By: Maddison Murnane and Avalon Singer

ITHACA-

In light of the hatred and division in the world today the different religious communities in Ithaca came together to spread the message of peace and unity.

At 7:30 p.m. on April 7 members from all different cultures, races, religions and backgrounds gathered together at the First Unitarian Church of Ithaca. The event, The Justice for All Concert, was coordinated by the Ithaca Friends Meeting Quaker community. Although the concert was aimed at all human rights issues, there was a specific emphasis on systematic racial issues and how to solve them as an intrareligious community.

According to lead concert organizer and Quaker community member, Karen Friedeborn, this event is essential in order to foster a sense of togetherness among all people in the Ithaca community in today’s political climate.

“I think in the nation and in the world people are so divided and I think that the only solution is for people to come together at the community level,” Friedeborn said. “Pretty much every religion has love thy neighbor as a principle in one way or another, and it’s time for us to do that.”

One of the main purposes of the event was to offer a safe and welcoming place for people of all religions to congregate and speak openly about what they believe in and what their religions have in common, Friedeborn said.

Although the event was organized by the Quaker Community, members of the Cayuga Nation tribe, Dan Hill and Donna Silversmith, gave the opening remarks. Their main message in their speech was one of unity and thankfulness for all that the Earth has provided for them, which fit the mood of the evening.

After the welcome was a meditative prayer led by the Venerable Tenzin Choesang of the Namgyal Buddhist Monastery of Ithaca, which was followed by music that was related to activism. Choesang said the only way to solve systemic racial issues in the world is to come together through events such as this.

“I think that this kind of event is very important because we people get together and share our different parts, experiences, and good qualities,” Choesang said. “How can we solve problems? By practicing love and compassion.”

The performers included folk singers Annie Patterson and Peter Blood as well as blues singer Lea Gilmore. The three musicians performed sing-along songs that preached from the songbook “Rise Up Singing” which preached freedom for all.  

“It has become an interfaith effort to bring people together and have a show of unity,” Freideborn said. “The songs that will be played are all about social justice, particularly racial justice and the time seems perfect to bring people together into a call of action and to do some interfaith community building.”

In attendance at the event were people of all ages, races and cultures who believed in the same values. It seemed as though the crowd felt these songs on a deeper level as they sang, danced and clapped along.

The event cost 20 dollars for a night of prayer, music, togetherness as well as a bake sale and a silent auction filled with local handmade goods. The money that was raised will go towards the building up of the Friends Center for Racial Justice. The center is located at 227 N. Willard Way and, according to the Center’s mission statement its purpose is to, “offer a refuge where Quakers and others may come to seek understanding and healing from internalized racism.”

“The idea of the Center for Racial Justice is to start within ourselves and look at destructing racial problems within our own religion,” Freideborn said. “We want to work within our own organization to look at how we can change to break down structural racism as well as offer help to others in the community.”

Member of the Islamic Community Outreach Center of Ithaca, Mahmud Burton, said that his goal is to go out to places and meet people who have not met Muslims and breakdown the Islamophobia that is currently present in the world. This event, as well as what the fundraiser was for, is an important step in breaking barriers between religions, Mahmud said.

“I think this is an important event because the Friends are doing something wonderful,” Burton said. “They are creating a center to devote to dealing with these issues and there are a lot of people here tonight that share the same concerns and this is a wonderful opportunity for us to stand together and show the wonderful breadth that there is here in our community to addressing these issues.”