ROCKINGHAM — United we stand, divided we fall.
It’s an old cliche, Tonee Grant admitted, but it was the message behind a unity march Saturday morning in downtown Rockingham.
Around 50 people gathered together at the Richmond County Department of Social Services to march to the steps of the old courthouse.
The event was organized by Soul Stand Up, a branch of Sisters of Unity and Love, which itself is a subset of Soul Sisters, a group of sisters, cousins and friends that started 20 years ago.
Joining the group and other attendees were Richmond County Sheriff James Clemmons, Rockingham Police Chief Billy Kelly, deputy and Pastor Mike Childers, Hamlet Councilman Maurice Stuart and two-time Super Bowl winner and Richmond County native Perry Williams. Commissioner Don Bryant was also at the rally that followed the march, which included Clemmons, Childers and Williams as guest speakers.
Grant, president of Soul Stand Up, opened by quoting Phillipians 2:2, which reads (New International Version): “… then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.”
She said the group has sponsored several events in the past, “but nothing to this magnitude.”
“We wanted to do this because, after George Floyd died, my soul stood up,” she said.
Floyd’s death while being arrested by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota — with one officer’s knee on his neck for more than seven minutes — was caught on camera and sparked protests and riots nationwide in addition to calls for justice reforms.
“I knew that if my soul stood up, there had to be some more souls standing up,” Grant continued. “So we came together to say, ‘Hey, we’re not going to talk about division, we’re going to talk about unity.’
“Because that’s what it’s about y’all, it’s about us coming together, because we have more similarities than we do differences,” Grant said. “We have the same heart, lungs, blood — when God designed us, He made us in His image. And so that’s why we’re here today, to signify and demonstrate God’s love for us.”
Clemmons, who was recently appointed to the Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, opened by addressing the younger audience members, saying that they’re not the future, they are the present.
“What our eyes have seen, and what our ears have heard and what our minds will remember is history,” Clemmons said. “For so many years, we have talked about the injustices. For so many years, we have talked about inequality. For so many years, we have talked about violence at the hands of law enforcement officers.”
Clemmons then took the phrase “Black Lives Matter” a step further.
“For 59 years, I have worn the same color and it has not worn off yet,” he said, adding that he understands the realities and the fears in the community — and it’s up to leaders, like himself, to lead the charge in change.
“But we can’t do it alone,” he said. “When we speak of unity, we’re speaking of one voice, one action, one commitment — not separatism, not inequality, not racial inequality. We’re talking about coming together.
“Black lives do matter, but here’s where it really matters: Black lives matter no matter who’s taking those black lives,” Clemmons continued.
One death is one death too many, he said.
“Look at all the names that have not been called,” the sheriff continued, referencing Floyd, and others like Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, whose names have been used as rallying cries for reform. “Look at all the mothers with murdered offspring … at the hands of those who look just like them.
Clemmons acknowledged the school-to-prison pipeline and the need for reform in the justice system.
“But make no mistake, ladies and gentlemen, law enforcement are the ones charged with standing in the trenches between those who become victims and those who become defendants,” he said.
When some advocates speak of reforming the system, the sheriff said, they’re not talking to the victims.
“You’re not listening to the cries of children who don’t have mom or dad around because of crime,” he said. “So think about that when you hear the words ‘defunding law enforcement’ … what is there to take its place?”
Clemmons went on to say that sheriffs and police chiefs have the responsibility to hire and train officers who the community can support.
“The buck stops with me,” he said. “If there’s anything that my officers do right, you pat them on the back. Everything that they do wrong, you kick me in the pants. That’s what a leader does, that’s the responsibility that a leader accepts.”
He concluded by saying that local law enforcement is trying to build “the best possible relationship” with the community.
Childers, who serves as a deputy with the sheriff’s office and pastor of Mount Carmel Church, said the people need to unite together in salvation.
“It took the blood of Jesus to unite us together,” he said. “And I’m thankful that when God looks down, God don’t see a white Mike, God don’t see a Black James Clemmons … but God sees the blood of his son, Jesus Christ. And we can unite together, knowing that we’re in the same family. We’ve been born again, we’ve been adopted into the royal family.
Citing the Bible, Childers said God doesn’t look on the outward appearance, but on the heart.
“And when we come together, united together in salvation … God looks at us, not as just people, but God looks at us as His children,” he said, to claps and cheers. “We are brothers and sisters in Christ, we are children of God … The solution today is uniting together in our saviour.”
Following Childers was a brief a cappella interlude by Latoya Diggs Jackson before Williams stepped up to the mic.
Williams played football and ran track for Richmond Senior High School before going on to play for N.C. State University and the New York Giants, where he won two Super Bowl rings. Since retiring from the NFL, Williams landed a job at Long Island University.
“One of things that I learned, real quickly, was about diversity, about inclusion,” he said. “New York City is one of the melting pots of the world, diverse with all different people. And that was a culture shock for me when I first got there.”
During his years of playing football, from college to the pros, Williams said he didn’t look at his fellow players for their color.
“They were my teammates,” he said, naming off quarterback-turned-announcer Phil Simms. “I didn’t look at him as a white guy, I looked at him as number 11 … We had a lot of great players.”
Williams said his grandmother taught him to care about everyone, no matter what color they are, because “God wants you to come as one,” he recalled.
“If God wanted us all to be Black, he’d have made us all Black, if he wanted us to be all white, he’d have made us all white,” Williams said. “He didn’t make us that way. It’s a purpose … coming together and staying together.”
