GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Bearing blue and yellow cardboard signs and draping Ukrainian flags over their shoulders, using them for warmth on the winter day, a cadre of people paraded through downtown Grand Rapids, calling for peace.
On Saturday, the Ukrainian Society of Michigan coordinated a Unity Walk for Ukraine to mark the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of the country, which happened on February 24, 2022.
"This is conflict in the world. This is war in the world. There's violence and death, and none of us want that," said Christian Bell, a member of the Dnipro Committee for Grand Rapids Sister Cities International.
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"Every part of our our American democracy is in tied up in some way, shape or form with conflict around the world," he said. "It's important we know how to proceed."
Beginning at Veterans Memorial Park, participants took a mile-long path through Grand Rapids, stopping at Rosa Parks Circle before looping back around.
"We will not bow for dictators," said Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids), one of the hundred-plus people in attendance on Saturday.
Rep. Scholten, who carried with her the Ukrainian flag she was given by a demonstrator after she voted for a bill that sent aid to the war-torn country, said her support for Ukraine was "as strong as ever."
"I have heard loud and clear from the West Michigan community that they want to support our democratic ally," she said. "This is not just standing up for one single country, but standing up for democracy in general."
Monique Jonaitis thinks similarly.
"If Ukraine falls, that essentially means we fall as well," said the woman whose late father fled the Soviet occupation in Lithuania. "As a nation we have fought tyranny and we have to continue to do that."
