On Saturday, March 27, over 500 people gathered on Jesup Green for a peaceful "Stop Asian Hate" rally organized by Westport residents Sarin Cheung, Rosie Curtis, Patra Kanchanagom, Heather Lee, Katherine Whee, and Sara Kang Wiener.
Speaking to the crowd were First Selectman Jim Marpe, US Senator Richard Blumenthal, State Senator Tony Hwang, Attorney General William Tong, and TEAM Westport’s Harold Bailey. As well, a group of high school students shared their powerful and moving experiences.
At the end, artist and inspirer Rosie Curtis shared her plea for love. Her speech and her closing remarks are below.
Rosie: What can we do?
We can continue to stand together in love and be united in this fight against hatred and fear, because…
Love is an action
Love is patient. It never gives up. Love is kind. It cares more for others than for self and is consistently kind to all. Love does not envy. It refuses to be jealous. Love is not boastful or proud or rude to inflate its own importance. Does not force itself on others, it does not dishonour others nor selfishly seek its own honour. It is not easily angered, irritated or resentful. Love joyfully celebrates truth and does not delight in what is wrong. It always protects. Love is a safe place of shelter, for it never stops believing the best for others. It always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never loses faith. Love never fails.
Then, we took a moment of silence, bowed our heads down and closed our eyes for a minute to think about the stories we heard, to think about the victims of racism and discrimination and acts of evil, to think of someone we know who has experienced racism of any kind; and in the end, we asked our own hearts,
My hope is that the conversations and stories being shared by the Asian community will empower us to do something, to be the change, even if it’s a small act of kindness, even if it’s just giving your neighbor a smile. I hope that we will always remember that we have the power to change things.