A panel discussion with players Jayon Brown, Corey Davis, and retired Titan Chris Hope, focused on character and working together to eliminate racism. Nashville 16 members Ethel Carr Crowder and Errol Groves joined the youth forum to share their experiences integrating Nashville Public Schools in 1957.
Activist and recent Fisk University graduate Justin Jones inspired the crowd with his words and a symbolic gift of stones from the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. He had just returned to Nashville from the opening of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Alabama.
The Tennessee Titans were the presenting sponsor of the 2018 two-day event. The Metro Human Relations Commission and Tennessee Human Rights Commission were returning sponsors.
