Harrison walk calls for love, unity, healing - TribLIVE

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Quinn Dickerson took to the streets of the Natrona Heights section of Harrison Sunday holding up a sign that was at least twice as tall as he is.

It’s message was “Love One Another.”

The 8-year-old Harrison resident, flanked by his mother, Michelle, and father, Seth, was among the youngest of nearly 150 participants that afternoon at ONE: A Walk of Love & Unity.

“It feels good to change the world,” Quinn said. “To show that black lives matter.”

The event was not a Black Lives Matter protest, but a gathering of about a dozen churches from the Alle-Kiski Valley in a show of togetherness.

Protests have been held across the country since May 25, when George Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes on Memorial Day.

Natrona Heights walkers went from the Harrison Town Square down to Mile Lock Lane and back with many wearing yellow “ONE” T-shirts and some in light blue T-shirts with the words “We Are Saved By Grace.”

Michelle Dickerson said love and unity is what the world needs now.

“I think it’s really important, particularly for us as a family who has people of color, to try and change the world for the better,” she said. “I don’t ever want it to be my son (or) my husband (killed). I think approaching it from a perspective of unity and people working together makes it easier for people to let down their guard and to be honest and look at themselves honestly and think about what they can do to make the world a better place.”

Pastor Nick Chybrzynski of Generations House of Worship in Brackenridge was one of the walk’s organizers.

“This is a big day for healing,” he said. “We need some unity in the community. We need one voice. We need one church. We need one community. Black, yellow, red, white, hallelujah. God so loved the world that he gave his only son for all of us. The Bible doesn’t say, ‘God so loved white people,’ or ‘God so loved black people’ or ‘God so loved Presbyterian people.’ God loved the world, and so we’re here.”

Chybrzynski led the group in prayer and shared the microphone with reverends from multiple ministries at the start of the walk.

“Our voice is a critical voice, even during this time,” said Rev. Mitchel Nickols of Bibleway Christian Fellowship Church in New Kensington. “This is not to demean the kinds of other rallies or protests that are going on. We have a part to play as the church. We speak on behalf of God. We speak the word of God.”

Nickols shared passages of scripture with three key points.

“God said he wants us to act justly,” Nickols said. “A second thing God said, he wants us to love mercy and the third thing is to walk humbly with your God. Those three things, among other things in the scripture, are critical. No matter what’s happening in the world our posture as the body of Christ is to speak peace into confusion. To cause people to realize that there is a way that God orders our steps. There are certain things that we do. We will not be silent as the church.”

Chants of “One message, One love” echoed throughout Broadway Boulevard with several drivers along the parallel Freeport Road honked in support. Harrison and Brackenridge police blocked off several boulevard intersections including Alabama and California avenues.

A few participants drove a part of the way while others rode bicycles.

John Mitchell, 56, of Brackenridge lost his right leg about five years ago due to severe arteriosclerosis.

The Generations House of Worship member took a short break, made some adjustments to his prosthetic and finished the two-mile walk.

“With God’s grace I’m here,” Mitchell said. “I have black grandchildren. I am a pro-lifer and I think that black lives do matter … People say, ‘What race are you?’ My race is human. I’m a human being. That’s all there is. Racism needs to be abolished on both sides. I can get into things that really don’t matter right now, but everybody just (needs to) love everybody.”

Names of the churches that participated in the walk, as well as their service times and addresses, will be posted on Generation’s Instagram page.

Donations were collected for the yellow shirts with a portion of the proceeds going to 1Hood Media, a Pittsburgh-based collective of socially conscious artists and activists who utilize art to raise awareness.

More information about that initiative is available at 1hood.org.

Michael DiVittorio is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at 412-871-2367, mdivittorio@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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