St. Louis Commission Hosts Second Annual Loyalty Day Event

The Victims of Communism – St. Louis Commission (VOC-STL) hosted its second annual Loyalty Day event, designated this year to support the people of Ukraine and stand against the actions of Vladimir Putin. Speakers included local residents from Ukraine, Cuba, and China who spoke to their experience living under communism and the importance of standing up for freedom. Special guest Senator Steve Roberts spoke about his support of the VOC-STL mission and sponsorship of SCR 24, establishing Victims of Communism Memorial Day on November 7th, and other bills providing funding to refugees.

Attendees gathered at the Artist Art venue on historic Cherokee Street for a day of recognition, information and education on the situation in Ukraine as well as the events leading to the current war. The Ukrainian community in St. Louis has been very active in hosting rallies, fundraisers and other events to bring awareness and generate support. After hearing from volunteers who wanted to get involved, VOC-STL chose to designate this year’s Loyalty Day event to support these efforts and the VOC mission to “educate future generations about the ideology, history, and legacy of communism and to advocate for the freedom of those still held captive by communist regimes.” Given a rise of interest in socialism amongst young Americans, including organized socialist and communist activity in St. Louis, the importance of this mission was evident throughout the event. After sharing their harrowing experiences before and now during the war, three of the Ukrainian speakers pleaded with attendees to never support communism and to do everything possible to push back against communist activity.

Speakers from Cuba and China, an exiled Cuban author and Chinese American who was arrested in Beijing for distributing flyers, underscored the importance of fighting against communist ideology. Information tables included resources from VOC-STL and other organizations such as the End CCP (End the Chinese Communist Party) project to stand up against deadly actions and put an end to the Chinese Communist Party. Artist Art venue owner Todd Jenkins donated space for this volunteer-led event, and provided a livestream video which can be found online here.

For more information or to get involved visit victimsofcommunism.org/stl or write to stl@victimsofcommunism.org.