There’s more work to be done — much more.
Like many places across the U.S., the North Shore has seen several demonstrations against racial violence and police brutality over the last week, and organizers want the public to know that the loud call for true racial equality will continue.
The nationwide — and global — demonstrations against racial violence and police brutality have been sparked by the killing of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis Police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes on May 25. That incident was caught on camera by onlookers who pleaded with the officer, Derek Chauvin, to take his knee off Floyd’s neck while Floyd pleaded, “I can’t breathe.” Chauvin has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
A large rally in Swampscott on Tuesday, during which Police Chief Ron Madigan and Fire Chief Graham Archer knelt alongside protesters, will not be the end of organizers’ actions there and elsewhere.
“If we’re not going to other communities, we’re not doing as much as we can, and that’s really important,” said Toyah Pass, an organizer of the Swampscott rally.
Select Board Chair Peter Spellios said the rally on Tuesday represented “the town I want to live in,” and the Select Board subsequently signed a letter condemning racism, the killing of Floyd, and calling for police departments and government
officials at all levels to fight against racism.
Madigan said he was “really glad to be a part of” the demonstration and he was “impressed” by the demonstrators. Madigan said the Swampscott Police Department has received training on racial profiling.
“I’ve been in the police force for more than 40 years now and I’ve seen lots of changes. I’m really proud of our police force,” Madigan said.
“Having said that, I’m really listening to what people are saying and looking for ways to improve on what we do,” he said. “It’s an ongoing process, but I’m listening, and I’m thinking we could do more outreach in the schools … there are more ways we can improve understanding, and improve trust and confidence.”
Swampscott students, including Mary Alice Brennan and Mary Kate Donovan, helped organize the demonstration and said they want to see further action by Swampscott residents, and Donovan suggested a “march” be held in the future in town.
Swampscott residents are already answering the call to action. Ellen Levine, 63, is a white woman who has ordered 90 “Black Lives Matter” signs from www.signsofjustice.com, and once they arrive, she and her neighbors will be putting them out on their lawns.
Levine said she was raised in a politically active family, and protested against the Vietnam War in Washington, D.C. at age 11. When she first heard about Floyd’s murder and related demonstrations, she didn’t know what to do, but after some reflection, having a visual message on Swampscott lawns seemed obvious. Levine said she has spoken with state police in an attempt to get a sign to Gov. Charlie Baker, who lives in Swampscott.
“I want to reach as many people as possible,” she said. “I hope there isn’t any kind of repercussions, like any destroying of the signs, because that would prove to others that there is racism in our community.”
Levine said her peers have argued on Facebook that “all lives matter,” and many have become angry for some reason at the notion of “Black Lives Matter.” She said some of these people may be truly racist, but many others “don’t have the correct perspective and understanding,” and she hopes to educate other whites about racial injustices.
In Lynn, there will be a demonstration Friday at 5 p.m. at Lynn Common. Organizers have been circulating a flyer about the demonstration on Facebook, asking people to “protest peacefully, and speak up!”
Another demonstration will take place in Lynn on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Lynn Police Department headquarters, 300 Washington St. Organizers ask people to wear black and red clothing and face masks.
“We want a show of solidarity from our local police, to reestablish the trust disintegrated from the deplorable behavior of the Minneapolis Police,” the organizers said in a statement.
These demonstrations follow several in Lynn this past week, including on Wednesday, when members of Stop the Violence knelt beside police officers on the front steps of the station, and last Saturday, when a group of protesters gathered and held signs reading, “If you’re not mad, you’re part of the problem,” and “No justice, no peace.”
Lynn Police Chief Michael Mageary said his department is supportive of “people’s right to peacefully protest.” Mageary reiterated his previous statements on the death of Floyd, saying the Police Department understands “the anger and frustration of citizens across the country” surrounding the “unnecessary death” of Floyd, and that the Lynn Police Department shares the “same concerns” about racial violence.
Other Lynn locals, like George Markos at Brothers Deli on Market Street have weighed in on the demonstrations and the need for “equality and justice for all in our community as one human family.
“We have always been a place blessed with people of all races, identities, and circumstances coming together with appreciation, dignity, and respect to make the deli their home away from home,” Markos said. “God bless the victims and families of racial violence. Together, let’s find every way possible to feed each other in trust, make new friendships and have meaningful conversations.”
In Nahant, a vigil in remembrance of Floyd and in recognition of the U.S. problems with racial violence and police brutality was held Thursday night outside Town Hall. Organizer Jim Walsh said the purpose of the event was to “bear witness” to “a problem that has persisted for far too long in our history.”
“No matter your color, your job, your wealth, your language group, your religion, or social position, you cannot get away with murder,” Walsh said.
Walsh said the gathering was limited to people from Nahant, and that, to his dismay, other protests across the country have been “marred by agitators and provocateurs seeking to cause hatefulness and division.”
“We want to gather the good people of our small town and say that, even though we are not a very diverse community — far from it — we are a community that believes in the promise of our country,” Walsh said.
In Peabody, a Thursday rally was postponed after organizers said the demonstration may not have been safe in regards to COVID-19.
Organizers posted on the Peabody Main Streets Facebook page to tell people that they are in the process of “organizing a remembrance event for the life of George Floyd and for the need for racial justice in our country.”
“By postponing the event, we will have the twofold benefit of increasing community participation and promoting a safer space for all to join,” the post reads. “To be clear, the event in Peabody Square this Thursday will be postponed, but we are not done standing up against injustice,”
People interested should check the Peabody Main Streets page for updates on a future demonstration.
In Marblehead, a large demonstration took place on Tuesday, organized by the Marblehead Racial Justice Team. The Rev. Andre Bennett, a youth pastor at Zion Baptist Church in Lynn, who spoke at the vigil, said much more action against racial injustice is needed, and black people in America still face daily struggles that white people do not.
“Everything is hurting in me right now,” Bennett said. “Everything hurts when I’m driving in my community with my child and a police officer pulls right up behind me, everything hurts.”
The Rev. Wendy von Courter, a founding member of the Marblehead Racial Justice Team who helped organize the Marblehead rally, is pastor at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Marblehead, said she would like to see Black Lives Matter banners fly at every church and on every lawn in Marblehead, where “it has been a fight to get people to realize racism exists in that town at all.”
Von Courter said specific demands have been made to local police departments asking they do everything in their power to fight for racial equality, and a letter is being sent to local representatives asking the same.
“I’m a minister of the only church that flies a Black Lives Matter, and it’s been vandalized twice and stolen once,” von Courter said. “The demands need to be met and change needs to happen … We’ve had children on bikes being reported as suspicious and the police come in Marblehead, we’ve had a little girl get the N-word yelled at her, we’ve had people walking to work and the police get called because they think they are suspicious, and we’ve had incidents with racism at the high school.”
There will also be a protest in Salem at 4 p.m. at the police headquarters, 95 Margin St., but specifically regarding an inappropriate “Tweet” sent out by Salem Police Captain Kate Stephens earlier this week. On the department’s official Twitter page, Stephens wrote, “So you issued a permit for 10 of thousands of people to protest but I can’t go to a restaurant? You are ridiculous. You and Too Tall Deval are killing this State,” in reference to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s handling of the demonstrations in Boston.
Stephens has been suspended, but organizers of the event are calling for her dismissal. Earlier this week in Salem, a peaceful protest took place in front of the police station, with demonstrators holding signs with pictures of Floyd’s face and the words, “Justice for Floyd.”
