On Saturday, Jan. 27, community residents, along with the group Citizens for Unity, will hold a peaceful walking demonstration along Grand River Avenue in downtown Howell to counteract what they view as a “vile act of racist intimidation” directed at other community members.
Fliers from the group Patriot Front, a nationally-recognized white supremacy organization that has been labeled a militant hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, were placed on the windshields of vehicles parked in downtown Howell following a fundraising event to help poverty-stricken young girls in India on Saturday. The fliers evoked the terminology “Blood and Soil” — a phrase closely identified with the Nazi ideology.
The identity of the circulator is unknown, but the fliers are linked to a broader group of the organization that seeks to spread white nationalist propaganda at cultural events across the United States.
Citizens for Unity organizers Kasey Helton and Colleen Turk say it’s important to “stand-up and speak out in support of equality, democracy, and the fellowship of humankind.” The walk has been named in honor of a 1966 Civil Rights demonstration of the same name led by activist James Meredith, who was shot by a sniper and hospitalized during the demonstration. The featured Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and has been recognized historically as significant in the way it defied the culture of intimidation prevalent in the Jim Crow south.
Participants are asked to meet outside the Howell Carnegie Library Saturday at 2:30 p.m., during which time the walk will proceed down its Grand River Avenue route for approximately 45 minutes. Participants should wear appropriate footwear for walking and dress warm. Signs promoting love, peace, equality, democracy and all related themes are encouraged by participants.
More information about the event can be found on the event’s Facebook page.
