Participants read the U.S. Constitution aloud the night of March 4 during a Light for our Democracy gathering outside Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn, sponsored by the Dearborn/Dearborn Heights League of Women Voters.
Dearborn/Dearborn Heights League of Women Voters Co-President Jennifer Oliver holds the U.S. flag the night of March 4 during a Light for our Democracy gathering outside Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn, sponsored by the Dearborn/Dearborn Heights League of Women Voters, during which the U.S. Constitution was read aloud.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – Rain didn’t dampen the spirits of the Dearborn/Dearborn Heights League of Women Voters as they gathered March 4 outside the Henry Ford Centennial Library to read the U.S. Constitution aloud.
The LWV “Light for Our Democracy” rally attracted allies from Voters Not Politicians, NAACP, Amnesty International, ACLU, the Sierra Club, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Indivisible movement, and Michigan Spanish Speaking Democrats.
The timing of the rally and reading, 8:30 p.m., was set to occur before President Donald Trump’s first address to Congress.
Geraldine Grunow, secretary of the Dearborn/Dearborn Heights League of Women Voters, said the gathering was a response to the things that have been happening in the country and specifically Tuesday to respond to the president’s first address to Congress.
“We thought that one way to do it would be to actually read our country’s Constitution,” she said. “Tonight, when we read the Constitution, what we’re really trying to do is draw attention to parts of it that might be absent if we don’t do some work.
“So, we’ll think about it as we read, and perhaps as we read, we can think of the elements of the Constitution (if absent) that would most disturb us or people that we care for in our country and the world.”
After reading the Constitution aloud together, a moment of silence was held to think about what had just been read.
Grunow said the attendees weren’t alone in their anxiety and despair.
“Just to see the signs and the flags and the umbrellas, it’s really comforting,” she said.
Candles provide light the night of March 4 during a Light for our Democracy gathering outside Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn, sponsored by the Dearborn/Dearborn Heights League of Women Voters, during which the U.S. Constitution was read aloud.
Above and below, participants read the U.S. Constitution aloud the night of March 4 during a Light for our Democracy gathering outside Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn, sponsored by the Dearborn/Dearborn Heights League of Women Voters.
Above and below, participants read the U.S. Constitution aloud the night of March 4 during a Light for our Democracy gathering outside Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn, sponsored by the Dearborn/Dearborn Heights League of Women Voters.
A participant displays a sign the night of March 4 during a Light for our Democracy gathering outside Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn, sponsored by the Dearborn/Dearborn Heights League of Women Voters, during which the U.S. Constitution was read aloud.