‘Keeping Families Together’

The second East End Walk for Interdependence will take place on Sunday, July 14, in Sag Harbor. Like last year, the walk will continue with the theme “Keeping Families Together.” It will highlight the ongoing brutality toward immigrant families; the incarceration of black and other women of color; as well as the murders and disappearances of indigenous women.

As stated by the core organizers of the Walk for Interdependence, “The Walk for Interdependence was created to show the commitment, in the face of a national climate threatening separation and isolation.”

This was created to teach people to understand the importance of not separating families, and keeping families together. Core organizer Ella Engel-Snow expressed the importance of what “interdependence” means, and the message behind the walk.

“Interdependence is wholeness,” she said. “It is the opposite of family separation. As we move forward, we have to look toward our wholeness and honor our mutuality. And it is critical for us to gather together with shared intention during these scary times.”

Engel-Snow, along with her other core organizers, have worked hard to further the walk’s message. They understand each other’s strength and have built their relationship through trust in order for this walk to be as successful as it was last year.

“We recognize that we are an ad hoc formation that comes together for this purpose, each with our ongoing responsibilities and commitments in our communities. This understanding gives us clarity and the ability to maximize each contribution,” she said.

Teamwork is what Engel-Snow and others on her team strive for, in order to get their message of “keeping families together” across to the general public.

In addition to the core organizers making this event something special to the public, they have keynote speakers helping them out. Rev. Kimberly Quinn Johnson, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Hamptons; Minerva Perez, the executive director of OLA of Eastern Long Island; Lisa Votino-Tarrant, an activist who has been to the southern border of the U.S., and who works at the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center; and Bonnie Cannon, the director of the BHCCRC, will all give speeches to go further into each highlighted topic.

The march starts at 3 PM at the windmill on Long Wharf in Sag Harbor.