Small and Mighty Acts Altar for Black Lives
Quotes from the Medium Article “Vigil for George Floyd and Black Lives, June 5th 2020 Zoom Broadcast from Boone, NC.
“Ceremony has been and will always be a vehicle for grief during challenging times. I thank you community — in Appalachia and beyond — for joining together to pay respects to the recently deceased. George Floyd, murdered on May 25th, whose death marks the ignition of a world-wide fight for Black Lives; Tony McDade, murdered on May 27th; Breonna Taylor, on what would have been her 27th birthday, murdered on March 13th; Ahmaud Arbery, murdered on February 23rd; and a host of Black lives lost to anti-Black racism. In our time together I hope we can begin to confront the profound sadness that is the loss of a son, a brother, a cousin, a father, a friend. A mother, a sister, a daughter, a mentor, a lover, a colleague, a familiar face, a piece of one’s community. None of the aforementioned were all of these things. But they were each some of these things and it should be acknowledged that any one of these things, lost to anyone, is sorrow.”
“It is likely that no one here on this call today knew George Floyd Personally. It is likely that no one on this call knew Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, or Ahmaud Arbery, personally. What is more likely though, is that you know something about their lived experiences. You are a runner. You go to bed each night, with the expectation that you will sleep and wake in the morning safely in your own home. You go about your business each day, making your way through the familiar spaces of your home city or town with the expectation that you will do much the same, tomorrow.”
If you are Black in America, “tomorrow” is a precarious concept. “Tomorrow” means that you live another day to occupy spaces that were never meant for you. “Tomorrow” means that you have the burden of carrying in your body, generations of trauma born of race-based oppression. “Tomorrow” means that the very breath you draw into your lungs is an affront to the supremacy run rampant in our country and those who uphold it, willfully or unintentionally. “Tomorrow” is not something generously offered to you by the ideals enshrined in our country’s founding documents. “Tomorrow” means you must fight harder than you are fighting today.
Boone Black Lives Matter March. May 31, 2020.
About the Boone Black Lives Matter March
From a Watauga Democrat article, “Hundreds join Black Lives Matter protest in Boone.” by Abby Whitt. May 31. 2020.
“Hundreds marched in a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Boone May 31, holding signs and chanting to protest racism and injustice in the wake of the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The Boone event is one of many protests that have erupted across the country after a video circulated of Floyd being held on the ground by police officers, with Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on his neck for over eight minutes while Floyd repeatedly told officers that he couldn’t breathe, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s office…
The march began at College Street on the Appalachian State University campus and proceeded along King Street to the Watauga County Courthouse.
“We’re all here today because we have witnessed the wrong killing of too many black people. We need to stand up, no matter who you are, against injustice,” said Kyndavee Bichara, one of the events’ organizers, before the march. “So today we’re going to walk King Street in solidarity with all of the African-Americans across the country who are protesting against the killing — the murdering — of black people.”
The organizers, who are students at App State, had a moment before the protest to talk with law enforcement officers, who assured them that the protest had their full support….Organizer Colbie Lofton said, “In the midst of other protests going on and a lot of confusion, I think a lot of people were here for the right reasons. I’m happy there were no counter protests going on, which is one thing we were kind of worried about before we came out … We want people to acknowledge their privilege and use it for the better to assist the community. It’s not just about today, and it’s not just about showing up to these events. It’s about creating change, changing the mindsets of people and, also if we can, voting in numbers to change legislative rule.”
Photos courtesy of Jamie Goodman.
Videos from the Black Lives Matter March in Boone, NC on June 7, 2020. Video by Jamie Goodman.
About Small and Mighty Acts
Small and Mighty Acts (SAMA) is a volunteer grassroots organization whose mission is to help people meet their civic potential.
We encourage people come together around the important things we have in common to act upon shared beliefs. We help make changes in our communities by offering events and workshops, in addition to providing time and space for individuals to connect with organizations and groups, creating a framework to network and plan around common goals. Small and Mighty Acts serves as a platform to bolster the High Country of North Carolina and beyond toward a more peaceful, just, and productive future.
