Students lit candles at vigil honoring victims of global atrocities
‘We have the capacity to resist hate’
Students gathered Tuesday night on the steps of Wilson Library to express their solidarity with the victims of the Paris attacks on November 13.
The Coalition for Human Rights at UNC, the organization that created the vigil, also recognized numerous other regions suffering crises everyday.
Photo by Connor Atkins for The Tab UNC
Students gave short speeches about Paris, Beirut, Burundi, Syria, Iraq and Kenya.
The vigil began with a statement from the Coalition for Human Rights co-chair, Savannah Wooten, a junior at UNC.
“We have the capacity to resist hate,” Savannah said.
Photo by Connor Atkins for the Tab UNC
Members of the Coalition for Human Rights lit the first candles, and all others lit their tea candles with those few flames.
Students left an aisle in the middle of the stairs for television cameras to film the event.
Coalition for Human Rights members read the names of some of the victims of the Paris attacks, along with short biographies for each person.
They talked about a few of the current crises many countries have already faced or face currently. Students shared poems, gave quotes and read speeches in recognition of each of these countries.
One member said: “We’ve seen time and time again what happens when the world looks away from mass atrocities. Stop looking away.”
Photo by Connor Atkins for the Tab UNC
A moment of silence was held for the victims of all of these crises. Then, the words of Martin Luther King Jr. were read.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Junior Sasha Gombar, a member of the Coalition for Human Rights, said the attacks on Paris offered an opportunity to educate the community.
“There was a huge need to express feelings.”
The goal of the demonstration was to highlight the discrepancies in the media – the attacks in Paris were earth-shattering, but other world disasters had much less prominence in the news.
Co-chair Frances Cayton, a sophomore, was personally impacted by the attacks in both Beirut and Paris.
Freshman Sarah Arney bows her head during a moment of silence. Photo by Connor Atkins for the Tab UNC
The Coalition for Human Rights already hosted an event for Syrian refugees, so they created another gathering connecting the dots between these tragedies.
“We just wanted to give others the time to think it through,” Frances said.
Savannah said: “This is a very engaged campus.”
They normally had good-sized crowds for their events, but they definitely expected a larger one than normal. She was proud of the way it came together, especially since it was so last-minute.
Photo by Connor Atkins for the Tab UNC
Students set their candles on the steps as they left the vigil, and as it grew later, they shined more brightly in unity with the victims of atrocities across the world.