Kandiyohi County resident Hatlestad summed up the impact of great organizing in the Facebook post embedded above about the overwhelming public response to THEE Book Club's hosting of anti-Muslim speaker Usama Dakdok on Thursday.
We had mentioned the meeting in an earlier post, Kandiyohi Co Commish Steve Ahmann was the only MN elected official to sign Say No to Interfaith Dialogue declaration.
But Minnesota's media stepped up to cover the event and neighborly prayer vigil. The West Central Tribune's Tom Cherveny reports in Controversial anti-Islam speaker attracts twice the crowd in Willmar with protest and prayer vigil outside:
Usama Dakdok’s first visit to Willmar was a quiet and private affair last month, but his second visit was anything but that.
Two very different crowds gathered Thursday evening at the Kennedy Elementary School, where the Egyptian-born pastor of the Straight Way of Grace Ministry came to deliver his message that Islam is dangerous. It’s a message he’s been delivering to communities in Minnesota and other states for more than a decade.
Outside the school, well over 200 people joined under the message “we are better together” to celebrate Willmar for its cultural diversity. The diverse crowd, including many from Willmar’s Somali community, came in opposition to Dakdok, but focused on their message: Willmar is an inclusive and welcoming community.
The Rev. Dane Skilbred, Vinje Lutheran Church of Willmar, and Aden Hassan, imam for the Islamic Society of Willmar, joined in celebrating the city’s “welcoming resolution” in a formal address to the crowd. An interfaith group including leaders from ISAIAH, a coalition of faith communities, and the Islamic Society of Willmar helped organize the gathering as a prayer vigil.
Some who joined the event felt moved to grab the megaphone and offer their own words to celebrate the community.
“We are here for the right reason,” said Bonnie Hauser, semi-retired after serving as an elementary instructor in the Willmar Schools. Hauser told the audience that she was proud to be a Willmar teacher, where children of different ethnic and faith backgrounds learn together.
“This is what I know my community could be,” said Jessica Rohloff, a lifelong Willmar resident and a community organizer.
Najib Aqib, a member of Willmar’s Somali community, didn’t grab the megaphone, but he was among those who joined to support the prayer vigil. He said he moved to Willmar in 2005 and has found it to be a very welcoming community, and that is why he came to the event.
“This is the best place to live,” he told the West Central Tribune.
The words and large crowd outside of Kennedy Elementary were much more than Jonathan Marchand had ever expected to hear or see. Marchand had a big role in bringing the crowd together when just over a week ago he learned that Usama Dakdok was coming to speak in Willmar.
Marchand started a Facebook group, “Keep Hate Out of Kennedy Elementary,” that counted just shy of 500 members as of Thursday night.
He said he had previously heard of Dakdok’s message against Islam, and “just kind of had it.” Marchand said his father had been a teacher who spent more than 40 years educating children about the major religions of the world without deriding any one of them.
Marchand said he does not appreciate the anti-Islam message, and he doesn’t want the world to believe the community of Willmar feels that way.
“It’s time to show up and say this is not what we’re about,” he said as the crowd gathered. . . .
Read the rest of Cherveny's article and savor Erica Dischino's fine photos.
Marchand and the other members of the private Facebook group intend to keep going and the group's name has been changed to "Keep Hate Out of Willmar."
Earlier on Thursday, Minnesota Public Radio's Riham Feshir reported Preaching ‘hate’ for Islam, speaker arrives in a divided Willmar. Perhaps the division is a bit more lopsided on the side of loving one's neighbor than some anticipated.
On November 6, the Tribune's editorial board published Tribune Opinion: Anti-Islamic message is not welcome here. Earlier, staff writer Linda Vanderwerf had reported Controversial Anti-Islam speaker prompts plan for prayer vigil Thursday evening in Willmar.
A local radio station was a bit more sympathetic in its pre-event coverage in Pastor to speak on Islamaphobia in Willmar Thursday.
Embedded photo: Several hundred people gathered outside an anti-Muslim event in Willmar on Thursday night. Via Facebook.
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