Raised in Charlottesville, Elizabeth Herendeen talked about how the violent clash beween “Unite the Right” marchers and counter-protestors has affected her hometown. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

The violence that erupted this weekend during a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville rippled across the country — and in Alaska. Activists held candlelight vigils in memory of one counter protester who lost her life and dozens of others injured. One took place in Sitka on Monday night (08-14-17). 

Downloadable audio.

A little girl is watching her mother light a candle at Sitka’s peace vigil, which drew over 100 people around a large totem pole in the center of town. Some brought tea lights cupped in seashells, others housed candles wrapped in aluminum foil

Daughter: What are they going to light it for Mama?

Mom: It’s to light a candle like on a birthday cake.

Daughter: Are they going to sing Happy Birthday?

Mom: No, this isn’t for birthdays though.

The candles are for creating “a safe space for community, in solidarity with Charlottesville and beyond.” That’s how organizer Hannah Guggenheim described the event on Facebook.

Holding a microphone, Guggenheim began the vigil with a quote from anti-Apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela.

“’No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or religion. People must learn to hate and if they learn to hate, they can be taught to love.'” Guggenheim added,  “So that’s why I’m here. That’s why we’re all here, today.”

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Many attended to talk about the nature of hate in 2017 America and how to move in a direction of love in Sitka. For a town where the majority of the population is white, the gathering was fairly diverse and candid about Sitka’s own history of colonial occupation on Tlingit land.

Lakota Harden brought sage to burn. Dale Williams recalled how in 1965 someone mounted a burning cross on the Sheldon Jackson Campus, in response to a local Civil Rights march.

Dionne Brady-Howard hoped the events in Charlottesville would spur further dialogue on not only what happened this weekend, but just how deeply racism in America runs.

“If nothing else, it’s brought to light how much hatred there still is and things like institutional racism and generational trauma across our nation,” Brady-Howard said.

Martina Kurzer grew up in Germany. She said video footage of the street fighting in Virginia brought flashbacks to stories her grandparents told her, “stories of street fights between Communists and Nazis in the year 1925.”

For Elizabeth Herendeen, who moved to Sitka three months ago, this is all new. She grew up in Charlottesville and attended the University of Virginia, where the “Unite the Right” rally converged.

“Just talking to my mom this morning, people are afraid to go out and live their lives and just to run errands or go to work,” Herendeen said.

Alt-right leaders have vowed to return to her hometown.

In April, the Charlottesville City Council voted to remove a statue of the Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Opponents sued and a district court judge postponed the decision for six months. The case is still in court, making the city a battleground for white supremacists to push for its protection. In June, the City Council renamed Lee Park — where the statue is erected — Emancipation Park.

David Kanosh shared how the possibility of racially-motivated violence was a reality for him in 2003. He was beaten in a bathroom in Sitka’s ANB Harbor.

“I was beaten and left for dead by some people who carved a swastika in my chest. Do I have fear of going out that door? Of course. I always have that fear in my heart now. But I always face that fear with love because I always feel the people of Sitka that came out when I was in the hospital,” he said. “Will this dialogue continue? It must always continue.”

Sometimes that dialogue takes shape with music.

(Sitkans singing)

Joining hands again, the vigil closed with the an anthem from the Civil Rights era — the gospel song, “We Shall Overcome.”

Nearly 100 Sitkans held hands in Totem Square on Monday night (6-13-16) in memory of the Orlando shooting victims. (Katherine Rose/KCAW photo)

A crowd of nearly 100 Sitkans gathered in Totem Square last night (06-13-16), to honor the 49 victims of Sunday’s (06-12-16) shooting at Pulse, an Orlando nightclub. Organized by Sitkan Hannah Guggenheim, the group gathered beneath a blue sky in a big circle and, holding strips of orange paper, took turns reading the forty nine name aloud.

Downloadable audio.

Sitkan Hannah Guggenheim posted about the community gathering on Sitka Chatters, after seeing similar vigils in major US cities. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Guggenheim said she organized the gathering to mirror similar events in Washington D.C., New York City, and other cities across the United States. “Nothing had happened quite yet in Sitka. And I just thought, ‘Well, let’s think of a date. Set it. So, Monday seemed like a good time for everybody to get together right after work and I posted it on Sitka Chatters.’

(Violin music by Carla Kountoupes, while Sitkans read victims’ names aloud)

Jean Nieves Rodriguez, Age 27

Frankie Hernandez, Age 27

Angel L. Candelario-Padro, Age 28

Antonio Davon Brown, Age 29

Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, Age 30

Enrique L. Rios, Age 25

Click here to see the Orlando Sentinel’s full list of the victims and read their bios. 

Carla Kountoupes played her violin while the 49 names were read aloud. (Katherine Rose/KCAW photo)

Debbie Terry spoke first. She lived in Orlando for 30 years and was a volunteer therapist at a LGBTQ community center for 20 years. “Yesterday, I couldn’t breathe. I stayed under my covers and watched the images on Facebook and TV over and over.” Terry personally knows Barbara Pomo, the owner of the nightclub where the shooting took place. She said, “The name of the nightclub – “Pulse” – represents the heartbeat of [Pomo’s] brother, who died of HIV, and just to continue a safe, lively place for people to go to and feel safe.”

Sitkans read the names of the 49 victims of the Orlando shootings, which range in age from 18 to 50. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Reading from a piece of paper, Terry told the group, “I’ve been disheartened by a few messages saying that these 49 young people deserved to be slaughtered. I can’t fathom how anyone can think this. And I won’t dwell on such destructive thoughts. Instead, I focus on the Orlando Cemetery that is offering free cemetery plots for all the victims of the shooting.”

Guggenheim then invited anyone in the circle to speak freely.

Woman: This is not the act of one lone gunman. This is the act of a racist, homophobic, misogynist, supremacist society. We can change that. We have to step into the uncomfortable place, of that one moment where somebody  says something and you just want to let it slide. That moment is one step towards changing this.

John McTague: I live in Washington D.C. I’m going to get on a plane tomorrow and go home to my husband and my dog, who I’m looking forward to seeing very much. Especially my dog. And I’m just so appreciative that this happened here. That this vigil happened here.

The group arranged 49 tea lights into the shape of the heart. It was too windy to light them. The candles were distributed among the group to take home. (Katherine Rose/KCAW photo)

More people spoke. And then Guggenheim brought out 49 white tea lights for people to take home, but not before the group laid them in the grass in the formation of a heart.

Maggie Gallin: My heart is just with youth and people in our community who want to be here today at this event, but don’t feel safe in our community coming out to their friends and family. Don’t feel comfortable. And I hope that we can do what we can to make this community more welcoming. More genuinely welcoming.

Hannah Guggenheim:I think it was really amazing to see people wanting to show up. Needing to be together. It was pretty incredible to see it take shape. You couldn’t curate a moment like that. It was something that was born out of itself: people needing to talk, needing to feel, needing to connect.

Guggenheim was happy with the turnout. “You couldn’t curate a moment like that. It was something that was born out of itself: people needing to talk, needing to feel, needing to connect,” she said. (Katherine Rose/KCAW photo)

Hannah Guggenheim recently released a four-and-a-half minute documentary about the project called “Energy Independence for our Future.”

The film is narrated by former city administrator John Stein.

The public will have two opportunities in the near future to learn first hand about the $142-million project. Thursday May 9 at 5:30 PM in Harrigan Centennial Hall, consulting engineer Paul Carlson will give a slide show on the project.

A public tour will be offered Sunday May 19, leaving on buses from Harrigan Centennial Hall at 1 PM. Reserve a seat on the tour.

Read the full story here.

Hannah Guggenheim produced a widely-viewed film about the Sheldon Jackson campus last year, after college trustees handed over the keys of the historic landmark to the Sitka Fine Arts Camp.

Now, Guggenheim’s made another film, and she’s going to plug into Sitka’s social networks to distribute it.

Click here for iFriendly audio.

“What happens when a community comes together to make change? That is something that translates not just to Sitka, but it also is a national and worldwide story about giving back, making change, and making connections. I’m attracted to that human story about how to make a difference,” Guggenheim says.

The film is called “Save the Campus,” and it draws on some of the 23,000 hours volunteers have logged renovating the Sheldon Jackson quadrangle and its centerpiece, Allen Memorial Auditorium.

“What we’re doing here is taking a campus that was shut down for four years, and infusing it with art, infusing it with community spirit, and making it a really vibrant, useable space again.”

Cassi Olson coordinates development for the Sitka Fine Arts Camp. She hopes the rescue of Sheldon Jackson taps into a broader social consciousness, and saving the campus becomes a national campaign.

“We want to reach audiences outside of Sitka. That’s why we want the video to get shared with friends and contacts of our Sitka neighbors. This story might be really inspiring to someone who’s in Boston. They won’t be able to come here and volunteer, but they will be able to put their money toward the project and support it that way.”

Visit the “Save the Campus” Facebook page.

Guggenheim and Olson admit that there’s no way to ensure that a video goes viral on the internet. When she worked at a PR firm in San Francisco, Guggenheim says she occasionally produced films that generated millions of hits. The formula? Getting the video to kids.

The launch of “Saving the Campus” was scheduled for 2:30 PM Wednesday, May 9 from the Sitka High School computer lab. Fine Arts Camp board members were scheduled to visit Kettleson Library at the same time to explain the project to computer users there. Guggenheim hopes that around 1,000 Sitkans will like the “Save the Campus” Facebook page, watch the film, then share it with friends on their own social networks.

What happens after that is anyone’s guess. Guggenheim says it’s about letting go, and hoping the story resonates with people.

“I do think this is an American story about working hard, making a difference, and contributing. I hope, as a story-teller and filmmaker, that what strikes people as familiar is that We Can All Do This. This is a tool for people to say, This is one community, but what is your community? What are you doing? Because we can all contribute.”

And how many views will it take for Guggenheim to consider the video as “viral”? It’s not really a number at all.

“We’d like to get… who knows? Sky’s the limit. We’re open. We’d like to get on Jay Leno, basically.”

Who wouldn’t “like” that?