“Step over our dead bodies,” Dorchester resident Latasha Thompson demanded of City of Boston employees as they waded through a sea of seemingly lifeless children’s bodies sprawled in the hallway outside Boston Mayor Martin Walsh’s office Monday afternoon.
The children, many of whom walked out of Boston Public Schools to participate in the die-in demonstration, remained stationary for 43 minutes to represent the 43 lives lost to gun violence in their communities of Roxbury, Mattapan and Dorchester this year. Each minute, they read the name, neighborhood and date of death of a different victim.
Die-in organizer and Violence in Boston Founder Monica Cannon-Grant said she wanted students to be at the center of the protests because Walsh and BPS have been threatening to close several of their schools, which she said would put more students on the streets and expose them to violence.
“Every time a cut happens or a closing happens, communities of color suffer the worst,” Cannon-Grant said. “[Walsh has] never actually put enough money in them for them to sustain to begin with, so to close them is a slap in the face to these kids who work so hard.”
Reporting for @dailyfreepress at Boston City Hall where BPS students and @ViolenceNBoston are preparing to do a “die-in” outside @marty_walsh‘s office to protest violence in Boston communities. #mapoli pic.twitter.com/QpIMHdB9hU
— Hannah Schoenbaum (@H_Schoenbaum) November 19, 2018
Students from Excel Academy Charter High School, TechBoston Academy and West Roxbury Academy came to City Hall to participate in the demonstration, but Cannon-Grant said she hoped more students would be permitted to walk out of school for the protest.
“Although BPS said they wouldn’t stop students from leaving,” she said, “a lot of students were threatened to be penalized.”
BPS declined to comment on the walk-outs.
After waiting 133 days for Walsh to follow through with the meeting Cannon-Grant said she was promised, the mother of five and former candidate for state representative said she was tired of not having a voice in the policies that govern her community. She came to City Hall with a list of demands, including a face-to-face meeting with Walsh and a comprehensive violence prevention plan to fully fund the schools facing foreclosure threats.
Cannon-Grant allowed Walsh until the Monday after Thanksgiving to respond to her demands, she said.
“We watch other affluent communities have total input,” she said, “but when it comes to us, it’s always a dictatorship.”
Before entering City Hall, Cannon-Grant asked the crowd of students, ages 9 to 18, which of them had lost a loved one to gun violence. More than half of the students raised their hands.
“I lost three this year,” said Denaya Perry, a junior at TechBoston Academy who participated in the protest.
Perry said she felt compelled to make her voice heard to prevent gun violence from killing any more people in her community.
“People take our lives as a joke,” Perry said. “Everybody’s life matters, and when it comes to black people, people really don’t care.”
BPS students and @ViolenceNBoston demonstrators are sitting outside @marty_walsh‘s office for 43 minutes to symbolize the 43 murders in their communities this year. Each minute, they are reading off the name of a different victim and their date of death. #mapoli @dailyfreepress pic.twitter.com/1lVy3buJUG
— Hannah Schoenbaum (@H_Schoenbaum) November 19, 2018
Excel student Alexandra Pinto, 14, said she came to City Hall with her classmates to spread the message that everyone deserves equality and security in their communities.
“There are people that are dying because they’re black,” Pinto said. “We are here to represent people that we can relate to and show that we are there for them. If we don’t get a reaction, it will show that they don’t really care.”
Cannon-Grant said she thinks Walsh needs to be made uncomfortable so he can understand how children of color feel every day. She passed a pair of sneakers around the crowd with a red marker, asking each student to sign their name. The sneakers were left for Walsh with a note asking him to walk in their shoes.
“There was a homicide yesterday,” Cannon-Grant said. “That family now has to prepare for a funeral the week of Thanksgiving. I don’t think they understand that type of discomfort, so we’re not going to keep waiting for you to come to us. We’re going to say the name of each homicide victim so he understands what that discomfort feels like.”
Walsh did not show up to the protest but said in a statement that he appreciates the students’ peaceful protest and will be working with community partners to make Boston safer.
“To the students who expressed their concerns today, I value your advocacy on behalf of our community,” Walsh said, “and I want to make clear there is nothing more important to me than making sure our residents are safe and our students receive a high quality education that will open doors of opportunity for their future.”
James Mackey, a co-organizer of the die-in, said he thought Walsh’s choice to not show up to the protest was indicative of whose lives the mayor values.
“Folks that really make it a priority will show up,” Mackey said. “A lot of activists, organizers and abolitionists have been fighting, asking, screaming and yelling for resources, but we see that those allocations of resources are being put elsewhere.”
Mackey gestured to a group of 9- and 10-year-old runners from Boston Lions Track Club, a nonprofit program for inner-city youth, who attended the die-in. Several of the young boys had raised their hands when asked if gun violence had impacted their families.
“They’ve lost loved ones to violence,” Mackey said. “And we need resources out there that can support our young men who are going through a whole lot in their communities and need safe spaces so they can stay off the street.”
One of those young runners, Tomorge Deeble, 9, said he came to the protest with his mom and teammates to deliver a letter to the mayor, asking him to fund their track program.
“It says, ‘What does track mean to you?’” he said, referring to the letter. “We wrote some things that it means to us — hard work and coming to practice every day and giving your all … and you can go to somebody and feel comfortable because we’re a family.”
Chants of “This ain’t normal. Say their names” echo through Boston City Hall as the young protesters exit the building, following a 43-minute die-in protest against gun violence in front of Mayor @marty_walsh‘s office. #mapoli @dailyfreepress pic.twitter.com/jWKDvdp7HL
— Hannah Schoenbaum (@H_Schoenbaum) November 19, 2018
City employees peered out their doors as the protesters made a loud exit from City Hall, chanting, “This ain’t normal. Say their names.”
Mackey said he will be eager to see if Walsh steps up on behalf of Boston’s black communities and answers the demands.
“Consistent agitation will definitely be had until the job gets done,” he said.
