The Castro Valley Community Alliance march against hate

The Castro Valley Community Alliance marched in a unity walk, representing the idea of “Castro Valley United Against Hate,” on Friday night April 6. The walk’s purpose was to show support for the families of the victims of the recent massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand. The walk was preceded by speeches from Superintendent Parvin Ahmadi and various members of the Castro Valley Community Alliance at the Castro Valley Library.

The march got underway at 7 p.m. and almost 100 marchers left the library and walked towards the Castro Village, with a police escort allowing us to cross Castro Valley Boulevard without oncoming traffic interference. The marchers were very diverse, from young children, religious leaders, and people from all different ethnic backgrounds. All were walking together and showing a message of unity and strength.

“With all of the violence currently occuring in our world, I wanted this unity walk to give people hope that we can make the world a better place, and we will,” said junior Rucha Acholkar.

Honks and cheers from stopped cars provided great encouragement and showed everyone that we were doing something worthwhile. The signs and banners that the crowd enthusiastically carried made its message clear: no matter what happens, Castro Valley citizens will stand together and be united as one.