Rally For Black And Indigenous Lives

Several St. Stephen students are organizing a rally to help educate people on the issues faced by Black and Indigenous people.

Isabelle Gagne says they were seeing movements happening elsewhere and realized many people locally did not have the chance to participate or be involved.

“We wanted to really create that platform for Black and Indigenous community members to speak out and help spread that awareness and to educate the local community,” said Gagne.

Gagne and three other students — Vanessa Smith, Jeremy Ingraham and Zach Garnett — worked together to make the event happen.

She said they want the gathering to be an educational workshop of sorts rather than a protest.

“We felt it was really essential to have a platform that was educational and that could spread awareness since we wanted to really get to the root of the situation rather than just show up, present ourselves and then to just go home not taking anything from it,” said Gagne.

Four people are confirmed to be speaking at the gathering with the possibility for a couple of others, she said.

When asked what organizers want people will take away from the event, Gagne said they hope participants will feel encouraged to become true allies.

“That we don’t have to feel restricted from location or the community that we’re in, that we can step forward ourselves and come together with other like-minded people and be a part of this movement,” she said.

Gagne noted the event is in support of the Black Lives Matter movement but is not part of the movement itself.

Participants are encouraged to wear masks but Gagne said they will have some on hand just in case. Volunteers will also make sure that people are respecting physical distancing.

The rally is set to take place along the St. Stephen Waterfront starting at 4 p.m. Friday, June 19.