You are invited to participate in a demonstration to commemorate Black lives lost to police brutality and institutionalized racism. This will take place in the village of Rhinebeck on Flag Day, June 14, from 1:00-3:00 p.m. Our intention is to create a visual that challenges people to consider what that flag means in these harrowing times and how we can grow and change into an America that represents all people equally. We have taken the name for the event, They Too, Are America, from the Langston Hughes poem I too, Sing America, which keeps central to its theme a message of hope and progress.
Our hope is to bring these issues to light in the community of Rhinebeck in a way that acknowledges our emergence from a pandemic and respects the vulnerability of local businesses, while employing our right to peacefully gather and protest. The idea is that, starting at the intersection of Route 9 and East Market Street, participants will begin a line that stretches north, each holding a sign with the name of a victim of police brutality. We will stand six feet apart, wearing masks, and allow drivers and pedestrians to see how long that list of names is as they pass out of town. ...
Here is the Sign-Up Sheet where participants can sign up for a name.
Thank You,
Laura Kufner & Sophie Greller