LYNNFIELD — Demonstrations against unchecked police brutality toward people of color have been sweeping the nation since the death of George Floyd May 25. At the epicenter of many such protests are young people, who have mobilized to answer the call to action and are stepping to the front lines to demand change.
Monday, a trio of Lynnfield teens — Lynnfield High juniors Maddie Mahan and Finn Mattingly, along with 2019 graduate David Blake — led a bursting-at-the-seams rally to protest Floyd’s death and heighten awareness of the need to engage in anti-racial dialogue. Floyd was a black man who died in Minneapolis while handcuffed and in police custody. Four police officers involved in the incident have been fired and are facing criminal charges, including Derek Chauvin, who is facing a second-degree murder charge.
Lynnfield Police Chief David Breen estimated that the number of peaceful protesters topped 600, much to the delight of the organizers.
“We expected about 200, so to have this many people come out is amazing,” said Mahan. “The goal is to get people to begin the process of dialogue in Lynnfield, and having this many come out in support is a good start.”
“One of the purposes of the march is to promote the voices of people of color in the community,” said Mattingly. “Lynnfield needs to advocate Black Lives Matter and encourage residents to take part in discussions, which are important and pertinent today in light of what is happening.”
After marching from Lynnfield Middle School to the Town Common, the program began with a moment of silence lasting 8 minutes 46 seconds (symbolizing the time Chauvin pinned Floyd down with his knee) with participants kneeling symbolically on one knee and four female students dressed in Black Lives Matter attire holding up clenched fists in protest.
Among the speakers were Selectman Chris Barrett, State Sen. Brendan Crighton, Rep. Bradley H. Jones, Jr., School Superintendent Jane Tremblay, Breen, Town Administrator Rob Dolan and recent Woburn High graduate Brooklyn Manna, who organized a similar event recently in Woburn.
The program also featured performances by Lynnfield High students Josh Mattera (voice) and Alex Pellegrini (guitar) who sang “Black and White” by Michael Jackson, while Jemima Robins sang “Stand out” by Cynthia Erivo. Elizabeth Daly read the Maya Angelou poem, “Alone.”
“Yesterday, today and forever, Black Lives Matter,” said Barrett. “This is the time to act.”
Manna said that Black Lives Matter because they have been systematically devalued, and that “to make a change, you need to be the change.”
“You saw us holding up our arms and it was so hard to keep them up, we had to switch arms, so you can only imagine the suffering George Floyd went through in comparison. It’s up to us to be that change.”
Crighton grew up in Lynn and still lives there. He noted that even though he grew up in a multi-racial community, he can never fully understand what it’s like to be black or brown.
“I don’t know what it’s like, but we are in the two biggest fights of our lives with the pandemic and systematic racial injustice and the only way to win them is to come together and take action,” he said.
Jones said the country still has a long way to go to achieve equality.
“Floyd’s death is an American tragedy (but) I am hopeful it will serve as an impetus for change,” he said.
Breen noted the strong youth presence, who are the “driving force” behind this and so many other demonstrations.
“What you young people have done is a fantastic way to get the word out and you did it in less than a week, which is amazing,” he said. “We are listening.”
Tremblay said she hopes that this is “the beginning of a new world for the generation of students here tonight. “I really hope you get to live in a world where institutional racism and hateful prejudice no longer exist.”
“This is a town of white privilege and we can’t recognize the true extent of the suffering that people of color face,” said Blake. “That’s why it’s so important at this time, a critical point in our history, to engage in dialogue to begin the process of understanding.”
The protest came on the heels of a June 3rd discovery of racist graffiti spray-painted on a stream crossing in the Beaverdam Brook conservation area. The incident is under police investigation.
“There is no place for hate speech and hateful behavior in the Town of Lynnfield,” Board of Selectmen Chairman Phil Crawford said in a statement posted on the town website. “We condemn this vile and abhorrent act, which is completely antithetical to our community values of respect and tolerance, in the strongest terms.”