Updated 12:25 pm, Tuesday*
For 10 consecutive mornings, Chilmark residents have gathered at Beetlebung Corner to kneel in solidarity with people across the country who are protesting police brutality and systemic racism.
The demonstration, which begins daily at 10:30 am, was started by Dana Nunes, and has since been organized and led by comedian Amy Schumer, a seasonal resident of the Vineyard. Each morning, attendees honor a different victim of police violence, kneeling in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds — the time that fired Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck before he died.
On Monday morning, participants chose to remember Walter Scott, an unarmed black man who was shot and killed by North Charleston police in South Carolina in 2015 after he was stopped for a broken taillight.
Monday’s gathering concluded with participants chanting “say his name,” and attendees responding “Walter Scott.”
Nunes began the demonstrations after she saw a Black Lives Matter poster had been torn apart while driving home. “Whoever ripped that sign is going to be regretful, because now they have a black woman and a sign,” she said. Beginning Friday, June 5, Nunes stood alone at Beetlebung Corner. She was determined to stand, unmoved, in the same spot for three hours every day that week. “I am the mother of black men,” she said. “I fear what is out there for my sons.”
Schumer was driving through the intersection when she saw Nunes, and decided to join her.
After an hour of standing in solidarity, the two decided to reconvene the following day, bringing a towel so they could kneel in honor of George Floyd without fear of tick bites.
Schumer told her friends about the demonstration, and word spread quickly. That Saturday, 77 people arrived for the demonstration. “At 10:30, it was like a flash mob showed up,” said Nunes. “People came from all directions, showing up in droves.”
For the remainder of the week, Nunes continued to stand at Beetlebung Corner from 9 am till noon. Each day, a crowd — sometimes as many as 100 people — would join her at 10:30 and kneel alongside her in honor of a victim of police brutality.
As Nunes’s initial plan was to demonstrate daily for one week, she no longer joins the crowd at Beetlebung Corner every morning. She is happy, though, to see Schumer continue the demonstration. “Amy saw the need for some sort of ritual that people could become involved in,” said Nunes. “She can organize, she can get people to show up.”
Schumer and a sizable crowd of Chilmark residents have continued to congregate at Beetlebung Corner and bring attention to the many lives lost at the hands of police officers. Schumer says they will continue meeting for as many days as they can. The group has also started a mailing list (mvblm2020@gmail.com). Those on the mailing list are informed of action items they can take to support the Black Lives Matter movement, including supporting black businesses, filling out census data reports, and voting.
“There is a lot of energy and a lot of really great people on this Island who want to be part of making change,” said Schumer.
Good on ya, folks. Respect.
We do not need this on the island especially organized and led by comedian Amy Schumer, a new seasonal resident of the Vineyard. The island has always been a place to escape all the craziness of the outside world and a place for mellow summer visitors to do the same. This totally changed a couple years ago and now it is snowballing out of control!
Most of us understand that it is systemic racism and police brutality that are out of control. Why it bothers you that anyone, anywhere speaks and acts against it is something you should probably think about.
Systemic racism and police brutality are well under control thanks to the greatest President this nation has ever known.
He knows what the Thugs need.
The Thugs need to loot the Treasury, enable a pandemic, and weaken America’s standing to the rest of the World. Oh, and support systemic racism. Would it hurt you if everyone in America enjoyed the”Blessings of Liberty?” Yes, caps and quotes. Consider where you’re treading when you use the concept of “control.”
Send in the troops! An island resident and citizen of the United States, who owns property and pays taxes and is concerned about her fellow man is exercising her 1st Amendment rights! On Martha’s Vineyard (gasp!) How dare she upset your delicate ideals of what summer “should” be here!
Shame on you. Islanders are, and always have been, caring, kind, generous neighbors, to each other and visitors alike. We should be grateful that Amy, or anyone else, cares enough to take the time to demonstrate their love. As a 16th generation Islander, I, for one, am thankful.
Do you have to be a born again Tisbury Native to be a legitimate protester, in your eyes?
Would you be as disturbed if it was a no name new seasonal resident.
How long do you have to be here before it is ok to protest?
Should all seasonal residents be prohibited from protesting?
What about Day-Trippers?
George Orwell said that people who advocate radical violence
are usually the ones who are always far from where the bullets are flying.
There is something wrong with anyone who has not reacted with grief and horror over the undeniable murders of black victims by brutal police for being not white. Expression of the sorrow and doing something to stop the systematic racism that allows the death of victims like George Floyd is what needs to be done everywhere and by anyone who actually has a heart. Dana, you rock. Thank you for starting this.
One person’s murder is another person’s effective law enforcement.
Do what the man says or your going down.
You may or you may not be able to get back up.
The formula is your skin tone X the cops attitude toward your skin tone.
I swear, some people just love violence.
tisbury native: amy has been coming here for many years.
guess you were not around when MV wanted to leave MA.
or when MacNamer was attacked on the ferry over vietnam involvement.
or the horray for bill signs.
Actually, edg, I’m pretty sure “Tisbury Native” was around then, but he doesn’t care, even though protest is as American as apple pie, and the right to do so is protected by the Constitution.
Dear Tisbury Native, how fortunate you’ve been, living on your fantasy island. I will grant you that this is, indeed, a mellow spot compared to the mainland. However, having been a black woman on this island for almost 50 years, I have a somewhat different perspective than you. I had people come up to me while standing at Beetlebung Corner and ask me, “why in Chilmark?“ Try hearing Obama referred to as, “that monkey in the White House.” Or, when trump moved in, “finally, we’ll have a good-looking First Lady!” This is in Chilmark. How about Christmas shopping in a store in VH. There are at least 10 people in the store when I walk in (all white). The clerk quickly steps from behind the counter and proceeds to follow me through the store, keeping close and trying to look busy. I take a circuitous route, just to be sure it isn’t my imagination. If it hadn’t been so hurtful, it would have been funny.
In my naïveté I hadn’t actually expected anyone to join me, but, although I didn’t know who Amy was at the time, I was glad to have a conscientious, caring and truly genuine person step up. And Native, it doesn’t matter who they are, what they do or how long they’ve been here. What matters is that they see the need for change, they want to make a difference and they’re unwilling to let the status remain quo.
Well said, Dana. I’m very sorry for your experiences. Some choose to believe that MV is free of racism just because they haven’t had to deal with it. Thanks for your insight and efforts. I agree, it doesn’t matter where a protester is from. Seeing the overdue need for change is what counts.
Thank you Dana. I saw you the first day you were at Beetlebung and was so moved. I wanted to join, but thought your lone protest was powerful, so I expressed my support and moved on.
Now I join you.
PS: amy didnot start the protest in chilmark.
Tisbury Native
I have been trying to come up with a response to your comment all morning and I just can’t with out freaking out.
What the is your problem?
edg, I was just going by the Fake News Times caption under the above photo and in the text of the story.
My post that I posted this morning June 16, 2020 at 10:13 am was shredded as what usually happens if
it doesn’t follow their “Agenda”.
I do not understand why the Martha’s Vineyard Times, in a news article, is taking an editorial position. All of us who live here year ’round have our values. And we live them out every day. If they are not consistent with societal norms, society will punish us. We don’t need the Times to help them with their job. Please, report, do not editorialize, unless you CLEARLY REPRESENT YOUR STATEMENTS AS EDITORIAL OPINION!
Which part did you find too editorial? Which values do you object to?
@edg, no one said she did.
The story clearly says the demonstration was started by Dana Nunes and has since been organized and led by Amy Schumer.
Comments are closed.