 this is amazing. Thank you all for coming. All right. We're going to start with a land acknowledgement to thank the land that we're standing on. It's stolen land. It's not ours. So we're going to just thank the land we're on right now. We are the land which has served a site of meeting and exchange among Indigenous peoples for thousands of years and is the home of the Western Abinaki people. We honor, recognize, and respect these peoples, especially the Abinaki, as the traditional stewards of the lands and waters on which we gather today. In that spirit, today we will begin by acknowledging that we are guests in this land. We will need to respect and help protect the lands within our youth. So we want to quickly introduce ourselves. I'm Marianne Songhurst. I go Montpelier High School and I just turned 18. I'm Mandi Abouaziz. I also go to Montpelier High School and I'm 18. I'm Mary Noelle Nalemle, Ryby Williams, and I go to UVM and I'm 20. All right. So coming in, you might have saw the hearts along the lines of the street. And those hearts represent 642 Black people who have been killed by the police between the year January 2019 to June 2020. And I don't know about you, but that is a lot of people and I need to stop. When I hear the phrase, Black Lives Matter, I often think to myself, why should we have to say those words at all? No one should ever have to justify the worth of their life. Today as we stand here brought together and grieving by the horrific murder of George Floyd, we have a clear reminder of why that statement is so important. I can't help but picture that one day that could be my two young brothers, Leo and Ronnie, whom I would take any bullet for. We stand here today for all Black people who have been murdered by the police. Over 640 in the few months since the beginning of 2019 and many more names have been added to the long list, even in the 12 short days since George Floyd's murder. We are here to honor their names. The violence of cops is very real and has left long lasting consequences on the Black community. Police brutality has taken away mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, role models and leaders, and we will not forget it. But I urge you all to think about the illness of racism as systemic. Holding individual cops accountable for their actions is extremely important and we must continue to do so. But our work does not stop there. Beating racism means fair trials, equitable sentencing and justice in every arena. The actions of the cops are the tip of the icebergs. Police violence against Black people in America is uncomplicated for many of us to confront and condemn, but police brutality is an indication of an even bigger problem. The illness of racism has not infected only the arm of the police but has infected the whole body of our country. All of the many problems Black people face in America today have deep roots that go back hundreds of years. Our lives have never been valued, especially to those of white Americans, by our justice system and beyond. While the history of Black people in America is a violent history, it's a history of activism, a history of change, and Black people have fought for our rights time and time again. We have persevered and made significant changes in progress. Standing here in protest and memorial of lives lost, we are all the most recent players in a significant history of powerful activism. And so, as we honor Black lives taken by police, we must also ask ourselves, what will we contribute? What actions will we take, and what goals will we fight to achieve? We did not come this far to only come this far. So now I'd like to introduce my two amazing, beautiful, strong Black brothers, Leo Rebi Williams and Ronnie Rebi Williams. Lives can't matter until Black lives matter. All lives matter overlooks systematic injustice when the Black community. All lives matter has been weaponized to silence the cries of the unheard. All lives matter promptly ends progress before it starts. To work towards equality for all people, we must start with the advocacy for the most marginalized. Hey everyone. Okay. I'm going to share some demands to honor our pain and passions during this time. These include direct actions that everyone here should actively partake in when it comes to becoming anti-racist in today's world. These demands address Black pain and trauma. Okay. These are some of the selective items from a broad list written by community members here in Montpelier. First, we demand the end of police brutality now. Make sure every officer is held accountable for their actions and that they are stripped and unable to work in any position in law enforcement in the country. Two, we demand a civilian oversight board and that their first charge is to investigate, review, and report on every police use of force from the last decade. This one is short, but it's really important. Fund healing spaces for Black people. Join existing local anti-racist groups who are unpacking their white privilege and showing up for racial justice. And these are for the parents. If you have children, talk to them about race now. They are not too young. Black parents have to worry about our safety in our room. Work to change policies in your communities and your organizations and give space and voice to those who have been marginalized for too long. Thank you. You all join me in taking a moment of silence as well as kneel for eight minutes and 46 seconds to remember those who have been killed unjustly by the police across the country. So at this time, I would like to invite any Black person who wants to be heard. They can take the mic and express what they want to express. Hey guys, how you doing? My name is Mustafa Mohammed. I'm Black and I'm Muslim. I'm proud to be one and I'm not a terrorist. It's a challenge. It's a challenge being Black every day of my life. And I appreciate everyone that's come out here today to support the Black Lives Matter movement. But as you know, history repeats itself. One of your white folks said this, burning an American city to the ground won't bring back George Floyd. Well, I say bombing the Middle East countries won't undo 9-11. All right, so you all know what's happening in Minnesota and all the large states, how mostly my people are riding and looting, right? Well, so to be honest with you guys, I don't really blame them because we have done the speaking. We have done the protesting. We have done the marching. Well, white kills Black, self-defense. Black kills white, murder. Black kills Black, gang violence. White kills white, accident. Muslim kills white, terrorist. White kills Muslim, mental health issues. It's not just the police, it's the system. It's white doctors killing us. It's white judges giving us life sentences. It's white citizens being able to kill us on the street and getting rewards for it. Destroy the system. Do y'all get it? I have a question for y'all white folks. So what do you guys want us to do now? Y'all get mad when we march. Y'all get mad when we kneel. Y'all get mad when we riot. Tell me white people. What exactly does an acceptable protest look like to you? Or can y'all just admit that y'all don't want us to rise at all? Maybe I don't cry, but it hurts. Maybe I won't say, but I feel. Maybe I don't show, but I care. If you have a problem with someone's skin color, you have a problem with the creator. He created us in a multiple of colors so we can appreciate diversity and live in harmony. Don't let anyone tell you, don't let anyone tell you who's more superior, true people fairly. The Almighty is watching. Put an end to racism and violence. Stop labeling people. We're all part of Almighty's creation. How difficult is it to be kind and promote peace? It costs nothing. Let's make a concerted effort to spread this message far and wide. Start by being a living example of it. The greatest lesson you can teach yourself is to be patient. Be patient when you're happy because happiness ends. And be patient when you're sad because sadness too ends. Nothing is constant. Everything is temporary except God, the eternal, the everlasting. Thank you for your time. Good afternoon. My name is Natasha Garbanning. I'm a mother, a wife, and an educator. I grew up in Worcester, attended U-32 in a return to Vermont to raise my family. I'm here today to speak for a young man in my community. He's experienced many instances of ignorance and racism while attending school, but the incident I will be sharing took place between him and our local police department. These are his words. This occurred on Saturday, January 8th between 4.50 and 5.10. Around 4, I'd been dropped off at Norwich to shoot around before my game later in the day at 6.30. I made sure I was in my dress clothes and out the door by 4.50. The bus for my game left at 5.15 and I was on time. To make it to the school, by then, I walked down Central Street and thought I'd cut some time by taking a bridge behind the senior housing. As I walked down by the police office, I raised my head to a window of the station and noticed an officer looking out at me, not thinking too much of it. I gave her a wave and a thumbs up as a sign of friendly greeting. Once she didn't react, I realized I was wearing a black hood, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. Thinking of my look suspicious, I pulled off my hood, smiled and gave another thumbs up. She then got up, walked out of the room, not wanting to arise any suspicion. Again, I remained where I was to see if she was coming out to see me. After waiting, this officer came out with a dog and immediately asked what I was doing. I let her know I was on my way to my school to catch the bus. She then asked, why was I so close to her car? Feeling attacked, I told her again I needed to be going because I couldn't miss my bus. I looked back as I walked away and she was still watching me. When I got to the school, I had a minute to spare and I had to explain why I was almost late. After this event happened, this young man's mother, a friend and I, went to talk with the chief of police about the incident. During that conversation, many things became apparent. First, the cops will defend each other no matter what. Two, there is not a clear understanding of the trauma that comes with being black in America. They had no understanding or empathy towards the idea that black people have a very different relationship with the police. Three, there was no understanding of the historical significance of bringing a dog out to question a black man. Four, the mandatory equity training that police currently take part in is not enough. And five, that these police officers did not understand that their impact far outweighed their intent. But what's more important is that this young man was raised to do everything right when interacting with cops. He lowered his hood. He smiled. He gave a thumbs up. He remained where he was so as not to raise suspicion. He politely explained his presence and none of that mattered. None of that was enough. Luckily, he walked away from this incident, but he is not unscarred. He will carry that interaction with him the rest of his life. He will carry with him the knowledge that it didn't matter that he did everything right. It didn't matter that he was innocently walking through a well-lit parking lot. All that mattered was that he was a young black man, and therefore, he was someone to be suspicious of. And when he went to adults, he trusted to help him resolve the situation. And we tried to work with the system. It became very apparent that the system didn't support him. It supported the police. This is the reality that black Americans wake up to every day. I have a beautiful nine-year-old son. He was seven the first time. He was stereotyped by another student as being violent because he was black. He is the kindest, most selfless boy you could ever meet. But he's only a few years away from no longer being seen as a cute little boy, but being seen as a suspicious, intimidating, and threatening young man. People clutch their purses when they get on an elevator with my husband. He is met with disbelief when he identifies himself as a manager. He is complimented for being so well-spoken and caring himself so professionally as if a black man is incapable of this. I watch my amazing daughter, the epitome of black girl magic, and pray that her beautiful spirit won't be doused by the stereotypes alone gulf her as she leaves the safety of our home. Every day I work towards improving the educational system that my kids attend so they can feel safe in their classrooms. I work towards educating my community so we feel safe where we live, and I work with local and state groups to make systemic change. This is why we're here today. We must continue to demand a change in the systems that are currently in place. Our police system must be reformed so that it truly protects and serves all people. Our schools must be reformed so they provide safe learning environments for all students. We must demand change. Black lives matter. Thank you. I guess I want to start off with saying thank you to everyone who's here and just seeing everyone is just kind of overwhelming but like in a good way. But I do just I don't know I guess want to ask if like throughout today when we hear everyone we just lift up black thought and we leave space for black folks to be which means like even right now I would just really like it if I could see more black people towards the front so if we could just make a little shift that'd be awesome. Just because I feel like the poem I'm gonna read I'd rather read to my brothers and sisters. Thank you. So I wrote this poem and I guess I dedicate it to my dad who is a black man born in Mississippi. He is like one of the kindest man men you could ever meet like has a wonderful heart thinks nothing but good but the world doesn't see him as that and anytime he gets pulled over and I'm in the car I fear for my life just as much as I fear for his. So I wrote this poem back in December it's called I Couldn't Imagine a Quiet World. I couldn't imagine a quiet world seamless silence with a meaningless perpetual idea of a better life disappointment and shade would share the same space and my brown for a reason is my skin the right season surrounded by white guilt I forget what my voice sounds like but I yell and I scream and I dream to be seen every breath that I breathe is for the ones who can't speak their lives were taken from our strong oppression of revolution to be made from the blood of my ancestors here I stand to fight the man he's wearing all white with a pointed hat racism is because of that I am tired of the stress that comes from this yet my world isn't silent when I fight the violence I couldn't imagine a quiet world where we didn't follow our hearts follow the quills or our or the stars to find a movement for our people I couldn't imagine a world without Malcolm Martin Rosa and Asada our world is loud but our people are louder thank you hi everyone uh my name is Ash Diggs it's really amazing seeing so many people out here today um and I've just written down a couple things that I want to share with you let me be honest and tell you that I hate it here I live by a beautiful lake my sun rises and sets amongst mountains the air is pure and unpolluted but when I look at my phone when I listen to the news when I make eye contact with those boys in blue I am terrified why are they scared when they see us aren't I America black people have given the world so much culture music the ironing board traffic lights I know you know we gave you peanut butter I wish I had more jokes but I don't I wish I could thank you for being here but I won't black lives are not worthy of justice and equality because of what they've given the world they are worthy of justice and equality simply due to the fact that they exist black lives matter there are no parameters black men women and non-binary folks are here and have always been here aren't I America so non-black people of color and specifically white people I'm glad you're here but I will not thank you fighting this fight is a moral duty if you consider yourself a good person then you are obliged to be here but let me say unequivocally I'm so happy you're here I appreciate you and I love you and as you're so fond of saying I see you we need you because when you stand with us united we are so much stronger when our voices are together we can change an educational system that leaves black people behind we can change a healthcare system that doesn't listen to black people that has our black women dying during childbirth at rates incredibly higher than white people we can change a system that as a whole has demonstrated over and over again that it hates black people all in the name of justice in the United States aren't I America we are all needed in this fight because don't get me wrong as we've seen this is life and death this is not a passing moment this is a call to continue protesting until we see real systemic change in this country all black people want to do is live but we have been and continue to be terrorized by one of the largest crime syndicates in this country we need to defund the police I am not sorry for saying it you may ask if we defund the police how will they protect us I ask how are they protecting us now the police are brutalizing people all over the country just for peacefully protesting they're supposed to protect and serve us they are failing aren't I America crime is often a direct result of need and desperation if we created a world where people were paid the way they should be given educational environments the way they should be and cared for by their country the way they should be we would cut crime like you could not imagine so when I look at the news and I see the police all I see are state funded terrorists there are other ways to protect our community I do believe that one bad apple spoils the whole bunch as many people have said if one cop commits an injustice and 99 cops turned their heads then you have a hundred bad cops defund the police there are other ways to take care of our community so as we march as we protest I don't want to hear about any of the good ones I don't want them to protest with us I want them to quit their jobs don't you dare take a knee with me because my knee is a protest and your knee is a weapon we need a new American dream a dream that includes every single one of us aren't I America I look in the mirror and think of all the oppression faced by my own family my Native American great grandmother my grandmother who raised four black children in the 50s and 60s and Montgomery Alabama my grandfather who was sent to war for this country and came back to racism my father who was sent to war for this country and came back to the same broken one his father did just like before him my mother and immigrant I think of every black and brown face in this crowd in this country who has felt the pain and oppression themselves and with their families and I feel pain but I look longer in the mirror and I see that I'm strong I am I am something beautiful I am the melting pot I am America I was drafted into this fight the day I was born I am America every step I take is for a Mount Arbery every breath I breathe is for George Floyd every time I open my eyes is for Breonna Taylor whose murderers are still on the street to this day freer than me every move I make is for every black person senselessly murdered by the police and supremacist whose names I could list on and on some we know a lot more we don't I see the police fighting us the disgusting monstrous president telling them to shoot us let me be clear if you are not with me when I say black lives matter you are against me I see them I see them and I see our country and this is not America they are not America this is not America I am America this is not America we are America we are America and we will not be silenced many generations before us have fought this fight they are tired and they prayed for a better day it's our turn now their eyes are watching God my eyes are watching you no justice no justice what does this mean sometimes I'm afraid that the chant is loosely sorry sometimes I'm afraid that the chant is used loosely without careful consideration for what it actually means why are you here we just hinted no justice no peace but didn't we show up for a peaceful protest has there been justice who is this protest supposed to be peaceful for peace means freedom from disturbance tranquility or a state or period in which there is no war or war has ended as far as I can tell I am so profoundly disturbed I certainly do not for your tranquil and there's a war against our bodies our souls and our minds I ask you again why are you here I had a really difficult time trying to figure out what to say and who to say it to today in fact I prepared three different statements for today and none of them felt quite right I asked one of my wise friends for some guidance and she helped me to realize that all my statements centered white people I began to explore how my message would change if I shifted them out of my focus so black for monitors this is what I want to share with you today growing up here we are constantly force-fed images of whiteness in ways in which we are told to exist in relation to them just as we call on white people to deconstruct their whiteness we must also do the work to examine who we are as people outside the white gaze and outside the context of racism what are some false narratives that we've internalized and continue to perpetuate one of the messaging one of this is the messaging around peaceful protests a crucial function of a protest or demonstration is to disrupt and oftentimes distorted sense of peace in order to incite radical and revolutionary change therefore a peaceful protest isn't actually a thing and rather just rhetoric that serve to maintain the status quo and comfort of white people nonviolent protesting and community organizing is a very powerful tool for change however as bobby king said if the only alternative to violence is fear then you must fight at the protest in burlington on friday many of you shared that you were living in constant fear so much so that it is incredibly hard for you to even leave your homes myself included so we must fight i'm working to create a group for black for monitors to learn how to protect ourselves in our communities any means necessary my vision too far for the group is to offer self-defense training gun safety and skills training and protocols and systems for emergency response if you are interested if you are interested in being involved in any capacity or donating donating money or resources to the group please find me afterwards and i'll take down your names and numbers and i have um a jaysbald wincoat that i'd like you all to consider when the israelis pick up guns or the poles or the irish or any white man in the world says give me liberty or give me death the entire white world applauds when black people say the same exact thing word for word we are judged a criminal and treated like we are judged a criminal and treated like one and everything possible is done to make an example of these bad niggers so there won't be any more like them i say give me liberty or give me death and you will not make an example out of me and those who choose to join me thank you my name is britney malik and i am a strong proudly black woman that calls vermont my home i came here today to demand my right to live free happy and without fear for myself and the millions of my bipoc family i came here today to share the voice of langston hughes an incredible black poet and activist whose words are still relevant to this day and they should not be i demand that you listen to these words and reflect on why these words still hold so much weight for us even today let america be america again abridged by langston hughes let america be america again let it be the dream it used to be let it be the pioneer on the plane seeking a home where he himself is free let america be the dream the dreamers dreamed let it be that great strong land of love where never kings canine or tyrant scheme that any man should be crushed by one above oh let my land be a land where liberty is crowned with no false patriotic grief but opportunity is real and life is free equality is in the air we breathe i am the poor white fooled and pushed apart i am the negro bearing slavery slavery scars i am the red man driven from the land i am the immigrant clutching the hope i seek and finding only the same old stupid plan of dog eat dog of mighty crush the weak i am the young man full of hope and strength tangled in that ancient endless chain of profit of power of great gain of grab the land of grab the gold of grab any way of satisfying our needs of take work the men of take their pay of owning everything for one's own greed i am the farmer bondsmen to the soil i am the worker sold to the machine i am the negro servant to you all i am the people humble hungry mean hungry yet today despite the shreen beaten yet today oh pioneers i'm the man who never got ahead the poorest worker bartered throughout the years i'm the man who sailed across the seas in search of what i meant to call my home for i am the one who left dark ireland shores and pollens plains and england's grassy lay and i was torn from black black africa strands to come here to build a homeland of the free the free who said the free not me surely not me the millions on relief today the millions who have nothing for their pay for all the dreams that we've dreamed and all the songs that we've sung and all the hopes that we've held and all the flags that we've hung the millions who have nothing for their pay except for the dream that is almost dead today oh america let america be america again the land that has never been yet and yet must be the land where everyone is free the land that is mine the poor man's the indians the negro me who made america who sweat and blood whose faith in pain whose hands at the foundry whose plow in the rain must bring back our mighty dream again sure call me any ugly name you choose the steel of freedom does not stain from those who lived in leeches from the people's lives we must take our land back oh yes i say a plane america was never america to me and yet i swear this oath america will be out of the rake in ruin of our gangster deaths the rape and rot of graft and stealth and lies we the people must redeem the land the mines the plants the rivers the mountains and the endless plains all all of it the stretch of these great green states and make america again thank you so let me introduce myself i am even i am scared of a lot of things and this is one of them i am worried what might happen to me and i don't want to be i want to be free i want to live jewels um i'm gonna read a poem to you that i wrote in high school my freshman year that was five or six years ago um it's called the skin i live in the skin i live in is mine it's nothing it's not something you can claim as yours it's not something for sale not something to fight over the skin i live in is black not as dark as my brothers and sisters in jamaica nigeria africa or anywhere in the world it's not as dark as the night sky that my ancestors crawled under in order to be free the skin i live in is mysterious be witching tough something to be proud of the skin i live in is a mixture of peace a mixture of love rebellion and history the skin i live in is tough as tough as rosa parks as smart as mok as strong as frances harper all mixed into one being the skin i live in is beautiful a solid cream proof of the past a library filled with its own history a history of people with the same skin as me it's not something you can claim as yours it's not something for sale it's my own layer of strength my own layer of power my own layer of skin the colored skin that i live in thank you hi my name is rachel embaye i'm a senior at south berlington high school and i'm gonna read a poem that i wrote in 2016 after the murders of alton sterling and philando castiel um but it's still relevant today every day i see on my tv a white police officer kills another man who looks like me and every day i ask myself why what did we ever do to you to make you kill us out of the blue if anything we should be harming you but instead we work to forgive you even after all the pain and suffering you've put us through are you scared of us and what we've accomplished are you intimidated by our looks or is it because you think we don't belong because your views of american haven't moved along if you take away the color it's all just life stereotypes aren't real all these lives we've lost to you are starting to make us feel feel like our lives aren't a whole three-fifths of a person at most like our lives mean nothing so all we can do is sell CDs up and down the coast but who are you to know what the future holds maybe one of us will take part in creating world peace now we'll never know because you pulled the trigger then released so officers i'm not begging not pleading not screaming not crying i'm simply telling you that what you've done is a crime and you're hurting families though you may think you're saving them but really all you've done is murder a couple hundred who will never smile again so officers move on and society do it as well because being black is not a crime though we all grow up with that in our minds no one stops to take the time to realize that underneath my skin i'm just like you i have a heart i have a brain our organs are all the same but all you think i am is black and all you think with black is you see all you listen to our stereotypes yes officer i will put my hands up and yes officer i see your gun and yes officer i have a gun but no officer i'm not going to hurt you no officer i'm just selling CDs i'm just driving with my girlfriend and child i'm just going to my apartment i'm just making eye contact no officer i'm just living my life the life i was given the life i have a right to the life you can't just take away but you can't because the life i was given doesn't matter to you the life i have a right to can be taken away by you but who are you to take it away and why should i die because i'm black but what is that why is black bad why is black to be afraid of why is white the only race the only people who deserve to be free the only people who shouldn't die for selling CDs for driving with your girlfriend and child for going to your own apartment for making eye contact for wearing a hoodie and why why shouldn't they be charged for taking away the life of a man of color for taking away the life of a woman of color why shouldn't they be charged for actually committing a crime for doing what they said we did yes they have to live with what they've done but at least they get to live unlike the hundreds of innocent blacks who've died died at the hands of the officers died because trained officers felt unsafe but isn't it your job to save us us the innocent us the citizens of the united states not us the white when duty comes to call protect us all because we all deserve life thank you and perform this poem on these very steps two years ago and nothing has changed and i just want to know when is change going to be here before i can put this poem away and never read it again this is when a black boy meets the sun when a black boy meets the sun when his lungs taste the air for the first time when his fingers curl around his mother's when he first looks at you with those big round eyes when he is cute as hell when he can be spotted on instagram with angelina jolly whenever a single woman wants him in her arms when he's still wanted when he's still clueless you see when a black boy meets the sun the same son responsible for his chocolate skin his nappy hair the fearful eyes that watch him the unreported harassment that follows him the same son that taught him to take every punch beaming a black boy who radiates sunshine even in his blackest moments a black boy always smiles you see well a black boy still gets to be a boy his mama will tell him to never stop smiling not even when he meets the boogie man in his closet she will say listen to me don't you ever stop smiling i never want to see you frown not even when you see the boogie man the man in blue i don't want to see you frowning in your casket you will leave this world with a smile on your face don't you dare cry you best put a tie in your pocket because you never know when you're going needed never know when you're going to have to meet the sun because when a black boy meets the sun it's the most important day of his life the same son that gave this black boy everything the pigment in his cheeks the beauty stitched into his skin gave him his smiles gave him the ability to teach those who aren't informed gave him a voice so he can tell them tell them black is beauty black is magic black isn't something to run from because you can't run from the sun and this black boy knows it even when he is still clueless when he is still wanted when he still gets to be a boy before his innocence is stolen from him before he is mislabeled due to the streets that erase him before he is a threat before he unarmed is more dangerous than a white man with a semi-automatic when he's still young and gets a warning shot when he still gets to live long enough to meet a jury when he still gets the luxury of being questioned before the execution you see when a black boy meets the boogeyman the man dressed exactly how his mama said he would be covered in blue with a star on his chest gun drawn aiming for him trigger already pulled sending this black boy to go meet his son he won't be remembered as a black boy but a nameless man a danger a threat he'll be able to answer no questions but at least his mama will see him smiling at least he'll look nice when he meets the sun just please remember this black boy had a name tamir rice michael brown mcquan mcdonald amid arbor george floyd time will not swallow our black boys we can't let it hello my name is damien garcia i'm 14 years old and i go to cross the book middle school we're all here today to remember the lives of brianna taylor george floyd and the hundreds others who are killed by the police i might not be attacked by the police stopped on the street when i'm trying to go to school drive around go to my home but i still face racism every day teachers in my class have to be have to be pulled out of the room have to get a different teacher teachers have to be banned from my classroom because they treat me differently because of the color of my skin i had to quit the boy scouts because every time i got angry because a white kid put a white supremacist symbol on its flag they tell me to quiet down calm down don't raise your voice yet they're allowed to tell me to pick cotton to fill their pillows fill their coats and that's allowed is that fair is that just it is our job as american citizens to make sure we all have rights we are protected by the first amendment we have rights we have to stand up for them i want to talk to all the young people out here and the people who aren't here and tell you you don't have to be here just because your friends are here you don't have to be here because you'll get brownie points for going to a black lives matter rally you have to be here because your friends your fellow peers are being treated differently than you because of the color of their skin and i want to tell the parents of those kids who aren't here tonight it doesn't matter oh not tonight you know what i meant it doesn't matter what you think might happen it matters what is happening right now let your kids come to these rallies let your kids know what is wrong teach your kids about racism teach your kids about bias we need to know i just want to say thank you to everybody for coming out here and supporting black lives matter supporting brianna taylor george floyd acting up against white supremacy i just want to say one more thing i want you to recognize your privilege even the black people here we are fortunate to live where we live we are fortunate not to be stopped in the streets and killed remember your privilege it's ashley leport and this is my sister jessica we did not plan to say anything today but looking around at all of the black faces in the crowd growing up as a black firm we're starting to find our voice here and we wanted to share that today the last speaker i didn't catch his name reminds me of what it was like for us growing up in stover mont as some of the only two black kids there in many ways we were surrounded by love by the love of our very white family and by the love of our community but every day we faced microaggressions and racism that beat us down and i'm ashamed to say this but it beat me to want to assimilate it made me straighten my hair and it made me wear the right clothes it made me try to go to the right schools and get the right degree it made me try to go to the right school and get the right job and i did that because i thought that maybe when i came to back to vermont 10 years later that i would be different i'd be seen as different i wouldn't be the poor black kid in our town anymore but i'd have power simply because i had a title and because i wore the right things and i made the right money and i'm here to tell you that that's not the case nothing has changed my sister moved back here two and a half months ago after living five years in Haiti and the things i had to tell her to prepare for were heartbreaking and as she waits for more than a year or more for her husband to be allowed to join her in this country we struggle every day and we're exhausted i want to speak specifically to the young black girls in the crowd i see you i genuinely see you i'm so thankful that you're showing up for yourself and you're speaking for yourself it's taken me 32 years to find my voice you are beautiful and even though every single day this state will tell you that you don't belong here and that we have to be quiet and that you need to take it when the police scare you in the streets and white people give you looks you do not have to take it and every time you think it's going to be easier to stay quiet and to wear the right thing and to get the right degree i can tell you 30 years later it won't matter so as much as it's hard every day try to find it within yourself to have strength and as much as you think that your white friends are here for you and they are desperately trying find black people and you need to lift black people up they will tell you that it's not okay to look for the black people in the hiring pool at your company they will tell you that it's not okay to look for black faces in the crowd and pull them up to the front but we have to do it for each other because nobody else is out there looking for us thank you to all the white people who have shown up today on the one hand i'm incredibly inspired by seeing how many people are here and honestly on the other hand i'm incredibly disappointed i came here for the women's march when trump was first elected 89 was shut down there were people backed in the streets you could not move and i recognize that we are in a pandemic but i also recognize that black lives only matter when it's in popular television when it's part of the conversation go back to your small towns this week ask your friends ask your neighbor ask your elected officials ask your policemen where were you where are you because well we can look around and be proud of the people who've shown up this is not big enough it's not loud enough i recognize that we've been up here for a minute but i would like to invite this crowd into an exercise um and to start i want to say that anyone who identifies as black or as a person of color to please not participate um we're here because of two very public police killings in a lot of ways though i recognize that in vermont we have a lot of work to do as well um but we all know that george floyd died on his stomach and for anyone in this crowd who is able bodied and white i invite you to take that posture please lay down on your stomachs and if white women you want to lay down on your backs because brianna taylor was killed while she was sleeping in her home please do and then i kind of i just want to ask all the people of color to come forward if you feel like it i can see you now to use that term and encourage you to accept that title and i'm asking you to take this posture and i'm not asking my black brothers and sisters and non-binary folk to take this position because we have all week in this month in our lives imagine what it would be like to be killed by the police or by white supremacists while we're trying to go for a job i grew up in this state and there is an incredible privilege of being here that we have clean air in so many parts of the state we're not perfect but that contributes to my health today and right now our country is protesting police brutality and violent deaths but black and brown bodies have been dying disproportionately from coronavirus from the moment it showed up where were the protests when they were dying by the thousands across this country reports from cities like detroit alone thousands i bet it's uncomfortable to be in these postures i kind of hope some of you are in a puddle because police officers do not stop to make sure things are nice when they are kneeling on black men's necks i want to thank everyone who has spoken here and i know there are others that want to speak to and i actually want to give the mic over before i welcome people to exit from these postures but i do have to say as somebody who grew up in this state the thing that broke my heart is seeing two children so painfully aware of their place in this world loving to applaud the two young boys that came up here but that is fucked up it's really messed up they should not have to be acutely aware of this reality but it's this it's a society that we have chosen to build and chosen to prop up and we need to reckon with that thank you my name is arantha tulani ferro and i grew up in vermont that was probably the most traumatic thing that ever happened to me and i could sit here for hours and talk to you about that trauma my father was deported because of cannabis and because of racial profiling so me and my brother grew up without our black cultural reference in a white household in a white state i right now want to take this moment to um to just reiterate the importance of supporting black-owned business right now amongst us there are many poc people who have direct avenues that you in person in the flesh can support i have big dreams of being able to go and be with my father in africa and i have big dreams of being able to bring stolen africans back to that land we need to support black uh business owners i have worked my ass off to become one of very few i imagine uh poc landowners in the state of vermont people are welcome i am setting up sanctuary indigenous and poc first and everyone else after i am asked i am also going to start saving stolen african animals that are being hoarded up in the corners of vermont by white people my company is named caledonia cannabis and again remember that there are people in the crowd right now that you can support and give reparations to for the trauma that is existing in a white dominated place right now we need to take money from the hands of people who have it and who are clearly not being responsible with it and we need to redistribute that wealth into the hands of people who will bless us also george floyd was a black man but he was also a civilian i'm gonna ask everybody if they could actually stand back up please and thank you thank you very much i know that sucked huh big man right here come here i need you real quick absolutely damien i need you to stand like right here actually thank you if you guys do not get loud for damien get loud for damien you guys damien i'm gonna have you stand right here um listen uh okay so i don't have much to say as you guys can see i don't have any paper in my hand um i've actually been catching paper flying across that way but other than that i have nothing i'm speaking from the heart right now and that is something that is so hard to do in somehow some way damien how old are you he's 14 and he's able to do it like it's absolutely nothing the reason i have damien standing next to me is because i'm a black man that grew up in the state of vermont i was adopted at the age of three i came from baton rouge louisiana my parents had no clue what it would be like to adopt a black individual and bring them to a state that does not accept black individuals the idea that damien is not only growing up and he's socially aware but the idea that damien is growing up and he's actually brave enough to call the bullshit out is absolutely amazing what i am not going to do is stand up here and not acknowledge the fact that everybody here everybody that created this everybody that created this not only are you brave not only do you commit to your culture not only do you commit to people but what i appreciate the most is you commit to being excellent black people every single day and i appreciate that that's basically it however one more time for damien because what he did was changed everyone's lives here what he did with his words changed everybody's life thank you buddy so i'm gonna keep this short and quick uh damien kind of hit on this and the two sisters that talked before did too uh i just want to know who is actually here for the cause and who isn't i don't want people who are here for the clown because it's the cool thing to do because on may 24th before george floy was killed were you guys ready to stand up and protest for us then because think about this every day me and my brothers and sisters we wake up and didn't fight this battle every single day we deal with this every day we have to watch this shit on tv social medias here everybody all day we're in a state where we are very outnumbered look at this pro this is a protest for black keys and this is about the only black we have here this is all we had to support each other so i don't if you're here for the cloud please we don't want you here when you go home tonight think about that because we deal with this every day so if you're not here to fight this every day because when this is over with when george floyd is over with and it's not the cool thing to do where are you guys going to be are you going to go back to your normal lives are you guys going to be out here protesting with us still because this doesn't end with a charge or a conviction because we got a charge or a conviction in chicago with van dyke who only ended up getting six and a half years and got out in three years is that justice not at all he took a child from his parents and did he's out walking on the streets in three years so it does not end with a conviction so when this is all over with i'm hoping to see all of your faces still out here protesting and back in our lives because black lives do matter raised by a white single mother um and she god knows she did the best that she can god bless her i love her so much it has been so hard to grow up in this state without a black role model um and so it has taken a lot of processing and i would like to read you a poem that i wrote it's two part first one i wrote a couple years ago and then the second part i wrote just recently two white two bright lights drive my darkness ahead of me niggling thoughts are verified and brought to breath as the distance between us short ends and i feel damned he slows to a full stop and there's no sign five foot five and i'm exposed by street lights headlights all of the lights are bearing all of me it's that naked feeling the ring of my weight my rape whistle is shoved too far up my fuck you finger and i hold my breath faded breaths waiting breaths breathe was the americone dream worth this loose sweatpants white band of my walmart panties illuminated oh god what have i done this is provocation this is my fault shame on me i am told this and i am told this is my fault i am told i am who i am it is just who we are and it is our fault and our fault alone tell me that i asked for this my flannel more buttons done un than done peels and exposes how distress has undressed me my golden shoulder and a slice of blue lace and the skin below my collarbone is a confession bared for all my irish is showing but my trinidadanian and syrupy and show more my exotics corrupt me my existence implicates me i know what he wants he wants control for me to concede my guilt to and to cling to fear as though i should be grateful at all for the light that he's brought to fuel it i feel oppressive eyes that dance and scan sinister and red hot on my innocent skin i feel familiar fractions of a face seat from just minutes ago protected still by privileged glass tainted with exemption taking me in reading my demeanor my worth it is null and my life is void we both wonder will i be a threat will i fight for myself for who i am and for who we are for all we've lost and never had and when did take no shit or run from my fucking life become my sole options soul concerning my soul concern burning me as i breathe because i breathe simply because i am and the longer i breathe the more i feel like i can't i don't remember the walk across the red carpet concrete with all lights bearing all of me is this enough of me for him always keep in mind don't stumble he might think you're intoxicated don't let your black eyes linger or move too fast don't walk so fast you're moving too fast but don't slow down so obviously because you're being too obvious don't adjust your purse strap like that you're being suspicious look straight ahead and don't look down fuck my potential is showing that is unacceptable you have to hide that do not incite do not look like a menace do not look like a threat don't look angry don't look scared don't look weak don't look capable don't look fierce don't look like anything that you are i aim my chin to follow my worth an aura of fear and fake confidence while a city in oral form coats my tongue thick and licking my amygdala itching to be spat out on the concrete they want to splay it on go ahead bathe me in your noble blue part two so prefix i'm a teacher now i'm a teacher for the state of ramon and so the the second title of the second part is a poem to check my own privilege black kids need black role models to follow and discuss what we're shown we should be as unjust our image is scarred and encrusted and mistrust god forbid we adjust our stance because we probably have a weapon to thrust we're mocked for making a fuss but we're slaughtered and surplus forgive me if i cast but you won't let us breathe and thus kids need to see themselves accurately reflected in us they need to make connections of joy and success and have the knowledge that we don't have to be oppressed or take things in jest yes we've progressed but we still live our lives in a state of constant distress still detested arrested for non-aggression forced into confession but every time i address this i silently question am i on a self-righteous quest to change perception by being the exception nonetheless is my complexion even black enough to be a part of an accurate reflection the protection of the white misdirection in the curriculum section occurs with the school with the selection of school teachers whose features are akin to the textbooks reach and who can accurately recite the right speech and teach an array of nationally approved attitudes all the while alluding what they what they call racial feuds conveniently excluding all the times we were inhumanly pursued repeatedly screwed and viciously devalued and any hardly and hardly any mention of our resilience and fortitude we get represented as having lesser aptitude bigger attitude or just in need just grateful to have been freed from servitude but who will teach if no one was taught i didn't grow up with people of color around no brown people to look up to and admire the situation was so dire it's not profound that i thought my dad was every six foot bald black man i found no honey that's not your father was my mother's response when i'd inquire but what bothers me is what transpired the first time i was in a room with only black people gathered i was lathered in love and grace i was a teen embraced in my dad's family space yet not enough to erase the feeling of being misplaced not having a sense of space i felt as though i had slathered on blackface and quietly snuck into the place and tried to pretend i was the same race should i even have these dreadlocks myself doubt is built by teachers who preach to my peers with subconscious fear their well meaning donation to the creation of the black narration is seated and their need to feel freed from their ancestral guilt and now that's built into their professions and adapted the lessons quilting my education and their and their quest to fulfill personal reparation and steer their conscious into the clear without a waiting direction or truly hearing our pleas making us feel crazy wondering if life is just a fever dream and we demand too much when we ask for equality but see they failed to interfere and frankly they were too insincere because i was 13 when lacy braced braced me against the hall braced me against the locker down the hall and shocker she called me a dirty nigger does my pale non-male privilege present a softer edge against which to compare because my darker sisters and brothers aren't safe anywhere from the stairs and the glares the hateful adrenaline of fatal blue bullets polluting their air i was pushed into a locker once but with a furrowed brow ben and jerry's in a bottle of wine at 1209 are the cops really inclined to transform me into a white outline or am i just a soup a am i just assigning a trauma that isn't mine why am i up here who who decided i was qualified for this i feel like an imposter obnoxiously bathing in my exotic light skin privilege wondering if my voice is like too whiny and white as i stand here well communities are pillaged to make room for the white image demoting genocide to scrimmage this is genocide and who am i to think that i'm black enough to talk about this yeah i've had it tough but i've never felt handcuffs or been handled rough or accused of falsehood or bluff when look at me they know this is only a phone life in vermont is all i've ever known and i'm still prone to throw stones in my own home i've done things that i don't condone but the seeds are still sown by the pale tone of everyone's face do i worry too much about race do i have valuable insight do i even belong to this fight is my skin dark enough to be part of this space how can i ever learn to be to embrace my sense of self that i've misplaced when i was never given a space how can i stand here if that's the case and complain that racism isn't as bad for me a pale face want to be how can i say this when my darker brothers and sisters are being slaughtered how can i claim a burden on my psyche these doubts of identity and self are deeply rooted in the foundation of who i am every time they arise i'm reminded of myself because i never saw myself on that shelf of possibility i am now what i never had then and when i look in the mirror i say again and again i am not perfection but i have affection for my complexion black brothers and sisters i would like you to repeat after me i am not perfection but i have affection for my complexion i am not perfection but i have affection for my complexion we can now be a reflection for other lost girls who hate their curls with skin the color of a latte and button noses with freckles and complicated hair regimens who hear again and again i'm darker than you from their white friends who really just mean well in the end but we do not want to hear that who talk like super white but still can't pretend to blend or fit the trends we can't sing or dance or ball and if that's our value what then and for as long as we can recall our names have been relentlessly mispronounced every fall who hold bitter rust from the from the brine of biting their tongues who have only just begun to exist they just want to be young but can't because they don't fit the creed and they've never seen someone who looks like them succeed a cycle of the self-preservation kind dines on the demolished dreams of suppressed minds and any success is expressed as anxious rigidity and impulse to think about the about the robberous of fraud and validity i see now in my students features i never saw in my teachers i'ma give us a round of applause because we are now what no one was thank you arch i would like to introduce rajini eddons to come up here he's a spoken word poet and a musical artist who's very popular in vermont thank you lynching is not dead it's done in broad daylight under the hot lights of media frenzy for black blood white guilt white fear and white acquittal where brown boys are still expendable michael vick should have had zimmerman's lawyer brown boys are worth less than black dogs trevon should have been a brown lab maybe then we'd see more of a humane society's presence if poems could march in the streets overturn verdicts bring corrupt police the justice if they could bring a boy back his life and a mother back her son a father back his boy return bullets to a gun unloose the lynch rope and unravel the knots from choke throats we would not be choking on tears window our lives become valuable in the eyes of the law windows haste cease to be exonerated behind a badge and lighter skin and god forbid you wear a hoodie in the rain we're having black skin with skittles in your pocket you can taste the rainbow but you can't taste freedom you can taste your own blood but you can't taste the rainbow diversity is white people's code word for niggers you can taste the rainbow but not if you're too dark the rainbow may come during the storm if you're too dark on a block in a hoodie and the skittles fall from your pocket you never taste the rainbow your killer has the right to stand his ground he may shoot you in the heart and america may relive it in sordid detail she is only reliving her nightmares she dreams nightmares often open cascus ashes weighted limbs no coffins two his name is george floyd say it amad arbery brianna taylor chevon marten rene davis khalif broder kory jones freddy gray delron small taren sterling taren's crutchard d wiggum keitha munt scott darin seals afro longo deandre joshua philando castile alton sterling corin gains oscar grant mckinsey cochran jordan baker the charlston nine andy lopez kimani gray timothy stanbury shon bell santa blaine natasha mckina joys cornell ralkina jones samuel de post alicia thomas charika wilson choy good geovah mcday benzel heptin erin cambell alonzo ashley rinnell lewis winnell allen tyree woodson errick garner john carford ezel ford keitha dow now michael brown jordan davis akai girly ramain brisbone darian hut kajin pal tamir rice usman zongo manual logins kindrick mcday maria galdinez evet smith matthew paulo amru diallo his name he has a name his name is i can't breathe his name is emetil his name his name his name you must remember his name james bird jr he may whisper in the wind you may hear it in your skin his name is guilty in his innocence fetum fighter martyre troublemaker his name michael max martin the king he has a name his name is black boy black listed blackboard his name is black power black babies in the black market for green cash stolen life tied to a tree burnt up the stake his name probable cause the negro problem chalk outline white man's fear his name ear for souvenir his name black nigger boy fred hampton huy p newton mega evers his name saves lives mobilizes movements his name is watch for a black messiah bullet to the heart boy and jaws of wolf white girl called rape whistle too free head too high his name looked me in my eye his name must die gangster thug men is stereotype his name is dressed like demon his name is taken to the iron bridge on main street his name his name's legs are pulling till its neck cracks stabbed hung shot burned ravaged by relic hunters his name is mistaken identity scots bro boys to ski experiments david walker living breathing black manhood heathen pagan no salvation his name is you free nigga to get over it cool to kente stolen african strange fruit stranger in a strange land in danger of deranged hands enemy of the state genetic the center asphalt art bloody memory collateral damage white man's burden that happened so long ago chain gang wage slave chattel on the rack in the irons on the run wanted his name is art through the cans that felt more thistle's than cotton his name is put your hands up spread them stop bra shoot his name is bang 41 shots assassin's accour angela davis breakfast program black pet the party for self-defense his name is his name is he has a name his name is beaten severely urinated on chain brother ankles his name is dragged for three miles and decapitated 81 places have the remains his name is missing an arm his name is crackhead war on drugs war on poverty scapegoat sacrificial lamb his name is kicked carcass convict criminal thief drug dealer victim still a child his name would never breathe again his name as a mother his name is expendable sundown laws jim crow cars jim crow bars his name is racial profiling in court just call him profiling because this is not about race his name is marcus garvey frederick douglas ida b wells no rights a white man is bound to respect his name has a title when he dies his name is mr martin wearer of the black hoodie walker of the home path wrong place wrong time wrong skin wrong crime his name is holder of the skittles his name his mother knows his name her tears spell it in big bold letters down her cheeks his name is gone too soon his name is darky spook jigaboo sambo his name is different too difficult to be pronounced by thin lips with fork tongues his name dies without justice missing lost bottom of the ocean triangle trade of littered bones his name is sunshine star fruit young gifted and black but you can call him nigger his name he has a name his name is the sun is rising his name is waker i know his name because his name is mine so now we're gonna take the streets and march um there's a banner that says honor black live so everybody has to line up behind the banner it's if you turn around they're holding it up and showing you um and jojo is going to sing us off into the streets by a song in the movie harry it's called stand up with my face turned to the sun laid on my shoulder is in the back of my