Sixth Annual Interfaith Peace Walk celebrates love and diversity

Video by Nate Doughty.The sixth annual 9/11 Interfaith Peace Walk preached a message of love and community during the Sunday evening march.Deborah Woolsey, priest of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, kicked off the march by giving a speech on change, saying that not all change is good. In a world full of hate and war, there needs to be more effort toward peace and love.But that did not mean love surrounded the march. Many bystanders admitted confusion as to what was going on, some even going so far as to shout the opposite as what the signs were saying. “Vote Trump!” exclaimed one person as a sign reading “Love Trumps Hate” was carried past on Court Street.Danny Yahini, local contractor and tiny house builder, has been going to the walk since its first year. “It’s smaller this year,” Yahini said. “But it’s a good experience. Everyone should do it.”The president of the International Student Union, Hashim Pashtun, spoke at the end of the walk on the steps of the Islamic Center. “No one is born a racist, no one is born a terrorist,” Pashtun said.  “We need to educate our young in the art of kindness and not in the art of war.”Pashtun continued to preach the importance of learning from children as well as teaching them peace and love as people lit candles. The event ended with the people gathered singing two songs.