Unityfest II comes to downtown Fargo

Culture | June 17th, 2015

Annual celebration aims to promote tolerance and diversity

As UnityND prepares to hold its second annual Unityfest celebration, the man who was the reason for its formation may be resurfacing. UnityND was formed to battle a group of white supremacists who tried to take over the small town of Leith, ND. Last year UnityND held its first celebration on the Red River Valley Fairgrounds, and this year it will take place in downtown Fargo on June 19 and 20. We learned last week that Craig Cobb, the white supremacist who started the Leith takeover, is eyeing another small North Dakota community, Antler, located near the Canadian border.

Scott Garman, founder of UnityND, said he’s not too concerned about Cobb becoming active again. In fact, he expected it.

“Nothing he does surprises me anymore. We, as an organization, kind of figured it was just a matter of time until he needed to get some media attention, being it had been awhile since he had done anything super silly like this,” Garman told HPR. “I feel empathy for those that live up in that area who have to deal with this craziness, because you never know what he can do. He’s a dangerous man. I mean, he went walking around Leith, N.D., with an AR-15 or whatever it was. And if he fails again, which he surely will, the guy’s a ticking time bomb. I am concerned it’s only a matter of time before he takes some other drastic measures. That’s what worries me the most.”

Garman said UnityND was formed not solely because of Cobb’s efforts but mainly after Cobb tried to link up with white supremacist leaders from across the nation. Garman and some like-minded friends searched to see if North Dakota had an organization to fight hate groups, and when they realized the state didn’t, formed their own."We thought we could help North Dakota with the issues that Cobb kind of brought to the forefront, which is what we need to build strong tolerant and diverse communities that celebrate diversity in the state, and that’s kind of our main mission,” Garman said. “That’s kind of what I fall back on all the time is, ‘Hey, we want to promote tolerance and celebrate diversity, and we want our North Dakota communities to be strong and welcoming to people.’”

Unityfest II features two events, a two-night concert at the Aquarium on Friday and Saturday with local stoner-metal rockers Egypt and reunited Portland-based garage-punk band Fireballs of Freedom, who have Fargo roots. Also there will be a Saturday afternoon event in the alley by Wurst Bier Hall featuring speakers talking about tolerance and diversity as well as events for kids, including face painting and culturally diverse foods and booths, all under the theme of promoting tolerance and diversity.

“Really what Unityfest is to celebrate is the work that North Dakotans have done over the year, all the battles they’ve fought that have gone toward promoting tolerance and celebrating diversity and also to bring attention to the issues,” Garman said.

“Basically the philosophy is that by bringing out as many people as we can -- even if they are not there to listen to a speaker or whatever, if they are only there to see a band -- at least they will have heard the name UnityND. They will probably have read or heard about what our mission is and what we’re about. That’s kind of what the whole thing is -- to raise awareness of the issues, not of our organization, but the issues.”

UnityND is also raising money for scholarships to be offered to students who help promote tolerance or celebrate diversity in their communities. Garman said he doesn’t feel there will ever be a time when UnityND is not needed in the state.

“You are always going to have a few random nut-jobs like Cobb and those PLE idiots, basically people who operate in their mom’s basement talking behind a computer screen, talking about wanting to take over places and scaring good people, hardworking people who just want to have a normal life,” Garman said. “There’s always going to be those people. I don’t think there’s anything we can really do about the real wackos like those guys. But what we can do is continue to try to change hearts and minds of people who haven’t experienced other people’s cultures, haven’t had a chance to yet. Maybe through Unityfest, through other events, we can help start spreading some cultural awareness.”

He also thinks UnityND is already making a difference through awareness, events and its scholarship program, all of which are expected to grow or increase in the years to come.

“We had a rally in Leith, N.D. of 450 people with everyone from Jews, Rastafarians, Native Americans, white people, farmers, conservatives, democrats, liberals, communists, anarchists. We had all those people on the same side fighting back against hate. If we can do that in one day in North Dakota, I am pretty sure there’s not much else we can’t do in the state.”