This speaker is sharing during the 3rd protest march on Beacon that happened on June 6, 2020. The march started at Pohill Park, wound all the way down Wolcott, taking a right toward the river, over the bridge above the train track, and ending at the land stage at Pete and Toshi Seeger Riverfront Park.

To bring this story out of the video and into words for more to access, A Little Beacon Blog has transcribed this story as best we can, as close to the spoken word as possible. To give you context, we indicate where different actions took place, like applause or movement. We highly encourage you to watch this spoken in the video, so that you can feel the moment and the words and remember it forever as it helps you make future decisions. You can listen and watch this story in our Instagram here.

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BEGIN

Hello Beacon! Hey Beacon!

First of all, I want to give honor to my ancestors, for walking with us today. Yes.

“My white brothers and sisters, and yes, I’m using the words “brothers and sisters.” The reason why is because I need us to tear down these walls of separation that have been built in this country for almost 500 years that causes you to look at me as “less than.” That causes me to look at you and be afraid. ”

Secondly, I want to thank you for all for coming out and standing for this cause. This is something that is near and dear to my heart. Not just because I’m a Black woman in America, not just because I’m a Black mother in America, but for four of my five children you see standing right here today.

And thank you to my sister who just spoke, thank you for sharing some - you said it so eloquently, so beautifully. But I want to say something else, too. My white brothers and sisters, and yes, I’m using the words “brothers and sisters.” The reason why is because I need us to tear down these walls of separation that have been built in this country for almost 500 years that causes you to look at me as “less than.” That causes me to look at you and be afraid.

Because believe it or not, as a black woman in this country, when I walk down the street, I see a group of white people, sorry, but I feel scared. You know why I’m scared? Because I know that SOME, not ALL, SOME white people don’t see me as the human being, as the beautiful person I am. It doesn’t matter how many degrees I have, it doesn’t matter how many businesses I’ve started, it doesn’t matter how many people I have helped, it doesn’t matter the character and the depth of my heart and my soul. Some people literally cannot get past this skin suit that I am wearing. And their head is filed with biases that have been passed down, taught and caught. Right? Because we have biases that are caught by people.

“Posting up black squares on Instagram and Facebook? Okay, that’s cute. That’s good, that’s cute. That’s cute. But have you addressed your family members that make racist jokes? You might have the uncomfortable laughter but do you address them? Do you tell them “Not on my watch?””

Your parents may not tell you, “Oh, she’s Black, she’s less than.” “He’s Black. Be scared of him.” But their actions show it, and we catch it. And Imma challenge you today, my brothers and my sisters, to let go of any of those biases that you may have caught. And don’t be afraid to admit it! It’s absolutely okay, because you grew up in this country, to hold up a mirror, and I mean that hypothetically speaking, to hold up a mirror, and to get uncomfortable, and to inconvenience yourself and say “You know what? I have privilege.”

And you know why it’s okay to say that? Because once you address and uncover and acknowledge what is really there? That’s the only time you can change it. And your having privilege doesn’t make you less than of a human being, right? Your privilege doesn’t make you less than. What is the issue, is when you have that privilege and you’re so comfortable in it, that you’re fine with superficial signs of support rather than taking the action.

Posting up black squares on Instagram and Facebook? Okay, that’s cute. That’s good, that’s cute. That’s cute. But have you addressed your family members that make racist jokes? You might have the uncomfortable laughter but do you address them? Do you tell them “Not on my watch?” Do you tell them it’s not funny? Do you educate them on the true history of this country?

And if you have not done that, this is the time to start, now. And it’s not just about you holding a sign “it stops with the cops.” Right? That’s only concerning police brutality. But it also stops in your homes. It stops in the schools. Because a racist is a racist no matter what uniform they’re wearing.

So I wanna leave you with this, because yes, Black lives matter. And I had some conversations this week. They don’t like to hear “Black Lives Matter.” They wanna say all lives matter. But if all lives matter, then it shouldn’t be a problem with you saying what?

(Crowd: BLACK LIVES MATTER!)

“I don’t wanna be scared when my children are 16, 17, 18. And I don’t have the joy that you might share in buying my children their first car because I’m scared they’re not gonna come home. Not from car accidents. I’m scared they’re not gonna come home cause someone won’t see them as a human being driving a vehicle.”

Exactly. So I just wanna challenge everyone here, again, if you don’t look like me, thank you for your love, thank you for your support. But I wanna let you know, how you can support us is by getting uncomfortable, inconveniencing yourself, taking the lid off the white washed Eurocentric history that’s taught in this country and get to the truth. Because the truth, indeed, will not only set you free. The truth, indeed, I’m sorry, it makes me angry, but with that anger comes action, with action, comes change. (applause)

I don’t wanna be scared when my children are 16, 17, 18. And I don’t have the joy that you might share in buying my children their first car because I’m scared they’re not gonna come home. Not from car accidents. I’m scared they’re not gonna come home cause someone won’t see them as a human being driving a vehicle. So that’s the change that I’m looking for. It starts in our schools. It starts in our homes. It starts with your neighbors. It starts with your family. So stand up, stand tall, get uncomfortable, get inconvenienced, but again, anger from the truth brings action, and action brings? (Crowd CHANGE!).

Action brings? (Crowd CHANGE!)

Don’t let it stop here, y’all.

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BEGIN
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If I go down, we both go down.

(Applause)

And I just want that to be heard here in my home town. Because I know that we are a beautiful and diverse community here. And I know when I walk down these streets I could look people in the eye and that is a privilege I have here, in this town, in Beacon. And it’s not a privilege that many other towns, not even in the Hudson Valley, get to share. And I know this only because I’ve lived in other places in the Hudson valley. I’ve lived in Poughkeepsie. I’ve lived in Newburgh. I now live in Ulster County, and it’s not the same, y’all. It is not.

And I just also…I want to speak towards the traumatization that we feel right now in this moment, the universal feelings that we’re all struggling with. And those feelings are really important to try to understand why. Even as a colored person, or Black person, or an indigenous person, or a white person. Why do I feel…”answer the blank.” Why do I feel sad? Why do I feel ashamed? Why do I feel guilt? Why do I feel anger? And we need to find a better way to challenge those feelings to talk to one another. Because I also realize that even as a brown person, I’m fucking angry. But that does not give me the right to scream at somebody else who’s trying to be a part of this movement who might not share my skin.

I also lastly want to speak to white people. I’m in an interracial relationship. I know how tough it is. I know it’s tough when you don’t know what to do. I’ve heard it. I know it’s tough when you didn’t put those thoughts in (her/your) head. I know it’s tough walking into someplace unfamiliar and you have no idea what you’re doing. But you go towards it because you know it’s probably the right thing, because it’s what your friends told you to do and you just want to show up.

“You do not look at the faces of our beautiful black men and women. You do not recognize them as a whole society. So when you’re walking down the street, instead of thinking, “let me avoid this person’s face,” why not humanize them? Look them in the eye. You’ll realize that sometimes you might get a smile. Sometimes you might get a “hey, hello.” ”

But I want to speak towards the feeling of not looking us in the eye, because even in the Hudson Valley, New York City, wherever you go - I’ve experienced this a lot in Poughkeepsie and Newburgh. You do NOT look at the faces of our beautiful black men and women. You do not recognize them as a whole society. So when you’re walking down the street, instead of thinking, “let me avoid this person’s face,” why not humanize them? Look them in the eye. You’ll realize that sometimes you might get a smile. Sometimes you might get a “hey, hello.”

Black people are not criminals. So stop avoiding their faces, their emotions, their eyes when they walk past you. They’re not there to jump you, to be a criminal towards you, to harass you. None of that. I’m not taking that no more.

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