To the Editor:

This is not a political moment in our nation. This is a pivotal moment in our nation’s history.

This is not an event to celebrate. This is a solemn moment to finally acknowledge what our great country has lost.

This is not opposition to a candidate, a person holding office as we speak, or even a specific party. This is recognition of our Constitution and the protections therein.

This is not a gathering meant to vilify any individual. This is a movement meant to move us all forward to regain our national stature, both at home and abroad.

As we journey together as a people on this arduous and painful but ultimately rewarding path back to the rule of law in our great country, we at the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice are proud to gather with a strong coalition of allies as well as with our greater community to organize this rally — one of hundreds collectively across the nation to amplify our patriotic voices and affirm our strong belief in the very foundations of our democracy.

We were compelled to participate on this evening because at the heart of the impeachment hearings is the idea, no the ideal, of voting in a free and fair election, to have elections untainted by foreign interference, abuses of office, or blatantly false and deceptive conspiracy theories. We are here to support the integrity of our laws, our Constitution, and our very democracy. We are here to retake our integrity as a nation. We are here to preserve our integrity as a people.

Our Republic contains three separate co-equal branches of government with the necessary authority to check the powers of one another and keep balance among the branches. These hearings may be exhausting, anxiety-causing, and despairing, but they are also a vital component of ensuring that government works for the people and not for elected officials and their self-interests.

There have been credible accusations of abuse of power by upright and committed public servants. Ours is a system of law and justice. Democracy requires that there be substantive hearings on these very troubling accusations and all we ask, nay, what we demand, is that these allegations are heard fairly and enacted upon responsibly.

Politics and party are irrelevant in this for in a democracy no one, and we mean absolutely no one, is above the law.

Robt Seda-Schreiber
Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice
Wiggins Street