The small sign hanging from the tent and facing Washington Street said it all: “We Stand as One.”

Tuesday’s Community unity rally drew about 60 people to Washington Street who did their best to bear the 96-degree heat and triple digit heat index to hear Mayor George Flaggs Jr., Police Chief Walter Armstrong, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace and NAACP president John Shorter call for unity, regardless of color, support for law enforcement and encourage people to get involved in their community.

“It went great!” rally organizer Brianna Knox said. “This won’t be a one time thing. I’m going to start a movement for girls and boys in the community.”

The crowd took a while to build, with many seeking the available shade on the west side of Washington Street and the shade of Flaggs’ Tahoe as they listened to Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror.”

Two tents were also available for shade, with one sponsored by the NAACP for voter registration.

Flaggs began his address calling for a moment of silence for all police officers killed in the line of duty.

“I’m here on behalf of the city of Vicksburg and the Board of Mayor and Aldermen because we believe black lives matter and blue lives matter,” he said, “and together, all lives matter.

“We stand behind the value of life. We’ve got to start valuing life.”

Flaggs commended Knox on her efforts to organize the rally, adding the residents of Vicksburg should serve as a model for the state and the nation that a community can come together.

“This rally represents that unity,” he said. “Every minister should be here; every teacher should be here; everybody should be at this rally. Let us go forward and make this city better than when we came.”

Armstrong and Pace said the community’s law enforcement agencies are there to serve the city.

“You are our employers,” Pace said. “I remind my deputies of that every day.”

Armstrong said the police department wants to create a good relationship with city residents “because this is our community.”

Shorter urged people to register to vote to improve their community.

“If you participate in the electorate process, you get to vote,” he said, telling people to get the facts, pick their candidates and vote.

The Rev. Manny Murphy told people to get involved in their communities, and participate in more community projects like the march against violence and the Neighborhood Watch Night Out Program.

“We’re only going to get better when we get to know each other better,” he said. “Remember, every police officer is a brother, a daughter, a mother, a sister. Continue to pray for each other and always search for a positive outcome.”