Manor Ink July 2020

6 | JULY 2020 | MANOR INK NEWS
‘Massive’ turnout for Manor march, vigil a
Continued from pg. 1
Manor, a peaceful protest was held – entirely
organized by Livingston Manor Central
School students.
The idea was sparked by freshman Sienna
Dutcher, who formed a large group chat
on the social media app Snapchat. She laid
out her plan and asked who would be willing
to participate. Many students were all
for it, and thus the planning began.
“We felt that the town needed to voice its
support for the Black Lives Matter movement,
so we organized the protest through
social media,” Dutcher explained.
A march and vigil
One of the students who organized the
protest was Manor Ink’s editor-in-chief,
Osei Helper.
He was tasked with finding a place to
hold a planned vigil after the march. This
proved to be a bit more difficult than anticipated,
but Osei was persistent. He found
areas where there were buildings by usable
lots, and he contacted those people. When
one was unable to give access to an open
area, Osei would then find the next person
to ask.
“It was like a big chain of people to contact,”
he explained.
Osei got in touch with Meg McNeil,
owner of Upstream Wine & Spirits on Main
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Street. He and McNeil initially
thought the event could be held
in the parking lot at Renaissance
Park, but Supervisor Rob
Eggleton expressed concern
about the safety of the participants.
It was then that the vigil
was moved to the Catskill Brewery’s field
on Old Rte. 17.
By then, the day of the protest – Saturday,
June 6 – was fast approaching. Word
spread rapidly over social media, and soon,
hundreds of people knew about it.
Before the event began, sophomore Willa
Schweitzer, who was also heavily involved
in its planning, said, “It just got bigger
and bigger once we shared the idea for the
march on Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook.
It looks like we’ll have a great turnout
today.”
Under bright skies that morning, march
participants gathered in front of the Livingston
Manor Free Library on Main Street.
The crowd soon swelled to several hundred
people, and Helper said he felt a bit nervous
at first.
“There were a lot of people, and I thought,
CALL FOR JUSTICE Marchers proceed down Main Street during a Black Lives Matter protest on June 6 in Livingston Manor. Organized by LMCS students,
‘Oh, I’m about to lead this.’ It was a little
nerve-wracking. Police showing up was a
worry as well. Not for myself, but because
there were a lot of people. I wouldn’t want
anything to happen to a bunch of people
who came here.”
Help from the police
While officers from the Sheriff’s Department
did appear, they came intending to
help. They allowed protesters to march in
the road as opposed to on the sidewalks,
which would have overflowed with the
sheer number of people who were there.
They also directed traffic and let the protesters
know when it was safe to cross intersections.
Though none of the organizers had contacted
the police or the fire department –
the LMFD was also there – beforehand, the
action proceeded without a problem. “It
was a nice surprise to see that they came to
‘This is what Livingston Manor
is becoming, and I think it’s
something to celebrate!’
Kira Helper
Addressing marchers at Manor’s BLM vigil
help!” said Helper.
After the march down Main Street and
up Rock Avenue, the vigil on the Catskill
Brewery’s field was held. An 8-minuteand-46-second
silence was held in honor of
George Floyd. Organizers also took turns
speaking through a shared megaphone.
Gem Helper, Osei’s sister, read an essay
she prepared beforehand, Willa Schweitzer
read a poem she wrote, and Kira Helper,
Osei and Gem’s aunt, read off the names of
63 unarmed black people who were killed
by police.
“This is what Livingston Manor is becoming,
and I think it’s something to celebrate!”
Kira said during her remarks, and
after the audience broke into applause, she
added, “Thoughts and prayers don’t create
change. Today is a day for change!”
According to rough head counts, over 300
people attended the march, and even then,
people joined in as the march processed. At
the vigil site, over 400 people were counted.
Schweitzer was right – the turnout was
massive.
“It felt really good that so many people
were willing to come to protest the cause,”
she said. “I felt like I did something – something
that would help make a change.”
Creating a memorial
After the protest, with the Brewery’s
permission, Osei Helper and a few family
members took the potted flowers that
marchers had carried during the protest
and planted them in the field. The pots had