More than 100 people gathered on Shelburne's town green Friday afternoon to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement and anti-racism.
The event, led by rising Champlain Valley Union High School ninth grader Emma Marden and rising junior Veronica Valliere, brought demonstrators down Route 7 to the Shelburne Community School.
Friday marked Juneteenth, the holiday that commemorates the day in 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas with the news that enslaved people were free — a full two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.
Shelburne Community School was one of six schools in the Champlain Valley School District to raise Black Lives Matter flags Friday after an unanimous school board vote earlier this month to approve the action
More from VPR: Teenagers Of Color Lead The Way At Protest Rallies
While other schools within the district raised flags and held a moment of silence, Marden, who just graduated from Shelburne Community School, saw an opportunity to involve students and the community more broadly through a rally and march. It started at 2 p.m. at the town green and passed through the village to the school.
At first, students, teachers and families gathered, distantly, at the green with signs.
When Valliere and Marden called those present to march, demonstrators moved towards Main Street, where Shelburne's police stopped traffic to allow the growing crowd to pass. There were many school-aged children in the crowd: on foot, on bicycle, on tricycle and scooter
As Marden started leading the crowd, calling, "Black Lives Matter!" a man's voice called out "Keep it going, you're doing great!"
One protester's sign read "Honk If You're An Anti-Racist." Another quoted Martin Luther King Jr., saying, "There Comes A Time When Silence Is Betrayal" and "Take Responsibility. Educate, Speak Up!"
As chanting continued, the crowd rounded the corner, with Marden and Valliere at the front and ahead of a swath of middle school and high school-aged students. The street ahead of them was empty.
At Shelburne Community School, Principal Scott Sivo set a series of students up with a microphone and podium to speak to the crowd. They spoke about their experiences with racial bias and their families' experiences.
Marden thanked her classmates and teachers for being there. "Black lives matter as much as white lives, and as other lives," she said. "And when we say matter, we mean they deserve to be treated equally, fairly and with respect."
She asked her classmates to say something when they see someone around them being treated unfairly. "That means not teasing them - kids who are different, or not bullying them. For adults, it means that all people should be treated fairly under the law."
A second student speaker, Gretta White, took the stand, and called on other White Shelburne residents to be "more than allies."
"We must strive to be anti-racist, and being anti-racist is something to constantly work on. Have those difficult conversations with your family. Realize your biases, have the experience of being uncomfortable, lead and learn," she said. "And remember, it is not a Black person's job to teach you how to not be racist. But when they do want to teach you something, listen."
Student Clare Stackpole-McGrath took the microphone next.
“I shouldn't have to be afraid for my brother, my mother, my friends and my family," she said. "My skin color shouldn't be it's own crime. George Floyd isn't a wake up call. It's been a problem since 1619, and we are far from a solution.”
"I'm tired," Stackpole-McGrath said, "of hearing my mother tell my brother that he can't wear a hood while he's out because people might get 'the wrong idea.' I'm tired of hearing my dad tell me that I have to work four times harder to get my voice heard. I'm tired of hearing another life lost on the news because of their skin color.
"I am scared. I'm scared for my future," Stackpole-McGrath said. "We haven't changed in previous generations, but let's change for our generation and for generations to come."
Valliere read a poem she wrote, and other students spoke about the significance of Juneteenth.
More from VPR: Talking With Kids (And Parents) About Systemic Racism
Friday's event was organized with the support of Yasmin Gordon, co-director of the SCS Planning Room, Shelburne CVSD school board representative Barbra Marden, Emma's mother, Hinesburg School Counselor Vicki Nelson and Jeanne Kaczka-Valliere, Veronica's mother. According to Gordon, all are parents of students of color in the CVSD district.
More from VPR: The Future's In Flux. An Opportunity For More Equity In Vermont
Gordon credited Superintendent Elaine Pinckney and SCS Principal Scott Sivo as well, and teachers at SCS for rallying student involvement.
"It was phenomenal that this was an almost entirely student-led endeavor," Gordon said.
Friday’s crowd listened to more about new district-wide initiatives regarding racial equity, including CVSD's plan to hire its first director of racial equity to help the board review existing polices for implicit and explicit bias, and work with administrators, staff and teachers to do so in school curriculums. Then it was time to raise the Black Lives Matter flag.
Marden and Valliere hoisted it together, to cheers and calls of "Black Lives Matter!"
At the event's conclusion, Marden, 14, and Valliere, 16, said the turnout was "awesome.”
"It felt really empowering to see all these people gather to support for the Black Lives Matter movement," Marden said.
When asked what she hoped protesters would take away, Marden said, "I think what I was looking for was awareness, just to show people – to include people – in how to make change. Really, my hope, is to show people that no matter where you are, and no matter what you do, you can make a difference, and it does have an impact on the world."
