After gathering on Sunday, July 9, to determine the future of Martha’s Vineyard Black Lives Matter (MV BLM), members of the local chapter are deciding to shake up how the group operates.
MV BLM had been holding vigils against racism in Chilmark on a monthly basis. During the vigils, attendees would share stories of Black, indigenous, and people of color/Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (BIPOC/AAPI) who were hurt or killed by law enforcement. They would also take a knee for 9 minutes and 29 seconds — the amount of time George Floyd was pinned under the knee of a Minneapolis Police officer in 2020. There were also discussions on ways to make improvements and garner support across the Island.
According to MV BLM member Lexi Ladd, the moment of silence for reflection will continue, but the schedule will change somewhat. Ladd told The Times the group plans to meet every other Sunday throughout the summer, fall, and spring, and move to monthly meetings during the winter months. The gatherings will be held in the group’s traditional location, Chilmark library, on the first Sunday of the month, and then at Ocean Park in Oak Bluffs during the third Sunday of the month.
“We just felt like … we needed to switch things up a little bit,” Ladd said, adding that a “lovely honoring and tribute” was done on Sunday for the hundreds of vigils that were already held. She said the meeting brought closure for this chapter of the organization. “We decided we wanted to move forward with honoring that history, but also moving forward in a new way,” Ladd said.
That new way could be more active.
MV BLM began in the spring of 2020 after Dana Nunes, one of the activist group’s organizers, started standing at Beetlebung Corner in Chilmark to honor “the Black lives lost to racial-based violence.” This led people to join Nunes, morphing into the vigils and gatherings that have been taking place.
Nunes told The Times the group plans to move beyond just holding the vigils. “That has served its purpose,” Nunes said. “It’s not stopping, but we need to get into the third gear.”
MV BLM has led several initiatives, such as a letter and postcard campaign to encourage people to vote, and educational efforts. Ladd said one project the group is pushing for is an “alternative emergency response system” on the Island for law enforcement. Ladd said the organization is working with multiple Island agencies in an attempt to set one up. The idea is that a behavioral health specialist would respond with police officers, as some cities have practiced across the country.
The activist group has also been a part of organizing various events before, such as marches against racial injustice and the Disrupt Death Row fundraiser, a movement to exonerate Pervis Payne from death row in Tennessee. Additionally, MV BLM will respond to incidents as they occur, Ladd said.
Nunes underscored that the MV BLM gatherings were welcome to all who support the cause of justice and are willing to make a difference.
“It’s not all about working toward justice for Black people,” Nunes said. “It’s justice for everyone … It’s about making the country and Island a better place.”
Thank you, Eunki Seonwoo, for informing people of the changed format of MVBLMs meeting and new schedule. I’d like to clarify that MVBLM is advocating for an alternative police response to mental health emergencies. When someone is in crisis, seeing someone in a police uniform can escalate the situation and in many cases across the country people have been killed — disproportionally Black, Brown and Indigenous people. An alternative response is to have behavioral health providers dispatched to the scene. There are many states implementing these kinds of initiatives, successfully deescalating situations and getting people connected to mental health services. We’re advocating for the island emergency response systems to move in this direction.
Further clarification — it’s some members of MVBLM who are advocating for an alternative response.
Honestly, I think all the vigils and flags have served their purpose of solidarity and let’s be completely clear: both vigils and flags do absolutely nothing to help Blacks in America. They make white people think like they’re doing something. As a liberal myself, it has been disappointing to see this kind of intensity and longevity put into what amounts to performance art. It is literally today’s Kumbaya moment and accomplishes just as much as a peace sign on a bumper sticker.
Thomas– you know, there are thousands of advertising agencies trying
to figure out how to sell us something.
The exec’s of these companies know that they can’t just go out there
and say ” buy this”. They come up with advertising campaigns
and have things like lizards selling insurance and camels selling
cigarettes. Mr. Whipple admonishing people for squeezing the Charmin
accomplished about as much as a peace sign on a bumper sticker.
It changed our perspective. Charmin soft, peace good.
We humans react to what we are exposed to — if we see lots of
peace signs and BLM posters, it just might have a mitigating impact
on the haters . You know, those people with the red hats chanting
stuff like “Jews will not replace us”. We can counter hate with love
— even if only in tiny subliminal ways..
Bumper stickers elect Presidents.
Bumper stickers put Derrick Chauvin in jail.
Where he belongs.
Hello Thomas, I’d like to invite you to join us at our next gathering to determine if you think it’s performative. In my experience, there’s quite a bit of sharing and work that gets done. Building community is also important and that’s a part of what happens when we gather. I hope to see you and talk more at a Sunday gathering.
Thomas, vigils and flags work, they motivate people.
Look at Trump rallies with their hundreds of patriotic flags pimped out with Trump Gold fringes and tassels.
Unless they struggle to significantly change the troubled, and troubling, landscape of policing on Martha’s Vineyard, they won’t escape the appearance of “controlled opposition”.
I hope they choose wisely.
I wish them success, if they’re sincere.
#REGIONALIZE
A Cape and Island’s Police Department?
CIPD has a nice ring.
If that’s what it takes.
But, for now, I’d suggest a Martha’s Vineyard Regional Law Enforcement District, transparent and accountable from its inception.
#REGIONALIZE
The Island has regionalized law enforcement.
The Sheriff.
The State Police.
The FBI.
All are completely transparent…
In general I see strong support for our law enforcement system on the Island.
There will always be a few who think that they have been treated poorly.
The MVC is regional, how is that working out?
The High School?
The High School grass?
Comments are closed.