June 3, 2020:
The sign for our Church was vandalized with ALM, we presume All Lives Matter, spray painted on it in red. Other locations in town along the route of a Black Lives Matter protest were also marked.
We are a proud member of our Cortland, NY Community with a proud history of social activism from being part of the Underground Railroad, The Women’s Suffrage Movement and The Civil Rights Movement. In the 1850’s, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Beecher Stowe, William Lloyd Garrison, Ralph Waldo Emerson and many others spoke to support women’s right to vote. Frederick Douglas and Martin Luther King Jr. have spoken in our church.
October 27, 2019:
Thank you all for your outpouring of love and support! We are grateful for all of your encouraging messages. The image was shocking to see on our historic church and we are still early in our emotional processing.
The defacement was reported to the police and the hateful image was subsequently painted over by one of our Board members. Other buildings in the area were vandalized around the same time.
With love and thanks,
Autumn Pfister
Member of the UU Church of Cortland
We are sickened by this ugly indication of the few who lack respect for others and themselves. Let’s hope those who do such things learn from the responses of others.
I’m saddened by this heartbreaking event but know you’re on the side of love and will continue to lead by example.
Sending love & gratitude for your unwavering prophetic call for justice which prompted such a reaction. You’re obviously doing good work.