#NoWallNoBan Statement of Solidarity

Dear Neighbors,

At the doorway to our nation, the words read as such: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" In less than a week, we as a nation, and certainly as a community here in Franklin County, are faced with a moment that is a generational defining challenge. How can you “give us your tired” if we have built a wall to keep you out? How can you “send the homeless to us” if we have restricted the return of even our own. This challenge we face is transcendent to religion or race; This is greater than identifying as Democrat or Republican. Certainly our #BlackLivesMatter, #JusticeMatters, #MuslimsMatter, #ImmigrantsMatter, but above all we are faced with the question dependent on our unity, here in America, while the world is watching, does #OurHumanityMatter. No matter how we interpret the original context of our Constitution, we as neighbors on this sovereign soil have a duty to defend our fellow human being when their Constitutional rights are under attack. Whether we have always done so our not, let us not let another moment slip by in silence. If my neighbor’s house is on fire, then my house is in danger of catching ablaze. Taking focus to Central Ohio, the Central Ohio Young Black Democrats proudly stand in solidarity with both our brothers and sisters at the Franklin County Adelante Young Democrats and the Somali Political Action Group #NoWallNoBan. Remember that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." To all Central Ohioans, and to all Americans, we hope you join us in not being mute, in sharing the hashtag, while continuing to peacefully rally, and holding your legislators accountable to defending your neighbor and their Constitutional rights #NoWallNoBan #WeStandWithYou.

Sincerely,

Christopher Scott

President of Central Ohio Young Black Democrats

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