June 3, 2020 by Carol Britton Meyer
Selectman Mary Power attended last night's candlelight vigil at St. John's, calling the event "peaceful, moving, and appropriate."
"Social distancing was practiced the entire time. The vigil was safe, orderly, and meaningful. After attending I have a sense of peace I haven't felt in the last few days," she said.
Power praised the Hingham Unity Council, which sponsored the event. "I attended in support of black lives and in memory of George Floyd and others who have lost their lives to systemic racial injustice," she said. Power also represented fellow Selectmen Joseph Fisher and Karen Johnson, who were attending a teleconference selectmen's meeting that started as the vigil ended.
Fisher expressed support for those who demonstrated peacefully in Hingham and elsewhere last night. "I join in their condemnation of violence," he said.
Selectmen Chair Karen Johnson said she feels as though she has been "caught up in an emotional whirlwind," feeling sadness looking back at the civil rights movement and now at Floyd's death. "It's sad that that his and other killings follow so many others, back to Rodney King [and before]," she said. "For the sake of our shared humanity, we must find a better way forward. We can no longer remain neutral, and it can start tonight."
I would like to see the Town of Hingham join in advocating for the passage of HR 40, refiled by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston, that calls for a “path to restorative justice,” a national commission to explore our nation’s history of slavery, and years since slavery, and impacts on descendants of slaves, in all states, North and South, and to explore the area of reparations and national apology. The ACLU is mounting a petition drive, and is being joined by major interests around the United States. You can read Congresswoman Lee’s statement here: https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/h-r-40-is-not-a-symbolic-act-its-a-path-to-restorative-justice/