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Volume 7, No. 1
Friday, August 7, 2020
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CHRONICLE ONICLE ND KIR TLA
CHRONICLE EMILY CREBS/KMG
About 200 individuals gather in the Kirtland Recreation Park on June 23 for a candlelight vigil of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement. The crowd knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds – the amount of time Derek Chauvin, a police officer in Minneapolis, knelt on George Floyd’s neck.
Community Shows Support at Candlelight Solidarity Vigil By Emily Crebs editor@geaugamapleleaf.com During a recent Black Lives Matter Solidarity Vigil June 23 in Kirtland, Reverend Ian Lynch, of Old South United Church of Christ, wrote that Americans are experiencing a pandemic, but he wasn’t referring to COVID-19. Like the novel coronavirus, this virus is easy to transmit. Unlike COVID, this one has been around for a long time and has infected many people early in their lives. “Even if our families were careful to protect us, exposure to the racism virus is unavoidable in America,” Lynch wrote. One of five vigil organizers who wished to remain anonymous read Lynch’s words during the June 23 event at Kirtland Recreation Park, as he has family members who are high-risk to the novel coronavirus, so he could not attend in person. The vigil demonstrated Kirtland community’s solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and honored Black Ohioans killed by police violence. “Every time we feel nervous driving through East Cleveland or picture a Black man when we here the word ‘thug,’ we demonstrate that we host the virus, even if unwittingly,” Lynch continued. Nearly 200 people of all ages at-
2020 Publication Schedule September 4 November 6 October 2 December 11 The Kirtland Chronicle publishes once a month. Karlovec Media Group reserves the right to change, cancel or add publication dates at any time.
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tended the vigil from Kirtland and surrounding communities. Masks and social distancing were required. “Acts of violence or hate speech will not be tolerated,” the Facebook post about the event said. Candles were spread across the grassy area of the rec park —
spaced apart for social distancing. Attendees were invited to pick up one of the available candles or use their own, and 71 candles had a name and age for unarmed or allegedly armed Black Ohioan killed by police between January 2013 and December 2019.
Three local church pastors — Lynch (via his written speech), Reverend Lisa O’Rear, of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Mentor; and Reverend Denis Paul, of East Shore Unitarian Universalist Church in Kirtland — led the vigil. See Vigil • Page 6
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